Previous Verse       Revelation Chapter 22 Verse 8 (God's WordTM)       Next Verse

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    8I, John, heard and saw these things. When I had heard and seen them, I bowed to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing me these things.    9He told me, “Don’t do that! I am your coworker. I work with other Christians, the prophets, and those who follow the words in this book. Worship God!”
    I, John, HEARD and SAW these things.
After HEARING Jesus speak directly (previous verse), John comes forward as if to say, "I did what you asked of me." (Revelation 1:9). Interestingly, with the SEEING more powerful than the HEARING as modern physiologists note, it was John HEARING Jesus speak (previous verse) that elicits John's response. But one must admit that most of the preceding chapters of the Revelation have been very visual. After all he has been shown (Revelation 1:1): 7 churches, THRONE area, seal judgments, trumpet judgments, bowl judgments, the prostitution, the marriage supper, the great white THRONE, and new heaven/earth, no wonder John says
    When I had HEARD and SEEN them, I bowed to worship at the feet of the ANGEL who had been showing me these things.
Oh my! John does it again (Revelation 19:10); This is the third time John falls down. The first time was appropriate (Revelation 1:17), but the last two times were not. The rebuke is the same in both cases.
    He told me, "DON'T DO THAT! I am your COWORKER. I work with other CHRISTIANS, the PROPHETS, and those who FOLLOW the WORDS in this BOOK.
John's angel-guide points out that they are COWORKERS. John is a SERVANT (verse 6) and his angel-guide is a COWORKER. One senses that the angel-guide is aware of Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians 6:1-3-8, and that NO ANGEL should be worshipped. That is exactly what Lucifer (Satan), the star of the morning, is looking for (Isaiah 14:1-12-15-23). The angel-guide does not want the remotest chance (temptation?) to be worshipped, even though he could have been held in high esteem as a "presence" angel (Revelation 21:9 and Revelation 15:6). For the angel-guide to say this gives us a little insight into the completeness and humility with which they serve.
    WORSHIP GOD!"
One can understand how the events shown to John might make John fall down at the angel-guide's feet. But the angel-guide is quick to point out we are to WORSHIP GOD and not the events. How guilty we believers may be if we make so much fuss over Christmas, Easter, Ascension, etc. The truth is that even as a SERVANT serves daily, we, too, should WORSHIP GOD daily. Have you taken the time TODAY to WORSHIP GOD? It's good practice, you know, for our eternal life.

One could say that John really fell down to WORSHIP JESUS while he was standing next to the angel-guide. It is good to WORSHIP JESUS for He is GOD (Matthew 9:18-18-26, Matthew 20:20-20-28, and Mark 5:1-6-20). All created beings should WORSHIP GOD (JESUS) including angels (Hebrews 1:1-14-14).
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