Sunday, April 24, 2016

Revelation 22:6-9 comments: the angel tells John to worship God

6 ¶  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Remember that the angel speaking, who began in 21:9 showing John the New Jerusalem, the home of the bride of Christ and Christ, is one of the seven angels who had the seven vials of God’s judgment, apparently speaking with Christ the Lamb’s permission, command, and authority.
We have come full circle.
Revelation 1:1 ¶  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
God sent His angel to show His servants things which must happen soon in God’s sense of time.
Psalm 90:4  For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
Ecclesiastes 6:6  Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
2Peter 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
God’s angel is His presence, the physical image of God.
Judges 2:1  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
Judges 13:21  But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. 13:22  And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
[There are no angels with wings in the Bible. Winged angels are a fiction brought over from Persian Zoroastrianism.]
Notice how the word even is used as comparing two things which are the same.
Genesis 6:17  And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
And see this verse;
Galatians 4:14  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
For Jesus is;
2Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Colossians 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Hebrews 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
And we know from the use of the word image that it is appearance or likeness.
Genesis 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
This us shows that God and man are composed of three parts; body, soul, and spirit.
1Thessalonians 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
2Corinthians 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
1John 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Christ promised that these events related in Revelation will happen fast, in an accelerated fashion, in an overwhelming series of disasters.
Revelation 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent….16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Revelation 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Revelation 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be…20  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
 8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Here is how the Bible defines the physical posture of worship, as in this verse.
I fell down to worship.
Genesis 24:26  And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD…52  And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.
Psalm 95:6  O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Matthew 27:29  And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
 9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
The angel tells John to worship God, not him.
A Christian is to bow before no man but God. No king, no ruler of any kind is worthy of our worship, perhaps our obedience, but not the act of worship. This has led to great confusion and blasphemy in history as kings demanded the physical act of worship, much to their shame.

Do you wonder which prophet this angel represented?

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