The final warning

We’ve seen that Revelation begins with a blessing:

Revelation 1:3
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.

and now we see that Revelation ends with a serious warning:

Revelation 22:18-19
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.  And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.

We understand from our study of Revelation 21-22 that a person’s share in the tree of life and the holy city are rewards for faithful service; they are not connected to a person’s salvation from sin or Jesus’ gift of eternal life.  So what are these penalties then?  On a practical level, how do I avoid them?

Our first clue comes in the beginning of verse 18 – I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book.  The original recipients, the seven churches in Chapters 2-3, also had to deal with those who would distort or minimize God’s Word.

Three specific groups are mentioned among the seven churches – the Nicolaitans, those who followed the teachings of Balaam, and those who followed the teachings of a self-proclaimed prophetess named Jezebel.  Each of these groups taught Christians to live promiscuously and unprincipled in sexual matters.  They also enticed believers to participate in the local feasts which focused on the worship of a Greek god or the emperor through both eating food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality.

In order for them to teach these things, they either had to add something to what God has already said or to purposefully leave out parts that they didn’t like.  With respect to everything God has said in Revelation, a clear warning is given against either of those practices:

If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.

The plagues described in this book are the punishments given to those who refuse to accept Christ’s offer of salvation from their sins – they would rather face God on their own terms.  Similarly, Jesus pronounced severe punishment on those who followed the Nicolaitans, Balaam’s teachings, or Jezebel.  From this we understand that adding to what God has proclaimed in Revelation is to invite significant punishment.

And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.

Remember, this speaks to a loss of future reward, not a loss of salvation.  The warning here is that we could miss out on the full opportunities to partner with God in eternity future if we willfully remove parts of what God has proclaimed in Revelation.

The cure for both of these types of willful errors is the same, whether we would be in danger of adding our own sections to God’s word or purposefully removing sections of God’s word.  The cure is to take God at His word, as He has revealed it…even if we don’t fully understand parts of it. 

For example:
After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the dispersion of the Jews that happened soon afterward, there was no “nation of Israel” until 1948.  Given the vast amounts of Scripture in the Old Testament and New Testament which speaks to God reigning over the nations of the earth from Israel…how much abuse and ridicule do you think Christians would have suffered prior to 1948 from those proclaiming “There is no nation of Israel, so clearly your beliefs are wrong”?  I’m sure that believers would have been tempted to re-interpret what God had prophesied, either adding a little (like the idea of replacement theology, which is claiming that any Old Testament reference to Israel now relates to the church…it doesn’t, by the way) or by taking a little away (deciding that, maybe that part of Scripture no longer applies).

But God knew that Israel would be a nation again, and that His prophecies were still right, even if in a particular moment in history it appeared otherwise.  So trust God now, take Him at His word – all of it, adding nothing, and taking nothing away.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Warning: Don't add and don't take away

We saw last time that those believers who hear Jesus properly are to make the invitation to non-believers to take the free gift of salvation:

Revelation 22:17
Both the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”  Let anyone who hears, say, “Come!”  Let the one who is thirsty come.  Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.

The next two verses also command the attention of those who have ears to hear:

Revelation 22:18-19
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.  And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.

Many commentaries will tell you that the warning John adds here at the end of Revelation is equivalent to a copyright in the ancient world, and that you’ll commonly find these types of warnings in other apocalyptic (prophetic) writings of the day.  While this is true, don’t think that this type of warning is something that John added just because everyone else was doing it.

This isn’t the first time that God gave a warning like this, and actually it was given at a similar situation – just on a slightly smaller scale.

Remember, we’ve been looking at eternal rewards that believers can inherit in Eternity Future.  When the Israelites were getting ready to inherit their reward of the Promised Land, this is what Moses told them:

Deuteronomy 4:1-2
Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.  You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you.

Sounds very similar, right?

Those that hear are the ones expected to do – just as the Lord prescribes.  Those that do are the ones who will inherit, or take possession of the land.  To further his point, Moses gives the following example:

Deuteronomy 4:3-4
Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor.  But you who have remained faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today.

This incident is recorded in Numbers 25.  Those that strayed from God’s commands – they either subtracted God out and worshipped Baal exclusively or thought they could add Baal worship to their worship of God – they were not able to inherit the Promised Land.  However, those that stayed true to God’s commands – they were the ones that may live, enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

So God has previously made similar statements to what we read at the end of Revelation.  We’ll look more into the details of the warning next time, but there is an unmistakable quality in both passages that should not be missed:

Any believer that hears God’s commands is expected to take what God says very, very seriously.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

This is THE OFFER of a lifetime

This could be my favorite verse out of everything we’ve looked at in Revelation…and quite possibly my favorite in the entire Bible. 

Revelation 22:17
Both the Spirit and the bride say “Come!”  Let anyone who hears, say, “Come!”  Let the one who is thirsty come.  Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.

A three-fold invitation is being offered here:

The Spirit – He is the third person of the Trinity.  He is the Counselor Jesus promised would come.  His mission since Pentecost has been to convict the world about sin and righteousness and judgment to come (John 16:7-11).  The Holy Spirit is also within each believer as a promise, a seal of their coming redemption and position in the family of God (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The bride – This is church. It is comprised of those who, since Jesus death on the cross, believe in Jesus for eternal life.

Anyone who hears – This goes back to one of Jesus’ favorite sayings in both Revelation and the gospel accounts – “Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen”.  This phrase always implies that the one who hears Jesus’ command will also be the one to do His command; thus being one who “properly hears” what Jesus desires.

Notice that all three have the same welcoming invitation…to come, to join.  But do you see who the invitation is toward?

the one who is thirsty…the one who desires…

The invitation to join God in eternity future is open to whoever, to anyone…and the invitation is given

by God Himself
by the church as a whole
by individuals in the church who hear and do what Jesus commands

let the one who desires take the water of life freely

In Revelation 22:1, we saw that the river of life originates and flows from the throne of God.  That is why it is a free gift…it comes from God, we can do nothing to earn it, nor do we have to maintain it.

Do you, Christian, hear Jesus?  Make the invitation.  If they recognize their thirst for life and accept God’s free gift…they will be eternally grateful – just as we are eternally grateful to that someone who took the time to offer the gift to us.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Imitations and contrasts

It’s often said that imitation is the best form of flattery.  Although typically meant to be a compliment, I think it depends a lot on whom we’re imitating and what kind of behavior we’re attempting to emulate.  I can remember times when my boys came home and imitated some other child’s whiny tone or disrespectful behavior.  Yeah, that wasn’t as cool and complimentary as he may have imagined…

As a parent, we confront this kind of behavior with both questions and contrasts: Why are you acting like them?  Are they saying encouraging things, or are they rude?  Why would you want to do the same thing?

But it’s not just our kids who need a talk like this from time to time.  Remember, we’ve been making observations about this particular verse:

Revelation 22:14
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.”

We’ve taken a close look at this verse in order to fully understand the blessing Jesus is announcing.  We’ve observed that this blessing is obtained by those who wash their robes, those who do the commandments of Jesus, and that there are specific, big-deal rewards available to those who do so.

Remember that whenever we do a deep dive, our best next step is to zoom out and place our new understanding within the surrounding context. 

Revelation 22:12-14
“Look, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to his work.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

And then Jesus offers this contrast:

Revelation 22:15
Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

This contrast is almost identical to the one we observed back in 21:6-8; in fact, the earlier section contains all these descriptions and adds a few more.  Previously, this description was pertaining to unbelievers.  The same contrast is made here as well – and we understand that because of the phrase everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 

But why does Jesus insultingly refer to unbelievers as “dogs”?

Dogs during ancient times were not pets; they were tolerated as scavengers of unclean things.  I’ve read that even today, most every town in Palestine has lazy, filthy curs that will hardly move out of anyone’s way in the daytime, but are prone to howling throughout the night.  These degenerate animals show no qualities of intelligence or morality, as they tend to be mean-spirited and greedy.  Any time you read of dogs in the Scriptures, it is never in a positive light.

So we see that the contrast Jesus makes in 22:14-15 is between those who will be blessed in Heaven and the unbelievers who are going to the lake of fire.  Although there will be believers in the New Jerusalem who do not receive the blessings listed in verse 14, Jesus makes this contrast in order to get their attention now…so then Jesus is essentially asking the question:

Whom do you wish to imitate, the ones who will be blessed or the ones who act like dogs?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Making a grand entrance

We’ve been looking at the final announced blessing in the Bible:

Revelation 22:12-14
“Look, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to his work.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.”

We’ve observed that this blessing is obtained by those who wash their robes, those who do the commandments of Jesus.  But notice Jesus says that the reward obtained for this faithfulness is two-fold: to be granted access to the tree of life and to enter through the gates into the city.

We saw how special it will be to have access to the tree of life…to partake of its monthly fruit and participate in the healing of the nations.

But really, the second blessing doesn’t seem like much of a reward, does it?  Big deal…we walk through the gates to get in the city.  Isn’t that the only way in, anyway?

Always remember that God’s not wasting our time with the topics He talks about or the words He chooses…

that they…may enter the city by the gates

The emphasis in the Greek is on the gates themselves and not on the fact that someone is entering, such that the phrase reads more like “and may by the gates enter into the city”.  Gates to the city were used for defense, honor, or a place of gathering – especially for the elders and leaders of the town.  Since we know that New Jerusalem will always have its gates open (Revelation 21:25) and by this time Christ has defeated all enemies, there will be no need for defense here.  This fact then leaves the gate areas as places of honor or even for governing.

Also of note is that the Romans built Triumphal Arches to commemorate great victories and to honor their emperor.  These arches were often erected across the roads leading into Rome (and other cities) and were intended to be passed through.  To have an arch in your honor, or to have your entrance into the city proclaimed by the arch, was a great honor bestowed upon only a few.  However, the arch itself was also a decorated monument which reminded all who looked at it of the greatness of the emperor and/or the victory being commemorated.

Given the culture of the original audience and the context of the rest of Revelation, to enter the city by the gates seems to be an entrance of special honor.  This honor is only given to those who wash their robes, to those who do the Lord’s commands.

What commands of Jesus will you do today to keep your robes clean?

Not only will you have fellowship with Jesus today, but there are significant eternal rewards at stake.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

The tree of life...is a reward

Revelation 22:12-14
“Look, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to his work…Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life…

Based upon the context within the book of Revelation, we saw last time that to wash their robes was something that the believer did and was responsible for – to do what the Lord commands and live a life that He approves of.

From these verses in Chapter 22, we see that Jesus is proclaiming a specific blessing, a reward for those who wash their robes…but what is it?

that they may have the right to the tree of life

I would venture to say that most Christians immediately equate eating from the tree of life with having eternal life.  They would likely base that assumption from Genesis, when God was casting Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden:

Genesis 3:22
The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”

However, as we’ve seen before, we must interpret Scripture first by the book it is in (the author’s context) before looking at the rest of the Bible for context.  So what does John say about the tree of life in the rest of Revelation?

In Jesus’ letter to the believers at Ephesus, He said

Revelation 2:7
To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Within the last words of the book, John also gives this warning:

Revelation 22:19
And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city…

From these two sections we clearly see that the right to the tree of life can be earned, and it can be lost.  Rewards are like that; however, salvation from our sins and the gift of eternal life from Christ is not.  We cannot earn eternal life, nor can we lose it – because our eternal security depends upon Christ alone.

So how do we rectify what John is clearly teaching in Revelation (that eating from the tree of life is a reward) with what God says in Genesis (that eating from the tree of life causes man to live forever)?

The key difference between the two situations is the physical body of the person.  If Adam and Eve, in their earthly, natural bodies had eaten from the tree of life, then its fruit would have sustained their original bodies for eternity.  However, in the New Jerusalem, all inhabitants will have new resurrected bodies, just like Jesus.  These new bodies are given by God, are not corrupted by sin, and will not need to be “sustained” by food – these bodies do not need anything added to them to be given eternal life, because God made them to live eternally!

So if our resurrected bodies don’t need the tree of life to live forever…why should I care if I eat some of its fruit?

A few verses back in Revelation 22, John made this observation:

Revelation 22:2
The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month.  The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations

So from across Revelation we find these observations about the tree of life: New fruit every month, the tree is located in the paradise of God, and is only made available as a reward.  In addition to these personal-reward qualities, we see that there is some applicational reward as well – the leaves of the tree are for healing of the nations.  Truthfully, I have always been intrigued by that statement, and I expectantly wonder at what, exactly, participating in the healing of the nations will entail.

This understanding of the tree of life as a reward also fits in perfectly with the larger context we’ve been observing in Revelation – that the believers who partner with God now in this life will have earned the reward of greater partnerships in the next life.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life…

Keep Pressing,
Ken

A Christian's wash cycle

The closing of Revelation contains these last words from Jesus:

Revelation 22:12-13
“Look, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to his work.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Christ is clearly not speaking of salvation from sins here, what He’s describing pertains to the reward for how a Christian has chosen to live life on earth.  Jesus then states what that choice looks like and what the future rewards could be:

Revelation 22:14
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.”

There’s quite a bit going on in that statement, so let’s break it down into pieces that we can evaluate and understand.

Blessed are those who wash their robes

To fully understand this phrase, we’ll need to once again look within the context of Revelation.

The phrase “wash their robes” appears within the book only one other time, when John is being instructed by one of the elders:

Revelation 7:14
Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

A few chapters later during the wedding feast of the Lamb, we are told this about the Bride:

Revelation 19:8
She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure.  For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.

Also helpful to our understanding is looking at the similar language Jesus used when He was dictating the letters to the believers at each of the seven churches in the beginning of the book:

To the church in Sardis, Jesus said:

Revelation 3:4-5
But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.  In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes…

And to the church in Laodicea, Jesus said:

Revelation 3:18
I advise you to buy from Me…white clothes so that you may be dressed

All these references, taken together, give us a rich context to understand what Jesus meant during the final chapter:

The washing of the robes is something the believer does.
To have unsoiled, or white, clothes is representative of a believer’s godly actions.
The garments are a reward from Christ, and are “purchased” by the believer’s actions.

Other translations render the phrase Blessed are those who wash their robes as Blessed are those who do His commandments.  Now this makes sense and is relatable…the more I do His commandments, the more I act like Christ, and the more I rightly live a life that God rewards.

But how, exactly, are we to “wash” our robes?  How do we keep them from being soiled, or better yet, if we dirty our clothes, how do we clean them?

I’m certain that John would give us the same advice he gave to other believers:

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is the washing cycle of our lives:

We do His commands, and when we fail, we ask God to forgive – and He does.  With all unrighteousness removed and our fellowship with Christ restored, we are empowered to do His commands once again.  And when we fail, we ask God to forgive – and He does.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Blessed are those who wash their robes

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Who does Jesus say He is?

You had to walk to get anywhere in Bible times.  As they went from town to town, Jesus and his disciples did a lot of walking.  I’m certain that this travel-time was also prime teaching-time.

Matthew 16:13-15
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

How would you answer? 

Would you say that he is the Creator? – Because he is (John 1:3).
Would you say that he is the fulfillment of God’s prophecy? – Because he is (Luke 24:44)
Would you say what Peter answered?

Matthew 16:16
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

At the close of Revelation, Jesus answers the question Himself…

Revelation 22:12
“Look, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to his work.”

Soon He will fulfill His promise to return…and when He does, Jesus will come with the authority and the right to reward believers for their choices in this life and non-believers for their rejection of who He is.

Jesus then makes a three-fold statement that validates His authority to do so.  All three statements come to the same point – that He rules over all.

Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Alpha and Omega were the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.  So, in our terms, Christ is claiming to be “the A to the Z” and by inference, everything in between.  He is the one who initiates and completes humanity’s destiny.

A few verses later, Jesus has this to say about himself:

Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to attest these things to you for the churches.  I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

These statements are similar to what Jesus said earlier.  Here again, we see Jesus’ authority as He has command of the angels.  He also states that He was the cause of David’s greatness (as “the Root”) and the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant promises (as “the Descendant”).  Just like all of humanity, Israel’s first great king also found his beginning and end in Christ.

The morning star is the brightest star that shines just before the dawn, and was considered to be the star which announced a new day.  This word picture is a perfect representation of who Christ is at the close of human history.  Jesus is the brightest star in all Creation, and He is announcing the dawn of a new future, an eternity for us to partner with Him.

This.  This is who Christ says He is.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

It's not your job

After directing John to make sure all his worship and adoration is properly directed toward God, the angel continues:

Revelation 22:10-11
Then he said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.  Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy still be filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; let the holy still be holy.”

This is John’s next step – to make the prophecy given to him available to others.  Verse 11 deals with the response of the people who hear the prophecy – what they do, which pours out of who they are. 

Notice, too, that the angel doesn’t put the responsibility of the people’s response on John’s shoulders. 

This is similar to what God said to Ezekiel about his preaching to the nation of Israel:

Ezekiel 3:27
But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Let the one who listens, listen, and let the one who refuses, refuse – for they are a rebellious house.

Jesus also gave a similar statement in many of his parables and to the churches at the beginning of Revelation – let anyone who has ears to hear, listen…

As much as we may want to, we can’t make the Salvation choice for others.  Each person is responsible before God for what they decide to do with the gospel message.  Whether they are our child, our spouse, our leaders, our co-workers…it’s not our responsibility to choose for them.

Truthfully, that’s freeing thought.  I can’t shoulder the load to make sure everyone chooses to believe in Christ for eternal life, that burden is too much for me.  Thankfully, God never puts that burden on us.

The best thing we can do for them is to share the message we’ve been given, just like John was instructed to do with his message.

And what is our message?  Here’s what Paul had to say about that:

2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.  That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us.  We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.”  He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

They need us to be ambassadors, but they don’t need us to choose for them.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

The Apostle John messed up

One of my favorite things about Scripture is that there isn’t any white-washing of individuals or events…real, everyday life is portrayed as is.  Abraham lied, David lusted, the disciples jockeyed for position.  Our own tendency is to tell our life stories with a touch of gloss when we discuss our failures and shortcomings – but we don’t find that in Scripture.  Instead, we find that God deals with humanity in the reality of the sinful mess that we are.

Let’s think about the Apostle John’s resume a little bit…the youngest of the twelve disciples, he was referred to as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, part of Christ’s inner circle with Peter and James, was asked by Christ to take care of his mother Mary, wrote an evangelistic gospel and three other letters in the New Testament, a leader to the first century church, and he was persecuted for his faith.

Here’s how he starts out the book of Revelation:

Revelation 1:9-10
I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet…

John was expecting to spend a little Sunday time worshiping God, but he ended up being given the greatest prophetic vision ever presented to a man.

However, he messed up.  John made a mistake.

In what we’re about to read, it’s actually the second time John made this mistake (the first time was in Revelation 19:10).  What’s really amazing is that John includes it at all.  He didn’t have to…if he left out this next scene, we’d never know.  He also has a pretty strong resume…most people would be tempted to prevent others from finding out the kind of thing that he did.

Before we jump into the scene, let’s remind ourselves of what John’s been seeing and working through as God reveals to him the future of humanity.

In all his glorious splendor, Christ appears to and speaks with John.  Christ then dictates letters for John to write to seven churches (imagine the pressure he felt!).  John has also heard thunderous announcements from the throne of God – seemingly from God the Father, and at other times possibly proclaimed by another angel.  He’s witnessed multiples scenes from within the court of Heaven.  John has also witnessed the judgments that arise from each of the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowels.  He watches the horrific reign of the beast and Christ’s victory over him at the battle of Armageddon.  After all this (including a few other visions), God sends an angel from one the bowel judgments to give John a tour of New Jerusalem, witnessing everything we’ve been looking at.

How would you be feeling at this point?  A little overwhelmed, maybe?  How are your nerves?

At the end of seeing all these events unfold, John states the following:

Revelation 22:8
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.  When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me.

To worship means to pay homage, show reverence, or to kneel down before someone or something.  Both times John mistakenly begins to worship the angel who guides him, it is at moments where he is witnessing the two greatest celebrations in human history – the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19) and then at the coronation of New Jerusalem (Revelation 22).

Rather than focusing on John’s mistake, take a look at the angel’s immediate response:

Revelation 22:9
But he said to me, “Don’t do that!  I am a fellow servant with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book.  Worship God!”

In both passages, the angel deflects all praise to its proper place. 

This can be a gut-check for us as well.  How many times do we prefer a particular pastor, or teacher, or writer…and when we’re honest with ourselves, we tend to like their stuff better than God’s stuff?  And we may have started out with good reasons to follow that pastor, teacher, or writer…because they can help reveal the things of God to us in ways that we understand…

But the moment we start to worship the creature instead of the Creator, we are in serious danger.  As soon as we realize that we are praising a person more than we are praising God, we need to correct course.  At that moment, we need to follow the angel’s advice:

Worship God!

Keep Pressing,
Ken