Bible Gem 2362 – What Do The Commentators Say About Revelation 19:10?

Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. [ESV]

Revelation 19:10

So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” [BSB]

Revelation 19:10

I trust you have had time to do your own work on this difficult verse. It is fortuitous that you have had extra time. I sure didn’t plan this Gem well. It’s a Gem that required me to do significant work behind the scenes which then coincided with us moving house. I suddenly realised that I needed to have worked through 81 commentaries to see what they had to say about this difficult verse after I had done my own work on it. But then realised that my books needed to be packed up in preparation for moving. Oh dear – that was a big oops! But I have come out the other end with my sanity still intact. Now the Gem you have all been waiting for.

What do the commentators say about Revelation 19:10?

Pretty much what we all suspect commentators would say. Some will say absolutely nothing about the difficult verses, skipping over such verses in order to make comment about verses which don’t need any explanation. Twelve out of fifty-one commentaries I have in my library made any comment on Revelation 19:10, leaving 39 commentators to make no comment whatsoever. Of the thirty commentators whose work I have in digital format, 16 made reference specifically to Revelation 19:10, leaving 15 to skip it all together. Yes, you are more likely to find the very verse you want to know more about is skipped by the commentators who don’t address the difficult verses at all. Or if they do, they make some trite, bland comment about them which doesn’t add anything to our understanding.

Here below I have attempted to sum up the range of comments I have gleaned from the commentaries I have access to. In addition to the 81 commentaries I have in my library currently on Revelation I also have access to Wycliffe / SIL’s Exegetical Helps series which gives me an eclectic summary of what a range of commentators say about each verse in the Bible. So you can see I am well resourced to survey the commentaries to see what they say about this most difficult verse.

Here we go:

John was guilty of idolatry and was rebuked by the angel

There are commentators who think verses 19:8 to 19:10 are all about idolatry and John was being castigated for bowing down to angels.

“Angels are heavenly spirits, servants, witnesses of Christ and should not be given divine honour that belongs to God alone.” Paul Kretzmann, Popular NT.

“John was so overwhelmed by the angelic announcement that he fell prostrate in worship.” Pulpit Commentary.

Henry Barclay Swete “John wrote this as a polemic to counter angel worship. . . .The rebuke directed to John merely served to highlight for readers to beware of angel worship – viz a viz Colossae and Laodicea.” pp 248-304.

G. B. Caird wrote “It is unthinkable that John , so obviously believed in his own prophetic inspiration by the Spirit of God, should have committed himself to the view that the sole source of his inspiration was his own testimony to Jesus, that he was in fact self-inspired.” P238.

George Haydock, a Catholic scholar, challenges the Protestant view protesting the view that John was idolatrous.

“Such allegations are ludicrous because they don’t fit the facts and the tone and tenor of John’s Gospel“.

David Pawson states John’s Gospel is all about who Jesus is – see John 20:31.

Haydock vehemently opposes the view John would give divine honour to any created being in place of God, claiming it is nonsensical. He discusses the difference in meaning between [proskuneo] and [latreuō / latreia] as to whether the sense is always ‘prostrating oneself before a deity’.

David Aune draws attention to these two Greek words as they are used in Rev 19:10 and Rev 22:8 by referring to the intent in the latter context. Why did John do this? “Because the angel revealed these things to me” (Rev 22:8).

“I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.”

Revelation 22:8

Is John worshipping the angel because of all that he had heard and seen? NO! His response is to fall at the feet of the angel and worship God for all He has shown him. I (Ian) have had a similar reaction to God showing me things that astounded me which made me “fall in worship and love for God at the ways He (God) has used to reveal things to me.” John was not worshipping the angel; John was prostrating himself at the depth of God’s revelation to him in all the myriad ways he has used. The depth and degree of revelation was what was in focus and John prostrated himself (fell flat on his face) as a reaction to the revelation rather than worshipping the angel as a divine being. Reading John’s Gospel and taking on board Caird’s comment, I agree it is unthinkable that John’s reaction was to worship the angel. Much more could be said about this but I will leave it here. I personally think it is a red herring. I agree with G B Caird’s comment, to ascribe idolatry to John’s reaction is unthinkable. To hold that view shows you don’t understand the purpose of John’s Gospel.

The next interesting element for discussion is whether the genitive construction is subjective or objective. Much has been said about this by some commentators but they rarely advance the argument to the point where it makes a significant difference to the meaning of the wider text.

The purpose of the subjective or objective genitive and the importance of either.

What astounds me is the number of commentators who draw attention to the fact that subjective genitives and objective genitives are indistinguishable and yet say no more than that. Even Primasius, included in the Ancient Christian commentary, links John 5:46 with Moses in his comment “Every work of the Spirit is a testimony to Jesus.”

 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

John 5:46

I.e. even Moses words were prophetic by nature.

Many other commentators make the point of distinguishing between a subjective genitive which is the witness borne by Jesus himself as contrasted to the testimony of all Christians where Jesus is the object of our testimony. He is the object of all Christian testimony in the sense that all individual Christian testimony concerning Jesus is about what He has done for the believer personally. Or alternatively the facts about Christ in a believer’s life personally, or historically through the pages of Scripture or extra biblical validation of all He did. Both subjective testimony and objective testimony combine together to testify of Jesus. That fact is plain and obvious. It is nonsense for commentators to debate as to whether John is using the genitive case as a subjective genitive or an objective genitive. Of course both combine to result in the testimony of Jesus or testimony to Jesus. Many commentators appear to debate whether the genitive construction is subjective or objective but don’t discuss the implication. I like how the Expositor’s Bible reads, “Having been stopped by the angel for prostrating himself, John is told – now don’t go into rapture over this. The fact that I told you prophetically is just the same as the testimony of mortals.” That dear friends is the point, as the ancient one, Primasius above, wrote, “Every work of the Spirit is a testimony to Jesus.” Every example of testimony to Jesus is inspired and sustained by the Spirit of God. After all, Jesus himself told us:

“And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.”

Luke 12:11-12

I personally think there is another dimension to this which the commentators seem to neglect. Surely the essence of testimony either directly from Jesus (subjective) or about Jesus (objective) includes the following fact:

Remember what I (Jesus) told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

John 15:20

I deliberately chose to quote from John, after all he is the one who recorded Revelation for us. The message he gave to us all in Revelation with his continual refrain is to be faithful to the end even in the face of death. One aspect not mentioned by any commentator I have read (and I have read 81 of them altogether) is the clear message recorded by John in 15:20. “If they persecuted Me (Jesus) they will persecute you (my followers) too.”

The question is will you still follow even to the point of being willing to die for your faith? That underlying message fits well with the theme and the motifs of John’s Revelation. The inescapable message to us is prophetic in the true sense of the word “prophetic”. All followers of Jesus will experience persecution and may even lose their lives because of their faith in Christ.

I am currently working through Hebrews 1:1-2 with the Deeper Bible 801 group and have given them these two verses:

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.

Hebrews 1:1

And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run with it who reads it.

Habakkuk 2:2

Something which is prophetic, either predictive prophecy related to the future or any message related to Jesus Christ must include the ultimate purpose of God in Christ. That purpose is for all who walk the face of this earth to realise there is only one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. Any revelation regarding Christ must include the prophetic. Any prophecy related to Christ includes the clause about following your LORD and Saviour through persecution and possible death.

Jesus himself said

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Luke 9:23

 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

Do I have to prove it to you by giving you the Scriptures that prophets required the willingness to yield their lives at the threat of death? I have told you before John was only survivor among the disciples who did not die a martyr’s death. Yet his message included the same refrain of being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. To be a prophet included a dual sense of ‘prophetic‘.

To the one who has ears to hear let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

To the one who perseveres to the end . . . we are all very familiar with John’s take on this theme. I have repeated it a number of times. Here is Matthew’s version.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:13-14

With that in mind we will move on in the next Gem to that enigmatic statement “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Most of the 81 commentators I surveyed skip this statement completely.

It is the Gospel of the Cross that gives to the prophets the assurance of their mission and of its ultimate success.

G B Caird

It is unthinkable that John, having written all he did in his Gospel related to who the Christ is, should turn around at the end of receiving the Revelation and worship an angel.

Ian

The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.

Seneca the Younger

The witness of Jesus is above all the witness He bore in His life and teaching but even more so through His death. How fitting that the same principle should apply to His followers.

Ian