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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMatthew Poole Commentary - Revelation 19:10 - 19:10
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And I fell at his feet to worship him: prostration, or falling at the feet of superiors, to pay them an homage in consideration of their superiority, was ordinarily used in those Eastern countries, Gen_44:14 1Sa_25:24 2Ki_4:37 Est_8:3. To worship him, therefore, here must be understood of prayer or praise, which are pieces of Divine adoration, which it is not probable this great apostle would have offered, had he not mistaken him, and thought him an uncreated angel.
And he said unto me, See thou do it not; but the angel doth not only refuse it, but with some indignation; Ora mh, Have a care you do it not. From whence we may observe, what a fig leaf they have made to cover the papists’ idolatry, in worshipping the bread in the eucharist, who (to show us their great skill in divinity) think they may be excused from idolatry in it, because they think the bread is turned into the body of Christ; idolatry is not to be excused by think so’s.
I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: the angel gives him a reason why there was no adoration due to him, because he was his equal in office, though not in nature; he was both his and all their brethren’s fellow servant, who by preaching the gospel give a testimony to Christ. Well, therefore, Rev_2:1-3:22, may the ministers of churches be called angels.
Worship God; there is no prayer, no praise, due but to the Creator.
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy: there are divers senses given of the last phrase; but of all given, there are two which seem to me most probable: either:
1. The spirit of this prophecy, by which I have revealed these things to thee, is not mine, it is the testimony of Jesus; he therefore is to be adored, not I. Or:
2. Thy preaching the gospel, which is thy testimony to Christ, is as much from the Spirit of God, as my spirit of prophecy: we are therefore equals, and I am not to be worshipped more than thou art.
We have the same, Rev_22:8,9, to let us know that even good men may twice run into the same error; and to let us know, that by the mouth of these two witnesses this truth ought to have been establisled, so that papists should not after this have paid any Divine adoration to angels, much less to saints; and if invocation be no Divine adoration, nothing is. This deserveth the consideration of them, who think it so easy to excuse the popish religion from idolatry.