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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Revelation 22:6 - 22:9
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John and the angel:
v. 6. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true; and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done.
v. 7. Behold, I come quickly; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
v. 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 showed me these things.
v. 9. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren, the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book; worship God.
The visions proper have now come to an end; there is only the conclusion to consider. The first words are, as it were, the seal of God upon the entire book: And he said to me, These words are faithful and true, for the Lord God of the spirits of the prophets has sent His angel to show His servants what is bound to happen shortly; and, behold, I come very soon; blessed is he that keeps the words of, the prophecy of this book. These words may have been spoken by the angel who was the guide of John in his vision of the Holy City above, but their content seems to make it more plausible that they were spoken by the Lord Himself. He declares here that the words of prophecy which have been transmitted to John are reliable and true, for it was His intention thereby to reveal the future to His servants, to His believers. At the same time He announces that He intends to return very soon for the final Judgment, for the end of the world. Blessed, eternally happy, therefore, would be every person that would hear, heed, and keep these words, just as they were given to John to write. It is true of this book of prophecy, as well as of all the other words of the Lord: Blessed is he that hears the Word of God and keeps it. All Christians should receive strength and comfort to stand firm in the midst of the perils of the last day by the contemplation of God's promises as contained in this book.
John now relates an incident almost identical with that of chap. 19:10: And I, John, was he who saw and heard these things; and when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that had shown me these things. And he says to me, Not that; thy fellow-servant I am and of thy brethren, the prophets, and of those that keep the words of this book; worship God. John was overcome by the wonder of all the things that he had seen and heard in the various visions that had been presented to him; he felt the utter insignificance of man in the face of such mighty revelations. And so, in the ecstasy of feeling that possessed him, he fell down at the feet of his guide, with the intention of worshiping him. But the angel promptly interfered, bidding John worship God alone, since he was but a fellow-creature and a fellow-servant. Angels are great and mighty spirits, and they hold a relation of peculiar intimacy to God; but for all that they must not be given divine honor.