Revelation 19:10; See Thou Do It Not

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Revelation 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 

And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 

Scripture records similar responses by various individuals in Numbers 22:31; Joshua 5:14; Judges 13:20; Daniel 2:46; Acts 10:25; 16:29. (Beckwith, Morris, Sweet)

Numbers 22:31  Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. 

Judges 13:20  For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. 

Daniel 2:46  Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 

Acts 10:25  And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. 

Acts 16:29  Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 

All of these did not have the purpose of worship as John did, however. The phrase “to worship him” shows this to be John’s intention. Clearly, the presence of one who could provide such certainty to the fulfilment of these revelations was overwhelming to John (Alford). Whether he mistakenly regarded the angel as God (Colossians 2:18), or simply beside himself with excitement over the arrival of the consummation is unknown.

Colossians 2:18  Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 

Whatever the cause, he had to be corrected. The angel forbids his worship immediately with the words “See thou do it not: …” This is an example of aposiopesis whereby there is a conscious suppression of part of a sentence under the influence of strong emotion. The full construction occurs in Matthew 8:4; 18:10; Mark 1:44. No matter how well intentioned, John’s attempt at worship receives a severe rebuke.

Matthew 8:4  And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Matthew 18:10  Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Mark 1:44  And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

The tendency toward angel worship had for some time fascinated the churches in the province of Asia (cf. Colossians 2:18) and continued to linger in the area after the New Testament times. So the write deals decisively with the practice both here and in Revelation 22:8, even though he puts himself in a bad light in doing so.

Revelation 22:8  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. 

He sought to help others resist the tendency (Swete, Moffatt, Kiddle). By contrast, the beast about whom he wrote had no such compunctions about accepting human worship (Revelation 13:4, 8, 12, 15). (Lee).

Revelation 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 

Revelation 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 

Revelation 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 

Revelation 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.