On December 31 I read the last chapter of the Book of Revelation and found this:” I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who ha been showing them to me. But he said to me, ‘Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!’”

The angel calls himself a “fellow servant” with John. This strong, supernatural and sinless being declares fellowship with John, an apostle, yet a weak, even sinful human being. (“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8)

The Psalmist writes, “What is man, that you are mindful of him?. . Yet thou hast made him little less that God. Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands. (Psalm 8:4, RSV)

The angel saw in John a fellowship that few of us even imagine, a place in the universe of God that transcends everything that keeps us earthbound and separated from our God. The angel’s humility in fellow-shipping with John gives us a glimpse of eternal life that is full of grace and promise for believers, and for those who look to Jesus for their salvation.

There are many angelic appearances in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. Angels appear as messengers , as Gabriel appears to Daniel, Zechariah, and to Mary; or as rescuers, as the angel who appears in the fiery furnace with Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego, (Daniel 3:24-28), and the angel who frees Peter from prison.(Acts 12:5-10

God grants all of humanity who will hear of it, a rich glimpse into His heaven at the birth of His son Jesus when the heavenly host of angels sings to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth , peace and good will among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)

In the mind of the angel speaking to John, those who love God are their “fellow servants”. It is a high and holy place to be, and if we let it humble us, we can in fact occupy that place. When he says, “Don’t do that!” he’s simply directing his fellow, John, not to worship any thing or angel but God, even supernatural persons or things. What an inheritance! What a fellowship! What goodness that God has in store for His whole family both now and in the future when He assembles His family.

Love in Him,

Prue