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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 22

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life—water⁠ as clear as crystal—pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb,⁠ 2 flowing down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations.⁠ 3 And there will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him, 4 and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.⁠ 6 Then the angel said to me, “These words are reliable and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.” 7 (Look ! I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy expressed in this book.) 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw them, I threw myself down to worship at the feet of the angel who was showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Do not do this! I am a fellow servant⁠ with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who obey the words of this book. Worship God!” 10 Then he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy contained in this book, because the time is near. 11 The evildoer must continue to do evil, and the one who is morally filthy must continue to be filthy. The one who is righteous must continue to act righteously, and the one who is holy must continue to be holy.” 12 (Look ! I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to pay each one according to what he has done!⁠ 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end!)⁠ 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star!”⁠ 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge. 18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy contained in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.⁠ 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book. 20 The one who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.

Texts in conversation

Compare Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6:15 and Revelation 22:9

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

In the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, the great angel Eremiel is confused for God and worshipped, but the angel refuses this and says he is not God. Revelation echoes this, where an angel stops John from worshiping him and directs him to worship God instead.

Passages

Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6:15

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
13 When I saw him, I was glad, because I thought that the Lord Almighty had come to visit me. 14 I threw myself on my face and worshipped him. 15 He said to me, "Take care! Do not worship me. I am not the Lord Almighty; I am the great angel Eremiel, who is over the abyss and the underworld below, in whose hand all the souls have been shut up since the end of the Flood that came upon the earth, until this day." 16 Then I asked the angel, "What is this place I have come to?" He said to me, "This is the underworld." 17 Then I asked him, "Who is the great angel standing there, the one I saw?" He answered, "This is the one who accuses people before the Lord."
100 BCE – 175 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah

Revelation 22:9

New Testament
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw them, I threw myself down to worship at the feet of the angel who was showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Do not do this! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who obey the words of this book. Worship God!” 10 Then he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy contained in this book, because the time is near.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... In the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, the angelophany of "the great angel" Eremiel constitutes the first part of the refusal tradition narrative (6:11-12). In Revelation, the vision of the "one like a son of man" stands alone; a rejection of worship by Christ would, of course, have run counter to the author's wider understanding of Christology (compare 5:9-11-the hymn to God and to the Lamb). At the same time, unlike the Apocalypse of Zephaniah (compare 6:13-15), the desire to worship an angel and its sharp rejection in Revelation 19:10 and 22:8-9 are not narrated as subsequent to an epiphanic encounter. This comparison provides sufficient grounds for asking whether the author of the Apocalypse of John was aware of and adapted a refusal tradition in a fuller form. ..."
Loren T. Stuckenbruck, Angel Veneration and Christology: A Study in Early Judaism and in the Christology of the Apocalypse of John, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 70 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995), 256–258.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6:15 and Revelation 22:9

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