Revelation 19:10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

I remembered this incident, and the similar one in Revelation 22:8-9, when we had the passage on angels in Hebrews 1:1-14 back on May 21st. It is significant that someone as close to Jesus as John would have even started to worship an angel, but then the angel had just told him he (the angel) was speaking the very words of God. We need to remember that angels are indeed very impressive, on several levels, but they are not God and they are not to be worshiped. That is all the more imperative when we realize that the devil and his horde are fallen angels, and can sometimes appear to people as they were before they fell. (2 Corinthians 11:14) The point to remember is that true angels (those who haven’t fallen) are servants of God, just as we are. They are powerful allies, as Daniel discovered (Daniel 10), but they are no more than that. The next thing the angel says here is very interesting. We sometimes forget that Biblical prophecy is not fortune telling, it is speaking out what God is saying. John had started to worship the angel because he had spoken “the true words of God,” but all who “hold fast to the testimony of Jesus” are just as likely to speak the true words of God. In fact, Paul exhorts us to desire to do so. (1 Corinthians 14:1) In our human weakness we tend to mix our own words in with what we hear God saying, so it is vital that we be immersed in the Bible as a reference point, but we are not to draw back from offering our mouths to God for Him to speak through.

A couple of times I have been speaking what I was sure God was saying, but then God stopped talking, but I didn’t. That’s a horrible feeling! A further experience indicates what I should have done in that case. I was expressing a prophecy in a church meeting, and when God stopped, I did too, in mid-sentence. Without any pause, as I remember it, someone on the other side of the room continued the sentence, to the end of the prophecy. That’s a powerful illustration to me that we are simply part of God’s sound system! My personality and background will color how I say things and the vocabulary I use, but I must never fall into the trap of thinking I originate anything good that comes out of my mouth, or through my fingers, for that matter. When I get in the way, it pollutes the flow.

Father, thank You for the incredible privilege of speaking Your words after You. Help me hear You more accurately and respond more faithfully, not just transmitting but obeying what You say, so that the Body of Christ may be built up in every way, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!