Messenger in Revelations

9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Doesn’t this indicate that the messenger was a departed saint? Doesn’t this give precedence for us to call on the spirits of the dead? Surely, as this being was ‘of John’s brethren’ that means he was a prophet (like Isaiah or Malachi, for example) who had come down from heaven to communicate with John on the island of Patmos, to bring him the amazing scenes described in the book of Revelations.

Who was this messenger?

This messenger had been talking with John for a while. It is a straight forward process to find out who he is. If we read backwards through the passage to the beginning of the chapter and into the previous chapter, we will soon find this messenger identified. Look it up for yourself. Start with Rev. 22:8-9 where John attempts to worship the messenger. Read back verse by verse until you find the actual identity of the messenger.

Rev 21:9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

This was no departed saint! It was an angel! Not just any angel either, this was one of the mighty angels that John had seen holding the bowls filled with the seven last plagues. No question about it! This was not someone who had died and was now being used to show John the events in the book of Revelations. This was actually an angel. The implication is clear: this verse cannot be used to support the Family doctrine for hearing from spirit helpers.

If we were still unsure whether this was an angel or a ‘departed saint’, Jesus Himself identifies this messenger as an angel just a few verses after John thinks of worshipping him:

Rev 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

Other Bible translations:

Rev 22:9 And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God. (ASV)

Rev 22:9 But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” (NIV)

In other words, “I serve God, as you serve God. I am a servant of God, as you are also a servant of God, and as the prophets were also servants of God.” This verse does not indicate that the messenger was a member of the same species, it merely says that they all served the same Master.

There is a similar situation in Revelations 19:10

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

This messenger is also easily and clearly identified as an angel, not a departed human sprit helper, by reading back until we find him introduced:

Rev 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,

As there is no possibility that these messengers were ‘departed saints’, these passages cannot be used to justify calling on spirit helpers.

Concerning the doctrine of calling on and hearing from the dead, these passages are totally irrelevant, and must be discarded as evidence.

Do these passages indicate that we may call on angels for guidance? No, of course not! We are to worship God, not to pray to or give glory to angels, much less the dead!

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