Revelation 19v10

[daygo]

Do you think the angel in this verse is a born again christian because of what the angel mentions ie I am a fellow servant,....who hold to the testament of jesus.?

[mattfivefour]

I do not think so, bro. The primary reason is deduced from verse 9. There we see the following: "Then he [the angel] said to me, Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to me, 'These are true words of God.'" Note he did not say "Blessed are WE who are invited" but rather "blessed are THOSE". Now I admit that is a thin deduction, but added to the context of the angels who appeared to John in this revelation of Jesus Christ as the One around whom ALL of God's dealings with man have revolved, it seems to me to be just one more confirmation that John is in the presence of Heavenly beings.

First, who was this angel? It is unlikely that this angel (Greek ἄγγελος = angelos = messenger) is a Christian. We find the reference to who he is way back in Revelation 17:1— "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters." I rather think that no Christian has been given a bowl of judgment to pour out! So it is indeed a heavenly angel ... in fact it is one of the angels with the bowls of judgment who is still speaking with John. He is clearly part of the higher pantheon. His appearance was so elevated and majestic in appearance that it caused John to fall at his feet as though dead and then worship him. But the angel says not to do that, that he is no different from John.

So why then does the angel say in verse 10: "I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus"? Simple. He IS. ALL that has been created was created to serve God. And Psalm 103:21 tells us that all the angels serve God and do His will. They are His ministers (Hebrew: שָׁרַת = sharath = servants, attendants; Greek: λειτουργοί = leitourgoi = servants). Hebrews 1:7 says this as well: "And concerning the angels He says, He makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire" which is a direct quote from Psalm 104:4. And since all of what has occurred since Creation revovles around Jesus Christ and His testimony, then the angels, like us who are Christians, are God's servants and witnesses. But we are actually MORE!!! We are now no different from servants because we are not yet "of age" (Galatians 4:1) ... but we are SONS of God!!! (Romans 8:16;1 John 3:1) Therefore our status is as joint heirs with Jesus of the Kingdom of God. (Romans 8:17) O, what a glorious future that God has chosen to give to us who are Christians!!! We did not earn it, and we most certainly do not deserve it! But in Christ it shall be ours! Hallelujah! \o/ \o/ \o/



Ok. Sorry. I got carried away there! But what a glorious thought!

Back to the topic. Bottom line? I do not think this angel is a Christian but a created messenger of God.

I know this subject is not important from a doctrinal standpoint ... or from any other significant perspective, either. But it is fun when the study of an unimportant subject brings us to an important recognition! In this case it is that we are created to be higher than the angels, given joint rights with Jesus and one day will even judge the angels! (1 Corinthians 6:3)

God bless.

Matt