The angel who refuses to be
worshipped. Twice in the Apocalypse an angel refuses to be worshipped by
John (19.10, 22.9). This motif is hinted at in Tobit 12.16-22 but explicitly
present in Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6.12 and Ascension of Isaiah
7.21. (Peter R. Carrell, Jesus and the Angels: Angelology and the
Christology of the Apocalypse of John [Society for New Testament Studies
Monograph Series 95; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997], 23)
The two of them were shaken; they
fell face down, for they were afraid. But he said to them, "Do not be
afraid; peace be with you. Bless God forevermore. As for me, when I was with
you, I was not acting on my own will, but by the will of God. Bless him each
and every day; sing his praises Although you were watching me, I really did not
eat or drink anything-- but what you saw was a visions. So now get up from the ground, and
acknowledge God. See, I am ascending to him who sent me. Write down all these
things that have happened to you." And he ascended. Then they stood up,
and could see him no more. They kept blessing God and singing his praises, and
they acknowledged God for these marvelous deeds of his, when an angel of God
had appeared to them. (Tobit 12:16-22 NRSV)
And he was girded as if a golden
girdle were upon his breast. His feet were like bronze which is melted in a
fire. And when I saw him, I rejoiced, for I thought that the Lord Almighty had
come to visit me. I fell upon my face, and I worshiped him. He said to me,
“Take heed. Don’t worship me. I am not the Lord Almighty, but I am the great
angel, Eremiel, who is over the abyss and Hades, the one in which all of the
souls are imprisoned from the end of the Flood, which came upon the earth,
until this day.” (Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6:12-15)
And I fell on my face to worship
him, and the angel who led me would not let me, but said to me, “Worship
neither throne, nor angel from the six heavens, from where I was sent to lead
you, before I tell you in the seventh heaven. For above all the heavens and
their angels is placed your throne, and also your robes and your crown which
you are to see.” And I rejoiced very much that those who love the Most High and
his Beloved will at their end go up there through the angel of the Holy Spirit.
(Ascension of Isaiah 7:21-23)
