I once had a study with two “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” and I asked one of them if it would be acceptable if I bowed down to him exclaiming, “Worthy are you to receive honor, glory, and blessing!” His companion adamantly answered, “No, he’s not God.” I said, “I agree, but you also say Jesus is not God, yet this is what the multitude of angels proclaimed to Him in Revelation 5:11-12:

“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, through their “Witnesses,” out-right deny Jesus’ deity and subsequently reject that He should be worshipped, but these two gentlemen well recognized the kind of worship in my question to be deserving of nobody other or less than God, and they also recognized the dilemma they faced once they read such worship being offered to the “Lamb” (i.e., Jesus—John 1:29, 36) in Revelation. Observe also:

“And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Rev. 5:8).

Why would the heavenly beings prostrate themselves before Christ (as did numerous humans whom Jesus did not rebuke for so doing—Matt. 2:11; 15:25; 18:26; Luke 8:41; 17:16) and worship Him when worship is reserved for God (Matt. 4:10; Acts 10:25-26; Rev. 19:10)? Why? Because Jesus and the Father, though two distinct persons (1 Cor. 15:27-28; 1 Tim. 2:5), both fully share the being of God (John 1:1).

What’s more, in the symbolism, the odors from the vials (i.e., incense) presented to Jesus is explained as “prayers of the saints,” yet the “Witnesses,” hand in hand with rejecting worship to Him, also believe it is sinful to address Jesus in prayer (What Does the Bible Really Teach 2005, pg. 167-168).

But perhaps they might say that Jesus is not the addressee of the prayers, and that He is only mediating between the Father and the saints. Such an allegation is shown false, because, along with the prayers, the heavenly persons come to the Lamb with harps, and the song they sing (the harps symbolize the worship of song—compare Rev. 14:2-3) is addressed to Jesus in verse 9. So, if the song (symbolized by the harps) is addressed to Christ, then it stands to reason that the prayers are addressed to Him as well, because the harps and the incense are brought together to Him. (Note: to read more about addressing Jesus in Prayer see Is it a Sin to Address Christ in Prayer?—Richardson.)

Furthermore, we see Jesus included in the worship given to the Father in verse 13:

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”

What honor they give to God here, they give to His Son with Him. Would it not be a great evil to include together with God, in worship and praise, anyone unequal with Him—anyone less than God? Yet, in fact, Jesus said, “All men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father” (John 5:23). “Even” means equally! Both the Father and the Lamb will be the heavenly temple (Rev. 21:22), and both will be the light of that temple (Rev. 21:23). They are both accredited with Creation (Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16; 1 Tim. 4:3), and with this fact, it is interesting that in Revelation 4, the creative work is one of the causes of praise and worship offered to Him that “sat on the throne”:

“The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (vv. 10-11).

This worship is given to the Father and Jesus together; for They both are the Creator, and They both “sit on the throne” (Rev. 22:3). Jesus and the Father are one. The “Witnesses” cannot sensibly deny this to be the case in these two verses. In fact, it is said that “for Thy pleasure they are and were created,” and the inspired apostle Paul informs us that Jesus was for Whom everything was created:

“For by him [Jesus] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Col. 1:16).

By no means does this cover the breadth of the Biblical substance of the deity of Jesus Christ, but it certainly manifests the obvious equality of Jesus and God. In Jesus “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (ESV—Col. 2:9). Let us give praise, honor, and glory to both Jesus, and the blessed Father!

 

Article by: A.K. Richardson