Is it Scriptural to Worship Angels?
The pattern for true worship is clearly set forth by our
Lord in John 4:23-24 – “But the hour cometh, and now is, when
the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (24) God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth.” The true object of worship is God.
When the devil tempted Jesus to fall down and worship
him, Jesus said, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”
(Matt. 4:10). There is simply no New Testament authority to
worship angels. In fact, it is expressly forbidden in Col. 2:18
– “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility
and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he
hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.” Angelology
is a phenomenon that has manifested itself in recent times.
People seem to be infatuated with angels. It is angel this
and angel that. While it is true that angels played an
important role in God’s unfolding scheme of redemption, the
Bible teaches that we must not worship angels.
Good angels never accepted worship. This is seen with
John in Rev. 22:8-9. John “fell down to worship before the
feet of the angel” (v. 8). The angel said in v. 9, “See thou do it
not.” Then, the angel said, “Worship God.” In fact, this was
the second attempt of John to worship an angel, for he had
done the same thing in Rev. 19:10 – “And I fell at his feet to
worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: . . .” The
angel further said to John, “Worship God.” This obviously
means that only God is to be worshipped, reflecting what
Jesus said to the devil in Matt. 4:10.