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Revelation 19:5

"Then a voice came from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great." NKJV.

Are the "servants" the same in every way as those "who fear Him", or at some level are they a separate group?

[e.g. "All the taxed cars and those that are untaxed". Here at one level they are one group because they are all cars. But at another level they are dissimilar, taxed and untaxed, making two groups.]

At one level the people in Revelation 19:5 are one group as they are all told to "Praise our God". Perhaps He is their God in the sense that He made them all. But does that necessarily prove that they have the same relationship with Him in every sense?

If some are happy for Him to be their God and serve Him joyfully, but others are fearful of Him because of impending judgement, then at that level there are two groups.

1 John 4:14

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." ESV.

A. On the one hand if those who fear are the ones who fear punishment then they do not love or have been perfected in love. But the true servants of God love their Master and have no fear. True "servants" Matthew 6:24 "love" and are "devoted to the one" they serve. Thus two groups.

B. On the other hand Barnes e.g. says that the fear of the Lord is a common expression in the Scriptures to denote piety. Barnes' commentary concludes that the servants are also those that fear. Thus in every sense one group.

Are "His servants" the same in every sense to those "who fear Him"?

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  • Could be hendiadys Commented Oct 25, 2022 at 15:56

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The question may be tackled by dealing with your idea that, "If some are happy for Him to be their God and serve Him joyfully, but others are fearful of Him because of impending judgement, then at that level there are two groups." That would dispense with any need to ascertain if "and" should come between God's servants, and those who fear God.

There is another occurrence in Revelation of a group who are called to fear God, with a direct link to coming judgment. It is very helpful to sort out who this group are, for then we can see whether they are the same as those who fear God in Rev. 19:5. Here is the quote that is linked, but remember that this is symbolic language:

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Revelation 14:6-7 K.J.V.

Note the differences. (1) The text in question shows the command to praise God is from a voice that comes out of God's throne in heaven. The earlier command in ch. 14 comes from one angel who is not in the throne-room of heaven, but in mid-heaven. (2) The text in question shows God's judgments in destroying Babylon the Great prove God's judgments to be righteous. The earlier command shows that God's hour of judgment is on the cusp, and therefore, all men on earth should fear God and repent. (3) The text in question refers to those who believe in God and who attribute salvation, glory, honour and power to this Creator God (vs. 1). The earlier command is addressed to people on earth who are in need of so acclaiming God, the implication being that if they do not give glory and worship the Creator God, out of fear of his coming judgment, they will discover his wrath.

That is why that angelic command is 'the everlasting gospel'. It is not new. From the beginning, men have been called to worship God as Creator, out of reverential fear of his power and glory in so doing. That is why John the Baptist proclaimed the beginning of the gospel once the Messiah had arrived, for it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that the Bible consistently points to. People were called to repent, which would prepare them to receive Christ's gospel of salvation. Here is an explanatory quote:

"However, the voice and sight of angels does not - and cannot - save them, any more than that mere beginning of the gospel which is all that the angel preaches. Nothing less than the very voice and sight of the Son saves through the gospel, and at that, in its fulness from beginning to end...

Not only has everlasting no end, but by definition it had no beginning. And if no beginning, it must take in the creation, and speak from it... Paul begins to expound this everlasting gospel systematically at Romans 1:18. 'For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness', [vs. 18]" The Revelation of Jesus Christ, pp 372-374, John Metcalfe

Just as people who heard John the Baptist but who had no fear of God unto repentance failed to find salvation in Jesus Christ when he came very shortly after that call, so those people on earth in Rev. 14 who ignore the angelic call to fear God as Creator and to repent will experience God's righteous judgment.

This means that the ones in 19:5 have already acclaimed God and thus are before his throne in heaven. They are glad, and rejoice at the imminent 'marriage of the Lamb'. But those who have not repented out of fear of God as Creator will not know his love; they will only know his judgment of righteous wrath. Not so all those in ch. 19! Their reverential fear of God has led them to repentance and acceptance in the Lamb. All who are God's servants have that reverential awe of God, yet they are not fearful of any judgment to come because the love of God is their portion, even while on earth. Then, when before the throne of God in heaven, they are part of the innumerable multitude worshiping God with joy. The idea of categorizing one group as different from another is irrelevant to the context of chapter 19. All in heaven, who have been created by God, worship and praise him as one, with no fear of judgment, for that has passed and they know God's judgments to be true and righteous. Be they angels, who serve God as messengers, or humans who served God on earth but are now serving in heaven, they all serve God in reverential awe.

Sadly, those on earth who have no fear of God as Creator will not repent, and so they will be judged to damnation, for the very hour of that judgment is about to break upon them (ch. 14). But those in ch. 19 have no fear of judgment because they are now before God in heaven. There is no impending judgment for those in ch. 19. Once that is seen, then the question is answered. Whether they served on earth, or as angels in heaven, they all remain God's servants who fear him with reverential awe and joy, for eternity.

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Complicating this question is the fact that there are textual variants of the phrase in question. Some Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus and others) omit the word "and," so that it reads:

  • DARBY: Praise our God, all ye his bondmen, [and] ye that fear him, small and great.
  • NIV: Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!
  • RSV: Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.

The word translated in the OP as "servants" is doulos, literally "slave." This does not rule out willing or joyful service but it is important to know that the text is not speaking of freemen, but of bond-servants of God.

Finally, the idea of fearing God in both Jewish and Christian tradition is not so one-dimensional as the word literally implies. It also carries a connotation of standing in awe and reverence:

Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. (Ps 33:8-9).

Because 1) some ancient manuscripts omit the conjunction "and" which raises the OP's question, 2) the servants in question are actually bondsmen, and 3) "fear" can also men awe and reverence, the better reading is probably not to make a distinction between those who serve and those who "fear."

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There are two possibilities:

  1. The καὶ (and) should not be in the text

If this is true, then Rev 19:5 offers three descriptions of the same group of people instructed to praise our God, namely:

  • all His servants (compare similar titles in Rev 1:1, 2:20, 7:3, 10:7, 11:18, 15:3, 19:2, 22;3, 6, Acts 2:18, 4:29, 16:17, Luke 2:29, 1 Peter 2:16, etc) a common designation for God's people
  • all who fear Him (compare Luke 1:50, 18:2, 4, Acts 10:35, 1 Peter 2:17, Rev 14:7, 19:5, 11:18, etc) a common designation for God's people
  • from the least to greatest (a common hendiadys meaning "everyone" in that class, ie, those that are servants of God that fear Him, eg, Acts 10:8, 26:22, Heb 8:11, Rev 11:18, 19:5, etc.)
  1. The καὶ (and) IS part of the original text

If this is true, then it is possible to see the phrase, "servant of God" as a technical phrase for the prophets specifically as in Rev 10:7, 11:18, 15:3, 22:9, Acts 2:18, 4:29, 16:7, Titus 1:1, 2 Cor 4:5, etc.

Thus, Rev 19:5 would be saying that the following two groups must fear our God:

  • God's servants the prophets, AND
  • all those that fear Him, both small and great

My personal preference is the first possibility above. However, regardless of which text is correct, the result is the same - all God's people (whether prophets or not) must praise God.

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