The trouble with that is that there are multiple occasions where Jesus received and accepted worship. We cant just dismiss that as homage due to the fact that Peter knew full well to only worship God and Peter refused worship - same word- proskuneo- from Cornelius and his reason was "because I too am a MAN".
Acts 10:26-
But Peter helped him up, saying, “Stand up; I, too, am just a man.”
The Lord Jesus never said any such thing when worshipped.
Peter worshipped Jesus. He knew.
Just as the angel refused proskuneo from John- Peter refused proskuneo from Cornelius. Yet-Jesus always received proskuneo.
As to angels- no I would never think that mere homage is being spoken of there. They are
angels who are above man- they certainly know who
created them-
(John 1 and Col 1- Heb 1) you deny this. like I said it's a real problem.
Revelation 5---
13And I heard
every creature in heaven and
on earth and
under the earth and
in the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To Him who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power
forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshipped.
as to your verse- it's Isaiah 60:14 fulfillment-
“The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you the city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
I see this as
their being humbled by God - His church, being called,
the New Jerusalem- the Zion of God-
Isaiah 45:23
By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance.
Philippians 2:10
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Psalm 95:6
Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
Romans 14:11
It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.”
Psalm 22-
28For the kingdom is the LORD’S,
And He rules over the nations.
29All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
30Posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
31They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.
That's enough for now- I'm sure you know of all of the places in the NT where Jesus received and accepted worship (proskuneo). Four simple questions for you to contemplate , RMan-
In the NT,
1. Do angels accept proskuneo?
2. Do godly men accept proskuneo?
3. Who do the angels say we are to give proskuneo only to?
4. Does The Lord Jesus accept proskuneo?
The issue with your perspective here seems to be that you are assuming the premise proves the conclusion. You are essentially saying that every instance of προσκυνέω (proskyneō) directed toward Jesus must mean it's the kind of worship that belongs exclusively God. We will soon see it doesn't.
As pointed out in my previous post, this word essentially means to bow down or kneel in the sense of paying homage. In Scripture, many recipients who are clearly not God receive
proskyneō so the mere presence of this word cannot establish deity.
Let's take a look at your premise and see if it makes sense.
In Revelation 3:9, the synagogue of Satan will be made to give proskyneō (worship) to the church of Philadelphia. Did God perpetuate idolatry and suggest the church would be getting worshipped as God just because the church accepted the worship?
In 1 Sam 24:8 (LXX) David gave proskyneō to King Saul. Did king Saul act as Lord God Almighty because he accepted the same thing that Jesus did?
In 1 Kings 1:23 (LXX) Nathaniel gave proskyneō to King David. Did Nathaniel willingly and knowingly give the kind of worship reserved exclusively for God to King David, and David knowingly accepted it with a smile?
The point I am really trying to make here is that bowing in Hebrews culture is not always considered an act of God worship or meant to convey the idea that the giver and recipient of proskyneō believe they are being worshipped as God. So you can't just say "Jesus was worshipped, that means he is God" because that isn't how it works.
With that being said, let's look at some of the examples you used. Please be patient because I am going to point out how you've quoted things out of context.
In Revelation 5:13, you didn't include the fact that the Lamb is not the Throne Sitter who is being worshipped. So let's rewind a bit. Revelation 5:7 says "And He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne." You can read forward from there and see that where they are worshipping is not where the Lamb is seated, rather where they are worshipping is the One on the throne the Lamb came and took the scroll from.
In Philippians 2:10, I would like to draw your attention to this part "that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth" that you are attempting to conflate with Isaiah 45:23, Psalm 22:9, Romans 14:11, etc where it says they will bow before God. The issue is that
Philippians 2:10 doesn't say they will bow before Jesus. It says "
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow..."
Bowing at the name of Jesus is not the same statement as bowing to Jesus. "At the name" refers to the authority by which everyone will bow to the Father, hence Philippians 2:11 says "and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."
So you have not made a 1:1 connection between bowing to God and bowing to Jesus. I don't see your argument as convincing.
I will leave you with a thought on the only instruction in the NT regarding worship. Who did Jesus teach to worship in spirit and truth?
John 4
23But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.
24God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
