The verb used is intended to trigger in the hearer’s mind the image of someone bending to acknowledge a superior. God is superior to earthlings not only because of the events detailed in Revelation 12:7–9, but also because this God made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.
Heaven and earth appeared in Revelation 12:1–17 as the battleground between God and Satan, with Satan expelled from heaven and now limited to the earth. The sea was the source of the first beast of Revelation 13:1–18. The angel does not hesitate to describe even places from which evil now originates as once created by God himself. Even the springs of water,
mankind’s go-to places to find life-giving water on this earth, were formed by his hand. Since he formed them all, all are under his dominion. Given such majesty, it is fitting that every earthling worships him.
7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”