BIBLE
DIGEST - Number 90 November
1998
THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA
THE FIRST AND THE LAST
By Allon Maxwell
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"I am the Alpha and
the Omega,(1) says the Lord God,(2) who
is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8 RSV) (1) KJV & NKJV add here, "the beginning and the ending".
A margin note in NKJV excludes it. It is omitted from RSV, NIV, NASB, NEB. (2) RSV, NIV, NASB, NEB say "Lord God". KJV and NKJV omit "God". "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and
heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am the Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last:"(3) (Revelation 1:10-11 KJV) (3) RSV, NIV, NASB, NEB exclude "Alpha and Omega, the first and
the last". It is included by NKJV. "I saw ..... one like a son
of man, ..... saying, “Fear not, I am the first and
the last" Who is the "Alpha
and Omega" in Revelation 1:8?
Who is the "first and the last" in Revelation
1:17? Is it the same person
speaking in both verses? Do these words "prove" that Jesus is God? THE MEANING OF THE
WORDS "Alpha and Omega",
"the
beginning and the end", and "the first and
the last", appear to mean essentially the same
thing. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says that the meaning
is simply that God begins and ends all things. All three phrases are used together
in Revelation 22:13. However, it is poor
logic to suggest that when the same words are spoken in different places, by two
different identities, those two MUST therefore be the same person! Nevertheless,
that is what some theologians do with the three Bible verses which are the subject
of this paper! THE OLD TESTAMENT
SOURCE We should note at
the beginning, that Revelation 1:8
is NOT part of John's vision. It is part of his introduction to
the vision. God calls Himself
the "First and last" in Isaiah 41:4, Isaiah
44:6, Isaiah 48:12.
We need to read those verses in their context in Isaiah, to understand who is
speaking in Revelation 1:8, and why John has
included it in his introduction. In Isaiah, the words
are spoken by the LORD. (YAHWEH in the Hebrew) The word "LORD" (in upper
case letters) in the Old Testament, ALWAYS refers to the ONE GOD, who is described
in what Jesus calls the "first and greatest commandment of all". (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Mark
12:29) This LORD says of
Himself “There is no God beside me.” (Deuteronomy 32:39) Jesus prays to Him as "The only true
God". (John 17:3)
And Paul says of Him "There is but one God, the Father."
(1 Corinthians 8:6) We have already
discovered (see Bible Digest No 89) that in other parts of the Apocalypse, John
has taken care to identify The Lord God Almighty and Jesus, as two separate beings.
Further careful study of the Scriptures will provide abundant evidence, in both
Old and New Testaments, that Jesus is someone else, quite distinct from the ONE
GOD who is called The LORD. So Revelation 1:8 is NOT spoken by Jesus. Rather it has been
included by John, to point us back in time, to the LORD who "calls generations
from the beginning". (Isaiah
41:4) whose word stands for ever (Isaiah 40:8) who spoke of the coming of John the
Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus (Isaiah 40:3-5,
Luke 3:4-6) who declares new things before they
come to pass (Isaiah 42:8-9) who announced
from of old the things that are to come (Isaiah
44:7) whose counsel has stood the test of time, and who has accomplished
His ancient plan and purpose for His Son. (Isaiah
46:9-11) In Isaiah, God is
the author of the prophecies it contains. They all begin
with God. He is the "first", the "alpha",
the "beginning". And God is the one who will bring
them all to pass. When that happens, He is the "last",
the "omega", the "end". By quoting these
words, John is reminding us that all prophecy begins and ends with God. And He
is claiming that his Apocalypse has the same origin, status, and authority as
the Old Testament prophecies. They are from the same God who spoke through Isaiah. And he later claims
that his vision provides the key to understand many of the things they foretold.
(Revelation 1:17-18) NOW THE VISION STARTS "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and
I heard behind me a loud voice saying, “Write what you see in a book.....” Then
I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven
golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of
man." (Revelation 1:10-13) Those words "one
like a son of man" point us to Daniel 7:13. John uses them to identify Jesus
as the fulfilment of Daniel's prophetic vision. "One like a
son of man" (Jesus) came to the "Ancient of
Days" (God) and was given everlasting dominion and glory and kingdom.
(John tells us more about that in Revelation 5:6-14.)
Clearly, in Daniel's vision, Jesus is NOT the Ancient of days! Instead, John has
identified Him as the "Son of Man", the one who is to inherit the Kingdom
..... the Messiah. "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though
dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and
the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore,
and I have the keys of Death and Hades."
(Revelation 1:17-18) This time it is
Jesus speaking. Only He could say "I died and ..... am alive for evermore."
Not even the Lord God Almighty can say of Himself that He died! However, in Revelation 5:6-7, John distinguishes between God and
Jesus as two separate identities. And in John
17:3, (same author!) Jesus specifically declared His Father to
be the ONLY TRUE GOD. We should understand therefore, that in Revelation 1:17-18, Jesus CANNOT be making any claim
at all, that He Himself is GOD. Why then does He speak in the first person, to
say "I am the first and the last",
using a title which in the Old Testament, is applied only to His Father? The simple answer
is that this is a claim to DELEGATED AUTHORITY from God, to stand in place of
God, and speak for God. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
(Matthew 28:18, Philippians 2:9-11) It is the same delegated
authority by which the angel spoke in the first person to Moses at the burning
bush, (Exodus 3:2-6) and by which Moses
"became
God to Pharoah", (Exodus
7:1) and by which Judges were called "god" in Exodus 21:6 (KJV). (4) (4) See Bible Digest 88. GOD SPEAKS AGAIN The words "ALPHA
AND OMEGA" are used again in Revelation 21:6. We are not left
in doubt about who is speaking. It is "the one who sits upon the throne".
(Identified as The Lord God Almighty in Revelation chapter 4)
This identity is confirmed by the quotation of words spoken by the LORD, from
2 Samuel 7:14, "I will be his
God and he shall be my son." (Revelation
21:7) Jesus is NOT the one who made that promise to David. Rather,
He is both the subject, and the fulfilment of the
promise. That is Good News for us! We also are invited by Jesus to share the throne
with Him. (Revelation 3:21) ONE LAST TIME The words are used
one last time, in the concluding chapter of the book. This time it is Jesus speaking,
not in person, but through an angel, who speaks in the first person as agent for
Jesus. "I am coming soon, bringing my recompense,
to repay every one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first
and the last, the beginning and the end."
(Revelation 22:12-13) We remind ourselves
again, that in speaking thus Jesus is NOT claiming to be God. Instead, He is saying
that when He does come back to earth, He is coming to fulfil the task to which
He is appointed by God. He will stand in place of God, speak for God, and administer
Judgement. He is THE MAN by whom, Paul tells us, GOD will judge the world. (See
Acts 17:31) Finally, when that
work is completed, Jesus will, Paul says, remain eternally subject to His Father,
that God alone may truly be EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE The
LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, the God of Creation, The Alpha and the Omega ...... the beginning
and the end ...... the first and the last! |