Dear Craig,
Thanks
again for your intriguing questions; coincidentally I have a Bible study
recently finished that explains the meaning of Revelation 1:8; just click onto
this link:
The Alpha and The Omega:
Contrasting God and Jesus in Revelation Chapters 1 through 5
In
the study link you will find a very comprehensive answer to your question and
additional thorough and accurate information about the obvious contrasts and
difference between Jesus the man and God Almighty. Comparisons between God and Jesus in the Book of Revelation are
especially important, because at the time it was written, Jesus had already
ascended into heaven, and was seated at the Father’s right hand for many
years. Before I answer you question
about the word “Almighty” in Revelation 1:8 let’s begin by establishing the context
of chapter one:
Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show
to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and
communicated {it} by His angel to His bond-servant John. (NAS)
GOD
gave the
revelation TO Jesus Christ; if Jesus was truly “God” why does he need
another “God” to give him the revelation?
This fact alone proves Jesus Christ is lesser in knowledge than
God. The Trinitarian camp and the Jesus
is God camp simply cannot explain Revelation 1:1. Put another way, let’s illustrate by changing names and replacing
them with simple modern ones:
·
The
Revelation of Bob, which Sam gave him…
In
this example, Sam gave Bob the revelation; if we use the Jesus is God logic,
the sentence would read, “The Revelation of Bob, which Bob gave to himself…” I
know it’s an absurd choice of examples, and that’s my point. To say Jesus is “God” based on the context
is flat out contradictory. I want to
continue examining the verses that precede verse 8 because the context clearly
establishes 1:8 is NOT referring to Jesus Christ but rather God the Father, who
IS the ONLY Almighty (Pantokrátœr) in the New Testament.
Revelation 1:2 who bore witness to the word of God AND
to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all
that he saw. (NAS)
The
contrast between God Almighty and Jesus the man in Revelation 1:2 is the use of
the conjunction, “AND,” which serves to join two distinctly separate
phrases. The word “AND”
separates the phrase, “the word of God,” from the phrase, “the testimony of
Jesus.” The apostle John, bore witness
to distinct separate beings; God Almighty and Jesus the man. Next in verses 4-6 he again makes the
distinction between different three separate personages. I have color coded the verse to show clearly
the distinctive differences; Blue = God Almighty; Purple = the seven spirits and Red = Jesus the man, firstborn
from among the DEAD (NOTE, God cannot
ever be “born” or be “dead”). The
dissimilarity between God and Jesus is the them all thru the Book of
Revelation, as you will see.
Revelation 1:4-6 John TO the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and
peace, from Him (God
the Father) who is and who was and who is to come;
AND from the
seven Spirits who are before His
throne; AND from Jesus
Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of
the dead, AND the ruler of the kings of the
earth. To him (Jesus) who loves
us, and released us from our sins by his blood,
AND he (Jesus) has made us to be a kingdom, priests to
his God and Father; to him (God the Father) be the glory and the
dominion forever and ever. Amen. (NAS)
John writes his apocalypse in very clear terms; he
addresses the “seven churches” in Asia, and then qualifies exactly to whom and from
WHOM each message was given. First he
gives supreme recognition to God the Father by addressing Him as, “Him who is
and who was and who is to come.” Many
Christians mistake this phrase as referring to Jesus without carefully reading
the grammatical structure of the paragraph.
The paragraph reads, “…Him who is and who was and who is to come AND
FROM Jesus Christ.”
The words, “and from,” are used as a
conjunction but also to differentiate between three separate parties mentioned;
by definition a conjunction not only joins phrases but also divides and
separates. This alone PROVES Jesus is
not the same as God, and later, in Revelation 1:8, this is verified. The message is TO the seven churches
and FROM the following THREE parties:
·
From
Him who is and who was and who is to come
·
AND
from the seven Spirits who are before His throne
·
AND
from Jesus Christ the first-born of the dead AND the ruler of
the kings of the earth
Notice carefully the word “from” is omitted after
the conjunction “AND” the ruler of the kings…” The reason for this is quite
simple; the message is not “from” a fourth party, but this is a second role
description of Jesus who is the “ruler” of the kings of “earth.” Notice he is not called the ruler of the
kings in “heaven.” Also, FYI the word
“ruler” aptly defined means, “magistrate.”
To verify this meaning, look at the definition of a
magistrate from Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, which was written in the same
era as most all other Bible reference tools such as Strong’s Exhaustive
Concordance of the Old & New Testaments, Englishman’s Hebrew & Greek
Concordances and many more. Therefore
the 1828 version of Webster’s is more apt to convey the most accurate meaning
of magistrate or in Revelation 1:5, “the ruler,” as used by the translators of
most modern Bibles.
MAGISTRATE, n. [L. magistratus, from magister, master; magis, major,
and ster, Teutonic steora, a director; steoran, to steer; the
principal director.] A public civil
officer, invested with the executive government of some branch of it. In
this sense, a king is the highest or first magistrate, as is the President of
the United States. But the word
is more particularly applied to subordinate officers, as governors,
intendants, prefects, mayors, justices of the peace, and the like. The
magistrate must have his reverence; the laws their authority. MAGISTRATIC adjective = Having the authority
of a magistrate.
Now refer to the actual Greek word used in
Revelation 1:5 for “ruler” and you will see it is defined as one vested with
authority and therefore subordinate to a higher power; in other words, Jesus is
the ruler of the earthly kings but he is a glorified man and therefore
subordinate to the Father who alone is God Almighty.
Rev 1:5 - “ruler” = archon NT: 758; present participle of NT: 757; a first
(in rank or power):KJV - chief (ruler), magistrate, prince, ruler. (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers
and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994,
Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
God
the Father, who is also known as Yahweh in the OT, is the One, “who is,”
because in Exodus 3:14 He tells Moses His name, saying, “I AM THAT I AM.” This is an incomplete translation of the
Hebrew wording, “Ehyeh Asshur Ehyeh.”
This Hebrew term is more accurately translated as, “I exist {present
tense} as what I AM, and what I have always existed as {in the past tense}, and
what I will continue to exist as {in the future}.” This Hebrew phrase matches the Greek
equivalent description in Revelation 1:4 perfectly as, “Him who is {in the present} and who was {in the
past} and who is to come {in the future}.” .
Jesus
cannot be God Almighty if he is the firstborn from among the dead!
Second, in order of rank and importance, John writes concerning Jesus by
calling him, “the faithful witness, the first-born of
the dead,” who, “released us from our sins by
his blood.” Again as mentioned
earlier, God cannot die, nor does He have blood like a man.
In
Revelation 1:5 Jesus is not God BECAUSE he made a kingdom of priests to, “his God.” Jesus has made his church to be a kingdom,
priests, “to his God and Father.” How could Jesus be “God” in heaven if his
kingdom belongs to, “his God and
Father?”
John
says that Jesus released us from our sins through his
blood, and made us to be “priests” to “his
God.” A “priest” is someone that
mediates or reconciles men to God; therefore a
priest cannot be God. As we
continue our context leading up to Revelation 1:8 in Revelation 1:7 we find
that Jesus was pierced in the side & God cannot
be pierced! Why? Because God is SPIRIT.
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the
earth will mourn over him. Even so.
Amen. (NAS)
Revelation 1:7 refers to Jesus Christ as a man, not
as God, because 1:6 says Jesus released us from our sins, “by his blood” (an obvious reference to his
crucifixion). The kingdom of “God” is
NOT flesh and “blood,” which means this passage refers to Jesus as a man. Also, the text deals with Christ’s future
“coming” in which “every eye will see him, even those who
pierced him.” Jesus is not God
because God cannot be pierced, primarily because God is a Spirit being and He
does not have a body of flesh and bones that can be punctured by nails or
spears. Proof? The following verses help clarify and
punctuate this point:
John 4:23-24 “But an hour is coming, and
now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth;
for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and
those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (NAS)
John 1:18 No one
has seen God at any time. The
only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (NKJV)
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness
was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God
was moving over the surface of the waters. NAS
If Jesus is God and every eye will see him, doesn’t
that contradict John 1:18 that says, “No one has seen
God at any time?” Obviously God
has been a “Spirit,” since the very beginning, as illustrated in Genesis
1:1. Jesus reveals the Father to us,
because he is a man in submission to the SPIRIT of God, and therefore we learn
of the invisible God’s character or likeness (i.e. – What God is “like” such as
His compassion, mercy, forgiveness, etc.) through the example of the MAN.
Okay,
now I will answer your question about Revelation 1:8; you asked me:
The
answer is that Revelation 1:8 is NOT Jesus speaking; it is the Father God
speaking, as I will prove from the text internal evidence:
Revelation 1:8 “I am the
Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who
is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (NAS)
The
MAIN reason this verse is God speaking and not Jesus is the phrase, “the Lord
God…the Almighty.” Jesus Christ is
NEVER referred to as the “Almighty.”
Not one single place in the entire New Testament can you find Jesus
described as the “Almighty” One; the Greek word for Almighty is “Pantokrator,”
and means, “All ruling one.”
Furthermore
Revelation 1:8 is a reference to God the Father (aka in the OT as Yahweh,
Elohim, El, Eloah, etc) as the Creator, who is He that was in the beginning
(alpha) and end of everything (omega) which has been created, including the
creation of His son Jesus (read Genesis. 1:1).
I
don’t know where Christians get it in the head that alpha and omega have
anything to do with deity. It may stem
from using only the King James Version, a Bible that has so many flaws in its
Greek translation it should never be held as credible for the serious student
of scripture. Below is the KJV
rendering of Revelation 1:8 and I have highlighted in
red the words erroneously added by the KJV translators:
Revelation 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,” saith the Lord, which is, and which
was, and which is to come, the Almighty. KJV
The New King James Version makes the following
disclosure concerning the words, “the beginning and the
ending,” in its notations for Revelation 1:8 (see below):
Revelation 1:8 * The NU-Text
and M-Text omit, “the Beginning and the End.”
(NKJV)
Since
the best manuscripts eliminate altogether the words, the beginning and the
end,” I will not bother taking time to define them. However, if you are familiar with the Textus Receptus, which is
the Greek manuscript used by the KJV translators, you will discover that much
of what they relied on for their Greek text originated from Erasmus’ work and
we know historically the Roman Catholic church pressured him to insert words
and phrases by providing him with eleventh century Latin Mss that had been
altered or doctored to validate their theological position concerning the
trinity.
Sorry
for the tangent, but I felt you might need some of these explanations for your
future confrontations. Back to
Revelation 1:8; the words, “Alpha and Omega” are simply different Greek words
representing letters in the Greek alphabet and are defined as follows:
Alpha
(al'-fah); the first letter of the Greek alphabet, sometimes signifying
the value of 1; used as a symbolic letter, with omega (See 5598 meaning the
end);
Omega (o'-meg-ah);
the last letter of the Greek alphabet, i.e. (figuratively) the finality.
As
I mentioned to you earlier the Greek word in Revelation 1:8 for “Almighty” is
Pantokrátoor. The Strong’s reference number for Pantokrátoor (NT: 3841) and it
is defined as follows (I provided definitions from two different Greek
lexicons):
ALMIGHTY = NT: 3841 pantokratoor, pantokratoros, ho; he
who holds sway over all things; the ruler of all; almighty: used of God,
2 Corinthians 6:18 (From Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database.
Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)
ALMIGHTY = NT: 3841 pantokrátœr; gen. pantokrátoros, masc.
noun from pás (3956), all, every, and krátos
(NT: 2904), power, strength, dominion. Ruler over all,
omnipotent, almighty, spoken only of God as in 2 Corinthians 6:18;
Revelation 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7,14; 19:6,15; 21:22. (From The Complete Word Study Bible and
The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament Copyright © 1991, 1992,
1994, 2002 AMG International, Inc.)
Because
Revelation 1:4 uses the identical phrase as 1:8, “who is and who was and who is
to come,” when referring to God, neither of these applies to the MAN
Christ Jesus. Revelation 1:8
simply embellishes the phrase in Revelation 1:4 by adding further details as to
the IDENTITY of Him, “who is and who was and who is to come.”
To
demonstrate my point I have taken Revelation 1:4 & Revelation 1:8 and
grouped them next to each other (below) and used highlighted
words to illustrate similarities.
Compare the two verses and you will see how accurate this conclusion is:
Revelation 1:4 From Him who is and who was and who is to
come and from the seven Spirits who are before
His throne.
NAS
Revelation 1:8 “I am
the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God,
“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” NAS
Both
verses use the phrase, “who is and who was and who is to come,” and this is
strong indication they refer to the same individual. Revelation 1:4 mentions ownership of, “His throne,” whereas
Revelation 1:8 shows His identity as the, “Lord God,” and also as, “the
Almighty.” The words Alpha and Omega
are not necessary to prove Deity since it was already proven by the description
I just explained; however, Alpha being the first letter of the Greek alphabet
shows the Lord God to be the one that started the plan of redemption and Omega
shows Him as the One that will complete it.
If
you read the study link I provided for you above, you will find more detailed
information on this topic and passage.
One area of confusion for many Christians is Revelation 1:11. The problem is that the King James Version
ADDS words that are not found in any of the early and best manuscripts. The KJV differs from other translations by
blatantly ADDING the phrase at the start of Revelation 1:11, “I am Alpha and
Omega, the first and the last.” We can
only speculate why the King James translators decided to use the late date
Latin manuscripts that erroneously add this to the text, but even the revised
King James version known today as, “The New King James Version,” makes the
following notation concerning this phrase in Revelation 1:11:
Revelation 1:11 * The NU-Text and M-Text omit, “I am Alpha and
Omega, the first and the last: and,” (NKJV)
Below
is the King James Version of Revelation 1:10-11 followed by four other credible
versions of the same two verses. Highlighted in red are words that have been ERRONEOUSLY ADDED by the King James Version, and this
was done for theological purposes, not translation purposes:
King James Version -
Revelation 1:10-11
10 I was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11
Saying, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:
and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches
which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto
Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” KJV
New American Standard Bible
- Revelation 1:10-11
10 I was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11
saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches:
to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to
Philadelphia and to Laodicea." NAS
New International Version -
Revelation 1:10-11
10 On the Lord's Day I was in
the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which
said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches:
to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and
Laodicea." (From New International Version)
American Standard Version -
Revelation 1:10-11
10 I was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet 11
saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send (it) to the seven churches:
unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto
Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. ASV
New American Standard
Updated Bible - Revelation 1:10-11
10 I was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11
saying, " Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches:
to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to
Philadelphia and to Laodicea."
NASU
All
versions except the KJV omit the words in Revelation 1:11, “I am Alpha and
Omega, the first and the last.” The
best manuscripts do not have this phrase, and therefore it should be omitted
from any credible translation. The KJV
also adds "the beginning and end" to Revelation 1:8. In both
cases the KJV translators were following the Textus Receptus. Later
manuscript discoveries demonstrated the clause was not originally there
(probably some scribe earlier for whatever reason transposed the clause from
chapter 22 both here and in verse 11). In fairness to the translators of
the KJV perhaps we should assume they were just following the Textus Receptus,
which has hundreds if not thousands of problems.
One
can only speculate, but it appears the KJV translators wanted to make a clear
connection between the phrases “Alpha and Omega” and “the first and the last,”
and whatever the individual theological position of the translators on the King
James committee, the KJV certainly corroborates the view that Christ was “God.” Trinitarian influences no doubt played some
role, since the Church of England espouses Jesus Christ as, ‘God the son’ (i.e.
- the second person of the Trinity; a co-equal God person, along with the
person of the Father & the Holy Spirit).
A ridiculous notion indeed!
What
the KJV translators did by adding the words, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first
and the last,” was to give credence to the idea that Jesus Christ is somehow
the God-man, who mysteriously created of the universe. This is an outlandish doctrine, since we can
clearly prove the very day of Jesus was conceived and his birth in a manger
(Matthew 1:17-20; Luke 2:4-16). Some
theologians have gone so far as to say that the Almighty God became a baby!
(See Chuck Swindoll’s book, “When God Became A Man.”)
Today,
it is the preconceived notion and doctrinal prejudice of Christian theologians
that defines, “the Alpha and Omega,” as “God,” in Revelation 1:11 and their
stubborn ways to use only the KJV because it adds, ‘the first and the last,’ to
the text. There are enough credible
manuscripts and study tools available for a person to find the correct
answers. Throughout its dark and sordid
past, the Roman Catholic Church concealed the scriptures from the masses, but
there has always been a few people had the passion, drive and the courage to
challenge doctrinal prejudices.
Nowadays,
people ARE beginning to ask questions.
No longer does everyone accept status quo and the advent of Bible
software have made comparing Bible translations much easier and quicker. It is important to note the discrepancies,
“the first and the last,” in Revelation 1:11 because the addition of this
phrase corroborates the “Jesus is God” doctrine. A similar phrase is used in Revelation 22:13, which does speak of
Jesus as, “Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.” However, since I mentioned it, let’s show the doctrine for what
it is, a lie of the devil to rob the Father of all the glory due His holy
Name! Read the entire text below, and
note the red highlights that point out once
again how Jesus worships God, thereby negating any claims to Deity by
theologians.
Revelation 22:8-16 And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I
heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel
who showed me these things. 9 And he said to me, "Do not do that; I
am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the
words of this book; worship God." 10 And he said to me, "Do
not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11
Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and let the one who is filthy,
still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice
righteousness; and let the one who is holy, still keep himself holy. 12 Behold, I am coming quickly, and
my reward is with me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the
beginning and the end." 14 Blessed are
those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life,
and may enter by the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs and
the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and
everyone who loves and practices lying. 16 I,
Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am
the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star." NAS
Without
going into a great amount of detail, certain facts once again testify to the
man Christ Jesus and AGAINST the, “Jesus is God” doctrine. In Revelation 22:9 we see the IDENTITY of
the voice speaking to John, and saying to him, “… I
am a fellow servant of yours and of your
brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God.”
Since this voice is the same as in Revelation 22:13, it certainly cannot
be God; rather, it is someone subservient to the Almighty admonishing the
apostle John to “worship God” just as he does.
Worship
God? If Jesus was “God” (as Trinitarian
theologians claim), then why does his voice (apparently the same voice that
claimed to be “Alpha the Omega, the first and the last”) say to “worship
God?” This verse by itself proves Jesus
is not God, but there is further proof for those who deny the truth. To further prove it is the voice of Jesus,
just a few verses later in the context of Revelation 22:16 he says, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things
for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning
star.” For more information, please
check out this study, Jesus, Descendent Of David,
Resurrected Seed Of God
God bless you greatly my dear sister in Jesus. Your hunger for truth is opening many places
for you to gain renewed strength, insight and equip you for what the Father has
in store for you.
Craig L. Bluemel
The Bible Answer Stand Ministry
Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone
who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do so courteously
& respectfully. 1 Peter 3:15
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