Daily Thought

Four times in Revelation, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet provide the title ‘Alpha and Omega’, vv. 8, 11; 21. 6; 22. 13. In each case, the title is used of the Speaker about Himself. In each case, the Speaker uses a parallel expression to reinforce the meaning, ‘the beginning and the ending’, 1. 8; 21. 6; ‘the first and the last’, 1. 11. Both phrases are added, 22. 13. Verse 8 also includes a further unfolding of the eternity of the Speaker, ‘which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty’. These explanatory expressions are added to enhance their understanding of the divine glory that is His by right.

It is noteworthy that these glories are unfolded by self-revelation. Our English word ‘alphabet’ combines the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, but the first and last letters form the title ‘Alpha and Omega’. All that a learned Greek could reveal on any subject would use the letters including and between alpha and omega. In His self-revelation, the Lord Jesus reveals an all-important truth all must grasp, that no mere man could reveal the wonder of His Person and work. Not surprisingly, in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, He is the Revealer and the Revelation.

When the Lord announced, ‘Before Abraham was, I am’, John 8. 58, the Pharisees would have stoned Him for claiming to be eternal. This title and its accompanying statements restate that claim even more emphatically. Having Abraham for their father was the great boast of His adversaries, but Abraham was not the beginning. The great un-begun Beginning, the original Cause, was Christ; and He is the great End in whom all the counsels of God will be realized. In the Revelation, the Alpha and Omega, who is, and was and is to come, is challenged as to His right to bring the divine counsel to its fulfilment, but as the Almighty, He will subdue all enmity. Men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be part of the coming scenes, Matt. 8. 11, but the Alpha and Omega will be acknowledged by them and all the blessed of His Father, 25. 34. We will also be with Him eternally, ever learning the wonder of His Person and ever responsive to give Him the glory that is His right.