The term “Alpha and Omega” to refer to God comes from three verses in Revelation. In these verses, Jesus is proclaiming Himself to the Apostle John. He is declaring the culmination of history, and His authority over it.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:12-13
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Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
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Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
“Alpha” is the first of the 24 letters in the Greek alphabet; “Omega” is the last 1. So, “Alpha and Omega” are the equivalent to the English saying “From A to Z”. Jesus is saying that He is all-encompassing. Notice the other terms He uses: “who is and who was and who is to come“, “the Almighty“, “the first and the last“, “the beginning and the end“. Isaiah used the same “first and last” terminology to refer to God; see Isaiah 41:4, 44:6-8 and 48:12-13. The same idea is also presented in Isaiah 46:9-10. There is nothing in all creation that is outside of His scope.
We should not gloss over that scope. Let’s take a closer look at it.
The Speaker
First, exactly who is speaking in these verses? Revelation 1:1-8 is the introduction to the book recording John’s vision, and that is called:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John…
Revelation 1:1 (emphasis added)
See the confusion? It continues.
The Lord God
The book starts with a typical salutation “Grace and peace to you“. That salutation asks these blessings from three sources: “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 faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth“. The opening goes on to further describe and praise Jesus as the One who “loves us and released us from our sins by His blood” and who “is coming with the clouds“. Then follows one of our focal verses, Revelation 1:8, which says that “the Lord God” is the speaker. It does so without indicating whether it means one of the above, or the Triune God who is all of the above.
Next, John hears “a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet” and sees a mysterious, magnificent man (Revelation 1:10-16). That man tells John “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18) At this point, it seems obvious (to me, anyway) that John is meeting with the risen and glorified Jesus, and is describing Him with figurative language that repeats the “first and last” theme associated with God.
He Who Sits on the Throne
The second focal verse, Revelation 21:6, is toward the end of the vision. It is a continuation from verse 5, where the speaker is “He who sits on the throne“. That throne is prominent throughout the book, from its introduction in chapter 4 to the judgment at the Great White Throne in chapter 20. Chapter 5 introduces a Lamb who is separate from the One on the throne, but Who also receives the same kind of worship: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The worship in chapter 7 intertwines the Lamb (Jesus) even more tightly with the throne:
They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Revelation 7:16-17 (emphasis added)
The One Who is Coming Quickly
The third verses, Revelation 22:12-13, are the most confusing. In the previous section, an angel has been showing John the New Jerusalem, with its gates of pearl and streets of gold. At the end of that tour, in Revelation 22:7-16, verse 7 says “Behold, I am coming quickly.” The phrase “coming quickly” is used elsewhere in Revelation as spoken by Jesus, in the message to the church at Philadelphia (3:7-13) and again at the very end of book (22:20).
In verses 8 and 9, John bows at the feet of the angel to worship, but the angel says (my paraphrase) “Don’t worship me. I’m just a servant. Worship God.” Verses 12 and 13 are our focus. Verse 16 quotes “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches.” When is the messenger-angel speaking, and when is Jesus? Or is the angel never speaking for himself, other than to reject John’s worship? Is everything else the angel says directly conveying Jesus’ words, as if Jesus Himself is the true speaker?
The language in which this book was originally written, an older form of Greek called “koine Greek“, does not have any quotation marks. There is no specific punctuation to tell when a quote is beginning or ending; it has to be inferred from the context. Any English quotation marks in our Bibles are added by the translators, using their best judgment. That is also the case with the red font indicating words spoken by Jesus; the Greek manuscripts aren’t color-coded. So when reading passages like these, we must also use our own judgment, humbly depending on the Spirit for guidance.
The Message
While the academic discussion of speakers and quotations is interesting and challenging, we still end up with the same message. God — Father, Son, and Spirit as one nature in three Persons — is everything. He is Alpha-and-Omega, A-to-Z, beginning-and-end, first-and-last, is/was/is-to-come. There was nothing before Him. There will never be anything after Him. He is — and always has been — there and in control throughout everything in between. “In Him, we live, and move, and have our being.” (Acts 17:24-31)
Rolled into that message is the reality of who Jesus is. We usually see Him most as a man, born in Bethlehem, killed in Jerusalem, and raised from the dead in victory over sin. Interwoven with that, however, is the fact that He is God, the active agent in creation (John 1:3, Colossians 1:15-20), the one-and-only Savior, and the final Judge when this tiny slice of “Time” ends and the rest of Eternity continues.
That truth gives incentive to pay attention to Him, doesn’t it? When He speaks, we should listen! What He promises, we can trust. When we realize the incredible fact that He loves and redeems us, and is waiting to welcome us into life with Him, we can only worship.
This song by the Gaither Vocal Band describes it well. All of the Bible declares this truth, and we will one day join in its praise to the Alpha and Omega!
Note: Other similar articles on this site include “Sovereignty of God“, “God Is“, and “History“.
Footnotes and Scripture References
- Here is the Greek alphabet in order by the name-word of each letter. See this article for what the upper- and lower-case letters look like, their closest English equivalents, and how they are pronounced.
alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega
