Why Alpha and Omega?

 Text: Rev. 1:8, 11; 22:13 

…and not the “Aleph” and the “Tau” (first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet—see Psalm 119) or the “A and the Z”? Aren’t all of these titles saying the same thing, as defined for us in the Authorized Version, namely, “the beginning and the ending” (1:8, 22:13) or “the first and the last” (1:11, 22:13)? They are, but I believe there’s a reason that God insisted on “Alpha and Omega,” a transliteration rather than a translation from the underlying Greek text, as opposed to something else or merely using “the first and the last.”

 ·         “The first and the last” doesn’t mean that God himself has a beginning and ending, but that he begins whatever has a beginning (Gen. 1:1, John 1:1-3, Col. 1:18, Rev. 3:14) and ends whatever has an ending. God precedes everything created, including angelic beings, and when anything temporal passes away and eternity continues to roll, God will be there and already have been there, since time is not linear for God like it is us, and no one can get ahead of him as “Omega.” Following is an excellent explanation of this truth from A. Berkley Michelson’s Daniel & Revelation: Riddles or Realities (1984, p. 39)?

 

“God is called the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 1:8; 21:6), which are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. We usually think of “beginning” and “end” as the chronological points of an event, but in the Book of Revelation “the beginning and the end” are God himself. God completes life just as the opening and closing letters complete the alphabet. As Christians, we must reverse our pattern of thinking about life in terms of physical beginnings and endings and consider the beginning and the ending as God, not as events. Overcoming the tendency to be event centered is difficult. Even nations and empires begin and end with certain events. But God must be central in our larger relationship with him. We must subordinate events to God; He is the originator and planner of the events of our lives.”

 

·          ·       Now let’s consider God’s use of the Greek alphabet:

 

a.      At the time of the new testament’s composition, Latin was the political language of the known world, but Greek was the common tongue, much like English is today (Eccl. 1:9-10). Note how Paul, a Hebrew, and the Roman captain communicate with one another in Greek in Acts 21:37-39. Paul chooses to address captain in Greek, rather than Latin, even though the latter is a Roman soldier, since the chances of him speaking Greek, the common tongue, were even better than him knowing Latin, which Paul, as a Roman citizen (21:39, 22:25-27) knew as well. The captain is surprised that Paul speaks Greek, which marks Paul as a man of the world, since Greek was spoken throughout the Roman world.

b.      By choosing the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, God is showing his identification with the Gentiles, from the beginning to the end of time. The nations have always been part of God’s plan, as revealed to the prophets regarding the kingdom (Mt. 25:34, Acts 3:21) and as hid in God until Paul regarding the one-body mystery in Christ (Eph. 3:9). God called out Abraham from the nations and separated Israel, but he wasn’t dispensing with the nations, just giving Israel primacy over them (Gen. 12:3). His plan was to use one nation to bring the others home, so to speak, but as we know, Israel for the most part failed in that mission.

c.       The title, then, is an affirmation that God not only identifies with Israel but with the other nations as well…forever. The Revelation describes the consummation of the kingdom program revealed in prophecy, not the mystery program revealed to Paul (its consummation is described in Eph. 1-3), and the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel and to the nations. Note how “nations” is used in Revelation 19 times, all the way into chapters 21-22, the eternal state, and “nation” twice, for a total of 21 references (3x7 for numerology students—the nations are perfected in Revelation!).

So “Alpha and Omega,” which strikingly appears only in the first and final (21-22) chapters of Revelation (!), is as full of meaning to the nations as “JEHOVAH” (Ex. 6:3, Ps. 83:18, Is. 26:4) is to Israel. The next time you see the Alpha and Omega reference or image, remember God’s claim on the Gentiles. Praise the Lord!