Jesus Christ THE FIRST and THE LAST
This is the strongest evidence from the words of Jesus Christ Himself, that He
is YHWH.
In
the Book of Revelation, there are at least three references where Jesus says of
Himself, that He is “THE FIRST AND THE LAST”:
Revelation 1:17-18
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on
me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the
First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive
forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades”
Revelation 2:8
“Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: “The
First and the Last, the One who was dead and came to life, says”
Revelation 22:13
“I
am the Alpha and the Omega, the First
and the Last, the Beginning and the End”
The words, “egō eimi ho prōtos kai ho eschatos”, mean that Jesus Christ is The
Eternal God. The Greek scholar, Dr Joseph Thayer, who was a Unitarian, and
denied that Jesus Christ is God, says this of this phrase in his Greek Lexicon
“absolutely (i. e. without a noun) and substantively; α. with the article: ὁ
πρῶτος καί ὁ ἔσχατος, i. e. the eternal One, Rev. 1:17; Rev. 2:8; Rev. 22:13”
THE ETERNAL ONE, which can only be used for YHWH.
Even more stronger is what Jesus goes on to say, in Revelation 1:18, “zōn
eimi”, which is Periphrastic present
active indicative, literally, “I am the
Ever-Living One,”, or, “I am the
Eternal One”.
In
the Greek Old Testament, known as the Septuagint (LXX), translated by Jewish
scholars over 100 years before the Birth of Jesus Christ, Exodus 3:14, reads:
“egō eimi ho ōn”, literally, “I am The
Eternal One”. The Greek verb “ōn”, meaning, “timeless, continuance
present”. This best describes what the Hebrew is saying. The Jewish Greek
versions in the 2nd century AD (Aquila and Theodotion), knew the
force of what the LXX wrote, and translated the Hebrew as, “εσομαι (ὃς) εσομαι”,
which is the future tense of “εἰμί”, which is, “I will be that I will be”.
This is what Jesus says to the Jews in John 8:58, “prin Abraam genesthai egō
eimi”, which is literally, “Before Abraham came into existence, I AM”. The Jews
clearly understood what Jesus meant here, as referring to Exodus 3:14, as they
wanted to stone Him to death for what He said (verse 59), which they thought was
blasphemy.
In
Acts 3:15, the Apostle Peter says of Jesus Christ;
“and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are
witnesses” (NKJV)
“Prince” is in the Greek, “archēgon”, which is defined by Dr Thayer:
“the
author: τῆς ζωῆς, Act. 3:15”
That is, The One Who Give Life, as John says in his Gospel, “In
Him was Life; and the Life was the light of men” (1:4). That is, in the
Person of Jesus Christ is The SOURCE of all life”. Instead of “τῆς ζωῆς” (was
Life), there is very strong and old evidence for the reading, “ζωὴ ἐστιν” (IS
Life), which dates from the 2nd century AD.
The Jewish Encyclopaedia, has some very interesting comments on the Name YHWH:
“The meaning would, therefore, be "He
who is self-existing, self-sufficient," or, more concretely, "He
who lives," the abstract conception of pure existence being foreign to
Hebrew thought. There is no doubt that the idea of life was intimately connected
with the name Yhwh from early times. He
is the living God, as contrasted with the lifeless gods of the heathen, and
He is the source and author of life
(comp. I Kings xviii.; Isa. xli. 26-29, xliv. 6-20; Jer. x. 10, 14; Gen. ii. 7;
etc.)”
In
the Hebrew and English Lexicon, by F Brown, S R Driver and C A Briggs, we read
of "Yahweh, the proper name of the God of Israel...the
one bringing into being, life-giver,
giver of existence, creator, he who brings to pass...he who causes...the one who
is: i.e. the absolute and
unchangeable one, the existing, ever-living" (pages 217-218)
What Jesus Christ says of Himself in the Book of Revelation, is also said of
YHWH in the Prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 41:4
“Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning?
I, Yahweh, am the first, and with the
last—I am He.”
Isaiah 44:6
“This is what
Yahweh, the King of Israel and its
Redeemer, Yahweh of Hosts, says:
I am the first and I am the last. There
is no God but Me”
Isaiah 48:12
“Listen to Me, Jacob, and Israel,
the one called by Me: I am He; I am the
first, I am also the last”
From verse 16, the last reference is Spoken by Jesus Christ, Who says that
Another Person, Who is distinct from Himself, “Yah·weh ’ă·ḏō·nāy”, has Sent
Himself and His Spirit. This Person can only be God the Father.
We
read of Jesus’ own words in Revelation 22:13, which are also used in 21:5-7:
“And
He who sits on the Throne said,
"Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are
faithful and true." 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. "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and
I will be his God and he will be My
child”
It
is very clear from the passages in Revelation and Isaiah, that there are TWO
distinct Persons Who are EQUALLY YHWH, The Father and Jesus Christ. Anyone who
still says that Jesus Christ is “inferior” to the Father, is clearly
contradicting what is very clearly taught in the Inspired, Infallible, Word of
God!