Revelation 1:7-8, 17, 22:12-17
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. So it is to be. Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
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, so 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 descendant of David, the bright morning star.” 17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
The phrase “Alpha and the Omega” has an OT background in the prophet Isaiah. It was used in Isa. 40-48 to establish that Yahweh is the true God that stands over history. This is used to states the deity of the Father (Rev. 21:6) then a fortiori it is evidence for the deity of the Son.
The purpose of v 8 is to emphasize God’s sovereignty over all history by repeating the threefold description of God found in v 4a and by explaining its meaning by the addition of two further phrases. This emphasis serves as a basis for what has been said in v 7, since it is only with the presupposition of an omnipotent God that such a confident assertion about the consummation of history can be made. This divine omnipotence is also the basis for the similar confident affirmation about the accomplishment of God’s glory in v 6b. τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ (“the Alpha and the Omega”) is a figure of speech called a merism (a merism states polar opposites in order to highlight everything between the opposites). Similar merisms are ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος (“the Beginning and the End,” 21:6; 22:13) and πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος (“the First and the Last,” 22:13; cf. 1:17). These merisms express God’s control of all history, especially by bringing it to an end in salvation and judgment. The use of the first and last letters of the alphabet was typical of the ancients in expressing merisms. Jews could, for instance, refer thus, using the Hebrew alphabet, to the whole law, saying that it should be kept “from aleph to tau.”
The “Alpha-Omega” merism could well have been formulated through reflection on similar clauses in Isaiah 41–48. ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος (“the First and the Last”) in Rev. 1:17b is based on the same Isaianic wording (cf. Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12), and the threefold phrase repeated from v 4 in v 8b also has a link with Isaiah (see above on v 4). The God who transcends time guides the entire course of history because he stands as sovereign over its beginning and its end.
Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 199). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.
Even if Revelation 1:8 is in reference to the Father(which is most likely the case) it is an argument for the Deity of the Son in other ways. For example, John uses the same phrases and applies them equally to the Son to show they are equally Divine:
A neglected aspect of the titles for God here is “Lord.” It should be connected with “I am” to stress God as the Yahweh of the OT. The “I am” is emphasized here by the presence of Ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi, I am), used throughout the Gospel of John to emphasize the deity of Christ and to recall the sacred Tetragrammaton YHWH of Exod. 3: 14. The God who speaks is Yahweh, Lord of the universe. As Swete (1911: 11) notes, “LORD God” is commonly used in the prophets, especially Ezekiel, and is fitting in this prophetic prologue. The next title, “who is and who was and who is to come,” repeats the title from verse 4 and once again brings in the nuance of the eternal God who unites past, present, and future under his sovereign control. The final title, ὁ παντοκράτωρ (ho pantokratōr, the Almighty), provides a fitting conclusion for the preface. In the LXX it frequently translates the OT title “LORD of Hosts” (cf. 2 Sam. 5: 10; Jer. 5: 14; Amos 3: 13; et al.), stressing throughout the prophets the omnipotence and authority of God over all earthly forces.
Osborne, Grant R.. Revelation (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) (Kindle Locations 1972-1981). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Tyler Vela argues that one of the themes in Revelation is the hearing/seeing motif. The reason why it is relevant is that in verse 17 Jesus is seen to be the “Alpha and the Omega”. If this trend is correct in the book then Christ is according to John’s scheme the substance of being the “Alpha and the Omega”.
One of the more compelling arguments in my estimation is the pervasive motif of hear/see found in John’s Apocalypse. An apocalypse (ἀποκάλυψις) is the pulling back of the curtain to reveal what was mysterious or hidden before. It is to give substance to what was foreshadowed or hinted at – not necessarily in the river of time predictive sense, but in the fuller disclosure sense. Apocalyptic literature will often reflect on historical events, survey current events, or look forward to future events, and pull back the curtain to reveal the activities of heaven during that time. This means that the motif of hearing a shadow and then seeing the substance is ready built for this genre of literature and John makes full use of it. Repeatedly through this book, we are told that John hears X but when he looks, he sees Y. He hears the concept, then he sees the substance. In fact, that is John’s commission in 1:19 – he is to hear and then write what he sees. We can give numerous examples, but these will suffice. In 1:10, John hears a voice like a trumpet and in 1:12-13 he turns and sees that it is one like the Son of Man walking among the lampstands. In 5:5, John hears of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of Jesse who has overcome, and when he looks, he sees a lamb that looks as though it had been slain. In 5:9-10, John hears the proclamation that the lamb has made men from every tribe to be a kingdom and a priesthood to God. Then, in v11 he looks at the innumerable myriad of elders serving and worshiping before the throne. In 9:16 he hears the number of the armies from the East, then in 9:17 he sees their appearance. John even describes this motif during the summary in 22:8, where he writes that his role was to hear and see. Needless to say, this motif of hearing and then seeing the substance is a major one throughout the book. This is relevant to our question because we notice that in Rev 7:4-8, John only hears the number of the 12 tribes. He does not see them assemble. However, in 7:9 when he looks, he sees the great multitude from every nation, tribe, peoples and tongues standing before the throne of God to worship the lamb – pure and clothed in white (likely a symbol of purity parallel to the purity of not being defiled by women in the list of the same group mentioned later in chapter 14). So, from this motif of hear/see, we can reasonably link the two groups and shadow and substance. John heard the number and then saw the reality – that the church is without exacting measure.
The Council 