About Janko Expertise I am a qualified minister of Jehovah`s Witnesses and fully capable of answering any or all questions on our faith as well as others too, and the correct understanding of the Bible,which is God`s Word.
Experience My experience with our faith is quite substantial and was introduced to it in the 1960's as a child.
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Greetings Janko,
I have a question, i would like to ask and i will be brief.
Do Jehovah and Jesus both have the title the Alpha and the Omega.
thanks for your time,
ronald
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Hello Ronald,
Thank you kindly for your question that I will be happy to answer. Yes they both can be said to be the Alpha and Omega and First and Last as well. For Jehovah it means that He is the only true God,none beside him none like him,always was and always will be.For Jesus it is meant that he was the first and last to be raised from the dead and resurrected to heaven by Jehovah himself.Two totally different meanings with the same terms.I have included this very informative article on this topic to give you a better understanding of of those true meaning of those two words with the Bibles viewpoint:
Who Is “the Alpha and the Omega”?
IN THE most ancient Greek manuscripts of the book of Revelation, the expression “the Alpha and the Omega” appears three times. Does this designation, as many believe, apply both to the Almighty God, Jehovah, and to his Son Jesus Christ? Just what is the significance of the title “the Alpha and the Omega”?
The word “alpha” is the name for the first letter of the Greek alphabet, whereas the term “omega” designates the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Hence, in itself, the title “the Alpha and the Omega” conveys the idea of the start and the finish or completion of a thing. The personage who is so designated would, therefore, be viewed as the beginner of certain things and the one who brings these things to a successful conclusion.
Based on what is revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures, the title “the Alpha and the Omega” would certainly fit Jehovah God. At Isaiah 55:10, 11, for example, we are told: “Just as the pouring rain descends, and the snow, from the heavens and does not return to that place, unless it actually saturates the earth and makes it produce and sprout, and seed is actually given to the sower and bread to the eater, so my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.”
How forcefully this emphasizes that whatever Jehovah God expresses will be brought to a successful finish! Water falling in the form of rain or snow eventually filters down into the soil, there to combine with nutrients. In this way the precipitation furnishes what is needed for plant growth. In the case of grain, some of the seed may be set aside for sowing in the next season, and a far larger portion may be ground into flour for making bread. Thus the ultimate purpose of the precipitation is realized—seed is given to the sower and bread to the eater. Likewise, whatever Jehovah God, as the Beginner, sets in motion by his word always is brought to a successful end.
But does the title “the Alpha and the Omega” apply exclusively to Jehovah God? To answer this question, we must examine the context in which this designation appears.
Revelation 1:8 states: “The Lord God says, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the One who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty!'” (The New American Bible) Clearly, the reference here is to the Most High God Jehovah.
While Jesus Christ is referred to in the previous verse as “coming with the clouds,” the words of Revelation 1:8 and the surrounding verses show that he could not be “the Alpha and the Omega.” In the Scriptures, only the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of as “the Lord God” and as the “Almighty.” Jesus Christ even refers to his Father as “my God.” (John 20:17; Rev. 3:12) According to Revelation 1:1, the revelation was given to Jesus Christ by God. Hence, we should expect the words of the Almighty God to be quoted in the account. The first reference to “the Alpha and the Omega” is manifestly an example of this. Moreover, in the very next verse, the writer of the book of Revelation, the apostle John, says: “I . . . came to be in the isle that is called Patmos for speaking about God and bearing witness to Jesus.” (Rev. 1:9) This provides additional confirmation that John understood God to be the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In what sense is Jehovah God “the One who is and who was and who is to come”? Being the eternal God, Jehovah has at all times been the Almighty. (Ps. 90:2) So, in the indefinite past, he was the Most High. Furthermore, he continues to be the Almighty God and will come in that capacity to execute his judgment. As shown in other parts of the book of Revelation, Jehovah God will display his all-powerfulness at the time that his Son destroys all opposers of his sovereignty.—Rev. 16:14; 19:13-16.
The next occurrence of the title “the Alpha and the Omega” is found at Revelation 21:6. In the following verse, the One who applies this title to himself says: “Anyone conquering will inherit these things, and I shall be his God and he will be my son.” Since Jesus Christ speaks of himself as a “brother” of these conquerors, it is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ who is referring to himself as “the Alpha and the Omega.”—Compare Matthew 25:40; Hebrews 2:10-12.
Finally, at Revelation 22:12, 13, we read: “Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to render to each one as his work is. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” This quotation appears among others that are ascribed to an angel and to Jesus Christ. Before these words are quoted in the book of Revelation, the angel who was instrumental in presenting the revelation to the apostle John spoke. (Rev. 22:8, 9) Then, after the quotation that begins with Revelation 22:12 and ends with the words of verse 15, we find the statement: “I, Jesus, sent my angel.” (Rev. 22:16) Since the context does not necessitate our attributing the words of Revelation 22:12, 13 either to the angel or to Jesus, they could have originated with another speaker. Consistent with the rest of the book of Revelation, “the Alpha and the Omega” must be the Almighty God. He is the One who comes in the capacity of a judge to reward and to punish individuals according to their works.
The thought expressed at Revelation 22:12 also harmonizes with what the apostle Paul wrote. He stated: “According to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and of the revealing of God's righteous judgment. And he will render to each one according to his works: everlasting life to those who are seeking glory and honor and incorruptibleness by endurance in work that is good; however, for those who are contentious and who disobey the truth but obey unrighteousness there will be wrath and anger, tribulation and distress, upon the soul of every man who works what is injurious, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory and honor and peace for everyone who works what is good, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Rom. 2:5-10) Of course, the judgment will be expressed by Jehovah God through his Son, for the apostle also says: “This will be in the day when God through Christ Jesus judges the secret things of mankind.”—Rom. 2:16.
The fact that Jehovah God speaks of himself as “the Alpha and the Omega” gives us the assurance that what he has purposed will come to a successful realization. This should prompt us to do our utmost to be found approved by him. Our reward will then be certain, for the Bible tells us: “God is not unrighteous so as to forget your work and the love you showed for his name.”—Heb. 6:10 Janko
Thank-you for your prompt response to my question.
I did read your response with interest.
I still do not understand how you claim that Jehovah and Jesus both share the same title.
The alpha and the omega can't have one meaning for Jehovah and another for Jesus.
By simple definition you can not have two firsts and two lasts two beginnigs or two ends.
Please take the time and read the following:
Now read Revelations 1:8. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
Now compare that to Revelation 1:17 which reads, "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last."
The point here is that Alpha and the Omega is the same as the First and Last. Now go to Revelation 22:13. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."
Now lets reason together. If the Alpha and the Omega is the Same as the First and the Last, and he has to be according to Rev. 22:13, and Jesus is the first and the last (Rev. 1:17-18), and the Alpha and the Omega is the Almighty (Rev. 1:8), then Jesus is Almighty. Jesus has to be Almighty if you follow all three of these verses all the way through.
In some commentaries of those whom disbelieve that Jesus is Almighty God, they say Rev. 22:13 is the Father speaking.
Fine. All you need to remember is that the first and Last are the same as Alpha and the Omega. And since Jesus is the First and the Last, and the Alpha and the Omega is the Almighty one, then Jesus is the Almighty one! For more proof, look to Isaiah 44:6, "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."
Reason this out. Why would some people argue against any direct references of Jesus being called God Almighty, worshipped as God, and to further try to eliminate or argue away any references of Jesus calling Himself God--when to do so is to simply introduce contradictions within Scripture?
thank-you Janko,
Ronald
Answer -
The Scriptures do not contradict themselves when they are taken in the right context.The book of Revelation is primarily symbolic not literal,but this topic is a literal one where it is clearly shown who is who.Now if you want to believe that there are two Almighty God's and that they both
use the same terms to make them one in the same,well that's on you to decide.It's not rocket science only common sense if you have any,when you got One seated on the throne as Jehovah,and then you have the Lamb,which is Jesus at his right hand,what does this tell you?Nowhere in the Bible will you find that both Jesus and Jehovah are the same person.Jesus Christ was Jehovah's first creation and only begotten son and was given all authority in heaven and earth
by his Father.So you got a Creator and a creation,two separate beings.Jesus said himself that the Father was greater than he was and didn't do anything on his own inititive,but from his Father in heaven.I already told you that what was meant by Jesus being the First and Last.First meant that he was the first one to be directly resurrected by his Father and raised to heaven and that he would be the"last"one as well in that manner.Jesus will be the one that will be doing the rest of the resurrections.Here is another article that I hope will clear things up a bit:
• Revelation 22:13 (NW) speaks of the “Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end”. At Revelation 1:17 (NW) Christ Jesus is spoken of as “the First and the Last”. So is not Revelation 22:13 also referring to Christ? The context sounds like it, yet the Watchtower publications say Jehovah is the “Alpha and the Omega”. Why?—J. J., New Jersey.
Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and omega is the last; one is the beginning and the other the end of the Greek alphabet. So the expressions “the Alpha and the Omega” and “the first and the last” and “the beginning and the end” are parallel expressions and mean the same thing. They are applied to Jehovah God. Isaiah 44:6 (AS) reads: “Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.” Revelation 1:8 (NW) catches up this thought in Isaiah and adds to it the point that he is coming: “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says Jehovah God, ‘the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.'”
So just because the verse preceding Revelation 22:13 speaks of that “Alpha and Omega” as coming does not necessarily mean it refers to Christ Jesus, whose second coming is frequently mentioned. Revelation 1:8 shows Jehovah as coming, and so Revelation 22:12 may do likewise. He comes representatively, through Christ Jesus. Revelation 4:8 speaks of Jehovah as coming, and Revelation 21 shows his presence with humankind. “Look! the tent of God is with humankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. . . . I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To anyone thirsting I will give from the fountain of the water of life free. Anyone conquering will inherit these things, and I shall be his God and he will be my son.” (Vss. 3, 6, 7) This reference is certainly to Jehovah God, for he is God to the anointed body members of Christ and they are his spiritual sons. They are Christ's brothers, not sons, so the text is speaking of Jehovah, and it calls him “the Alpha and the Omega”. So when the Alpha and Omega is mentioned again in the very next chapter, why must the term suddenly shift to Christ Jesus instead of Jehovah God? It does not.
Some argue that it refers to Christ Jesus at Revelation 22:13 because verse 16 shows Jesus speaking. But that does not mean the speaker of the preceding verses must also be Jesus. The use of the single quotation marks in the New World Translation shows a change in speakers between verses 15 and 16. We must remember that the revelation God gave to Jesus Christ was passed on to the apostle John by one of Christ's angels, and that this angel sometimes spoke for Jehovah God and sometimes for Christ Jesus; so we must watch for these changes and note them on the basis of content and context. It is true that when the angel speaks for Christ, at Revelation 1:17 (NW), he states: “I am the First and the Last.” But a check of the context shows this “First and Last” was with definite limitations, was relative to just the matter of Christ Jesus' death and resurrection, as verse 18 shows. Christ was the first one raised in the first resurrection, and the last one that will be raised directly by Jehovah God. Others who follow in that resurrection will be raised by God through Christ. (John 6:40; 1 Cor. 6:14) In fact, this limitation is also shown by the footnote on “First” in Revelation 1:17 in the New World Translation, where “First” is shown to mean “Firstborn” by one ancient manuscript. Christ was the firstfruits of those asleep in death. (1 Cor. 15:20) When “First and Last” is again applied to Christ Jesus, at Revelation 2:8, note that again it is with respect to death and resurrection. But when it speaks thus of Jehovah no limitation is set on the meaning.
So we must be reasonable. When we see an expression that is applied to Jehovah several times in its unlimited sense, and then come across it again but not specifically indicated as applying to Jehovah, we cannot become flighty and switch the expression to Christ Jesus; and especially when we note that it is applied elsewhere, not in its unlimited sense, but only with definite limitation of meaning. Trinitarians try to capitalize on this expression to show it was used indiscriminately for either God or Christ, and in this way show God and Christ are the same. But logic and reason do not allow this, no more than do many other texts in the Bible. Janko
Hello again Janko,
You are absolutely right when you say that the scriptures do not ever contradict themselves.
Then question has always been though do people through their misinterpetations of such
scriptures cause them to seem contradictory.
I did not say there is two almighty Gods, nor believe that and it is absurd, that you came to that conclusion regarding the alpha and the omega.
What I was trying to reley to you was that Jehovah is the almigty God and Jesus is the almighty God because they are one.
Don't the JW. Believe that there are two Gods Jehovah being the almighty God and Jesus being a lesser God (mighty God).
You say that nowhere in the bible that it says that they are one and the same.
Lets read in John 8:56-59 Jesus calls Himself “ I am, “ equating himself with Jehovah God of the Old Testament Ex. 3:14.
Christ's participation in the creation of the cosmos necessitates that He is God (John 1:3 and Col 1:16.
c.f Isa 44:24.)
These three passages, when carefully compared with one another, clearly affirm the deity of Christ. The
last passage, Isa 44:34, states that Jehovah * alone* made all things. The first and second passages both
affirm that all things were made through Christ. Therefore if Jehovah * alone, * made all things, and all
things are made through Christ, it is logically follows that Christ is in fact Jehovah God.
The text of scripture, and the force of logic, leaves us with no other option.
Yes you are correct Jesus the lamb (Son) is seated at the right hand of God Father).
But Janko don't you teach “… the son of God was known as Michael before he came to earth
And is known by that name since his return to heaven….” The “ Reasoning “ book page 218
Now let's look at one of the jw. favorite verse to show that Jesus can not be God because He was created.
Colossians 1:15 “ And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.”
So you come to the conclusion that Jesus was created.
The key to understanding this verse is understanding the term first-born , what does it mean? The Greek word “ first created “ is the word Protoktioti. If Paul wanted to say Christ was the first created being.
He would have used this word but he does not. He uses another term, Prototokos. Paul is referring to the
Jewish use of the word first-born which not only means first one born but also is used as a title of sovereignty and pre-eminence.
Here.s an example of the meaning of the word. In Psalm 89:27 God says of David, “I also shall make him My first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth. “ Take a good look and see how first-born is used here.
Is David the first-born son of Jesse? No, he is the eighth and youngest son of Jesse. Then how is it that David is the first-born? In the Old Testament use of the word , he is first-born in that he is pre-eminent or
Sovereign of all the kings of the earth.
Yes it most certainly does referr to Jesus because Jesus is the alpha and the omega the scriptures make that
Very clear and there is no doubt about that.
The scripture you mentioned spoke of the fountain of the water of life free. Remember Jesus at the well and
What He told the woman, “ Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
Water springing up into everlasting life.”
Janko regarding Rev. 22:13 Verse sixteen certainly does show you that Jesus is speaking . If you have any more doubt then explain verse 20.
To further this discussion I do entertain two jw. almost every Saturday in my home. The main gentleman's name is
Albert the other man,s name was Tony.
We discussed Rev.22: 12,13, Albert, a 15 year jw. admitted to me that Jesus is talking in verse 13, to think otherwise is pure nonesense.
Finally Janko I would like to leave these verses with you to ponder.
Isa 43:10 “ No God was formed before me, nor will be after me I, am Jehovah and there is no other Savior but me.” Isn't Jesus the savior? God knows of no other Gods yet Jesus is another God.
Isa.44:6 “ I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.”
Isa 45:5,6 “ I am Jehovah and there is no other, there is no other God except me. ( this means mighty also)
Though you do not no me, I have armed you so that it may be known from east to west that there is no one except me. I am Jehovah and there is no other.”
Isa.46:9 “ for I am God and there is no other.”
Thank you for your time,
Hoping to hear from you soon,
ron
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Answer Well Ron I don't know what more I can add to what I already have said. Myself and nearly seven million Jehovah's Witnesses are of all the same mindset about this subject and other similar ones too. Yes Jesus is called"Mighty God"
and Jehovah is called Almighty,which there can only be one.
There is many gods and many lords,none of which can be the main one called Almighty and neither can Jesus be called that because he isn't even close to his heavenly Father in that regard,which he makes clear on many occasions.Final thought on this topic that I might have already mentioned before but will again remind you that the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth to the Son of the Most High,so Psalms 83:18 tells you that Jehovah is the Most High
and that is all you need to know about who is who and where they stand in comparison in mightiness and holiness.One other thing too was when Jesus said that"I am"in that verse he was referring that he was before Abraham,but when Jehovah
said that he was"I AM" was in a totally different context not even related at all to what Jesus said,one was said in Hebrew and the other in Greek,night and day difference to the meaning of the two words.I really don't know what else I can say to you to help understand and listen to the truth
being told you by us.If you want to go on and on with this please try another JW on here,ok? Thank you,Janko
