Revelation 1:8 - God, Who Was, Is, and Is to Come

Revelation 1:7
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.

Revelation 1:8
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says Jehovah God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." -- Restoration Light Improved.

It is obvious that in Revelation 1:8, that the Holy Name is changed to KURIOS in the extant Greek manuscripts. Thus, we believe that the anarthrous KURIOS in Revelation 1:18 was originally some form of the Holy Name.

Many, however, argue that the one quoted in Revelation 1:8 is not the God and Father of Jesus, but was Jesus himself, who is said to be come in the clouds in verse 7.  They claim that it actually means that the Almighty of Revelation 1:8 is Jesus of Revelation 1:7.

The most simple and straightforward scriptural conclusion -- based on what actually stated in Revelation 1:8 as well as the context and the entire book of Revelation -- is that in Revelation 1:8, He “who is and was and who is to come” is not Jesus, but rather the one person who is “God” of Revelation 1:1, He who is, was and is to come of Revelation 1:4. Since He who is, was, and is to come of verse 4 is not Jesus of Revelation 1:5, the simply answer is that He who is, was and is to come in Revelation 1:8 is not Jesus.

However, many trinitarians and some others do not accept the simple and straightforward conclusion, but would imagine and assume  that in Revelation 1:8 Jesus himself claimed to be the Almighty. Many trinitarians, in effect, would have the book of Revelation speaking of two Jesuses, one who is sitting on the throne and another who is the Lamb who takes the sealed book from the Himself who is sitting on the throne.  -- Revelation 1:4,5,8; 4:2,8-10; 5:1,6,7.

Trinitarians make much ado about the phrase "is to come" in Revelation 1:8 and claim that this is referring to the one who comes in the clouds of Revelation 1:7. Actually, to give “is to come” in verse 8 the application to he who comes in the clouds of verse 7 means that one takes "is to come" out of context of what is said in verse 8 in order to force it to refer to the one coming in Revelation 1:7, thus giving the inference that both are speaking of the same “coming”.

It is often further claimed that since in verse 7 it is Jesus who is being referred to as “coming”, that it is Jesus who is being quoted in verse 8 who states that he “is to come”..

Yes, the words in Revelation 1:7 are indeed the words of Jesus.

Nevertheless, in Revelation 1:8, John begins to quote the God and Father of Jesus (Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 3:5,12): “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." -- World English.

All through the Revelation given to John, Jesus is distinguished from “God”.

All through the Revelation, Jesus is distinguished from 'he who is, was and is to come'.

Revelation 1:1

Revelation 1:1
This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John. -- World English Bible version.

We find that, in Revelation 1:1, “God” is clearly distinguished from “Jesus Christ”, as it should be.

It is “God” who gives the revelation to “Jesus Christ”. “Jesus Christ”, in turn gives the revelation to his servants by means of John. -- Revelation 1:1.

Revelation 1:1 speaks of Jesus with the title “Christ”, that is: “Jesus Christ”. “Christ” means “Anointed”.

Who anointed Jesus?

Isaiah 61: 1 - The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on me; because Jehovah has anointed me to preach good news to the humble; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to those who are bound.

The Messiah is prophetically quoted as saying: “Jehovah ... has anointed me.” -- Isaiah 61:1, World English.

Thus, the Anointed One -- the Christ -- recognizes Jehovah as the one who anointed him.

In the words recorded as Luke 4:14-23, Jesus identified himself as the one whom Jehovah anointed as spoken of in Isaiah 61:1.

This means that “God” in Psalm 45:7; Acts 2:36; 10:38; and Hebrews 1:9 is Jehovah of Isaiah 61:1. It also means that the unipersonal “God” of Revelation 1:1,2,4,6,8,9 is not Jesus, but the “Lord Jehovah” of Isaiah 61:1 who anointed Jesus, thus making him “Jesus Christ” of Revelation 1:1.

Also in Isaiah 61:1, note that the Messiah refers to his God as “the Lord Jehovah”.

Since we have identified "God' who anointed Jesus as as Christ (Revelation 1:1) as being Jehovah, this further means that in Revelation 1:8, it is this same one -- "the Lord  Jehovah" of Isaiah 61:1, who is referred to in the World English and many other translations as the “the Lord God”.

Thus, “Jehovah God” of Revelation 1:8 is the Lord Jehovah of Isaiah 61:1, and is not Jesus, but rather the one who anointed Jesus, making him “Jesus Christ” as shown in Revelation 1:1.

Revelation 1:4-6 - John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne;[5] and from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood;[6] and he made us [to be] a kingdom, [to be] priests unto his God and Father; to him [be] the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. -- American Standard Version.

Revelation 1:4,5 clearly distinguishes Jesus from he 'who is, was and is to come'. It is the one person who is “God” of Revelation 1:1 who is identified in Revelation 1:4 as being “who is and who was and who is to come.”

Thus, in Revelation 1:8, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." is not Jesus, but rather the God of Jesus, “God” who has given the revelation to Jesus. -- Revelation 1:1.

Nor does “is to come” in Revelation 1:8 refer to the same event as the “coming” in Revelation 1:7.

As far as we know, no one claims that when the Almighty says “who was”, that this means that He was coming from some place or that he was going to some place in the past. Likewise, we know of no one who claims that when He says “who is”, that this means He is presently going some place or coming from some place.

In other words, the Almighty was not saying that he was coming from or to some place in the past (although it could applied to his having come from eternal past, that is, that He is "from everlasting," -- Psalm 90:2), or that he is coming from or to some place in the present (although he exists in the present and comes in the present in the sense of His activity), and thus, He was likewise not saying that he will be coming from or coming to some place in the future (although, as related to time, not a place, he will eternally be coming as far as His eternal future existence is concerned).

Consequently, many, if not most, Greek Bible scholars conclude that Revelation 1:8 speaks of God's being, his eternal existence, past, present and future, even if they believe that this phrase in Revelation 1:8 is in reference to Jesus. Thus Adam Clarke, in his discussion concerning this phrase in verse 4, states:

This phraseology is purely Jewish, and probably taken from the Tetragrammaton, יהוה Yehovah ; which is supposed to include in itself all time, past, present, and future. -- Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Revelation 1". -- "The Adam Clarke Commentary".  1832.

Nevertheless,  Revelation 1:8 itself as well as the context (Revelation 1:1,4) tells us that, in Revelation 1:8, it is the Almighty Jehovah, the God and Father of Jesus who is speaking as the one who was, is and is to come. Accordingly, the conclusion is that Jesus is not the one who was, is, and is to come in Revelation 1:8.

The peculiar phrase in Revelation 1:8 only belongs to Jehovah, not to Jesus.

Jehovah has actively existed from all eternity past, he actively exists now, and he actively exists for all time to come. This is basically what Jehovah is saying in Revelation 1:8.

“Is to come” simply extends the thought of God’s active existence into the infinite future, just as “who was” is speaking of God’s past, and “is” is speaking his being in the present. Thus, it is all inclusive of past, present and future.

The summation is that the most direct scriptural conclusion is that “the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’” in Revelation 1:8 is "God" of Revelation 1:1,4, not Jesus, as has been demonstrated.

For further study, see our studies related at:
https://jesusnotyhwh.blogspot.com/p/revelation.html#rev1-8