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Revelation 2:8—The First and the Last Was Dead
Revelation 2:8—To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: " -- World English Bible translation.
According to many trinitarians, the phrase "the first and the last" applied to Jesus in Revelation 1:17 and Revelation 2:8 offers proof that Jesus is Jehovah (Yahweh), since Jehovah speaks of himself as first and last. (Isaiah 44:1; 44:6; 48:12) In reality, the most straightforward scriptural conclusion would not be that Jesus is Jehovah, but that both Jesus and his God are in some way, respectively, first and last.
Nevertheless, many have claimed that there can only be one first and last, and thus they further claim this phrase shows that the one who is speaking in Revelation 2:8 is Jehovah, the Most High. Based on the assumption that there can only be one first and last, they then reason that when there is similar usage of "used" of Jehovah, it must mean that Jesus is God Almighty, who is without beginning or end—eternal past and eternal future.
The point we should note is that most trinitarians would seem to read into the phrase "the first and the last" in Revelation 2:8 some meaning of eternity, which, to the trinitarian, would mean that Jesus either exists outside of all time or that he has always existed from the infinite past eternity with an uninterrupted continued existence into the infinite future. And this is where the paradox of Revelation 2:8 comes in as the trinitarian seeks to apply such a thought to this verse.
When asked how the Eternal One, who is from everlasting to everlasting, was dead, the trinitarian almost always will state that it was not the "God" nature of Jesus that was dead, but rather that it was the "human nature" of Jesus. The claim is that Jesus is 100% God Almighty and, at the same time, 100% human being. Many of them refer to this assumption as the "dual nature" or "hypostatic union" of Jesus. Thus, in order to apply this hypothesis to Revelation, the trinitarian, or anyone who applies the alleged "dual natures" of Christ to this verse, has to split the sentence stated by Jesus up into two parts so as to apply the phrase "the first and the last" to the idea of Jesus as God to that phrase, and then the latter part of the sentence, "who was dead," they would have to claim applies only to the human "nature" of Jesus and not "the first and the last." In effect, this would claim that the title "the first and the last" applies only to the "God" nature of Jesus. However, most of the trinitarians do not believe that the God "nature" or "being" of Jesus died, but rather that it was only his human "nature" or "being" that died. Thus, this idea, applied to this scripture, would have it that "the first and the last" did not die, as the scripture actually states, but rather they would change what Jesus said to make it appear that it was the human body into which "the first and the last" was "incarnated" that died.
We are sure that most trinitarians do not consciously reckon that they are actually changing what Jesus said to make his words agree with their doctrine. Nevertheless, in effect, this is what they have to do in order to get the sentence to appear to support their trinitarian dogma and their "hypostatic union" assumption.
The truth is that such an application to Revelation 2:8 would still deny that it was "the first and the last" who died, as Jesus said. In actuality, what Jesus said was, "The first and the last, who was dead." He declares that "the first and the last" was dead. He did not say, as the trinitarian would seem to have him say, "I am the first and the last who did not die, but who, as a human being, was dead." In other words, the trinitarian, as well as any others who would see the dualistic view into this verse, actually end up denying what Jesus said, that the "first and the last" "was dead."
Jesus, of course, was the first and the last, the only one, whom God directly brought forth from death by means of His holy spirit, never to die again. (Acts 2:24,32,26; 3:15; 4:10; 10:40; 13:30,33,37; 17:31; Romans 4:24; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:15; Galatians 1:1; Colossians 2:11,12; 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10; 1 Peter 1:21; 3:18) All the rest who are brought forth to life in the last day will be brought forth through Jesus as the Agent of Jehovah. (John 5:21,22,25,27,28,29; 6:39,40,44,54; 11:24; 12:47,48; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Romans 2:16) Jesus is thus, also, the first and the last of God's firstborn from the dead, for there will never be another who will be the firstborn of the dead. (Colossians 1:8; Revelation 1:5) Indeed, since, in the context, Jesus describes himself as the firstborn of the dead, then the most direct application of "the first and the last" as applied to he who "was dead and has come to life" is that Jesus is the first and the last of the firstborn of the dead.
There is nothing in any of this, however, to support the idea that Jesus is Jehovah or the formulated dogma of dual "natures" of Jesus, hypostatic union, trinity, Jesus is Jehovah, oneness doctrine, etc. Like all of the scriptures presented to allegedly support the added-on doctrines, the dogma has to be assumed, added to, and read into what Jesus actually stated.
For related studies, see our resource page: Alpha and Omega
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