Manuscript Variances in Revelation

[Paidion]

Darin, I was wondering wherein you see an apparent contradiction in Revelation? Is it with regards to the "alpha and omega"?

I see the Father being referenced in all four verses. How do you see it?

[Duncan]

I see Rev. 22:12 as speaking of Jesus. He was the one who would come quickly (Rev. 19:11-21). I highlighted verses 12 and 20.

Rev. 22:8 NASB I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 But he *said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who [f]heed the words of this book. Worship God.”

10 And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”

12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man [g]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 [h]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.

18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

[Paidion]

Let's start a little further back, Duncan.

6 Then he [one of the angels] said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.
7 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."

Could it be that the "Lord God of the holy prophets", the heavenly Father, who sent his angel, also said, ""Behold, I am coming quickly"?

Recall that Jesus said:

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."(John 14:21)
Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." (John 14:23)


And in verse 12:

12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give (αποδιδωμι) to every one according to his work.
13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

Who is He who will render, or give, or repay everyone according to his work? Paul wrote that it was God, that is, the Father.

Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render (αποδιδωμι) to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. (Romans 2:3-8)

[Duncan]

Hi Paidion,

Again, I think verse 20 clearly says that it was Jesus who was coming quickly.

Rev. 22: 20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The only coming I see in Revelation is the coming of the Word of God in Rev. 19:11-22.

I think a parallel to Rev. 22:12 can be found in the following that refers to Jesus.

Matt. 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.25“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.26“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?27“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.
28“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

[darinhouston]

Darin, I was wondering wherein you see an apparent contradiction in Revelation? Is it with regards to the "alpha and omega"?

I see the Father being referenced in all four verses. How do you see it?

I think I see these pretty much as you seem to.

[Paidion]

Again, I think verse 20 clearly says that it was Jesus who was coming quickly.

Yes, indeed! But the coming of the Father and the coming of Jesus are not mutually exclusive.

I have already quoted a passage which seems to indicate that the Father was to come quickly:

6 Then he [one of the angels] said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.
7 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."

But in verse 16, Jesus begins to speak and to say that He will come soon:

16 "I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star."
17 The spirit and the bride say, "Come." and let him who hears say, "Come." and let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price.
18 I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
19 and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, "surely I am coming soon." Amen. come, Lord Jesus!

So according to the vision given to John, the Father was to come soon, and Jesus was to come soon.

However, every instance of the words "Alpha and Omega" could refer to the Father alone without contradiction.

[darinhouston]

However, every instance of the words "Alpha and Omega" could refer to the Father alone without contradiction.

In light of the significant and repeated and emphatic separation/distinguishing texts, if these few passages can even arguably be interpreted to avoid contradiction and thus resolve an otherwise unnecessary seeming mystery or paradox, then that just seems to be the most honest approach to me. I still don't understand how people think this somehow "denigrates" Christ or puts Him on our level or denies His deity. I fall back on my prince analogy. If I were a peasant and I made that argument about the prince who had been coronated and given the signet and crown by his father and suggested he was a trivial peasant too just because I refuse to see him as the same substance of the King, I think I'd be beheaded. I would bow to him just as I would his father, and especially so if he had formally given the prince his "command" and all authority and a throne next to the King. Bowing to the throne wouldn't need to be distinguished -- they both would be worthy of that "worship" even if the court jester or even herald refused to accept my adoration.

[Duncan]

OK, I am starting to feel a little crazy here. It seems really clear to me that in Rev. 22:12-13 that it is Jesus speaking. To see if I was off-base I went to some of my commentaries. All the ones I looked at agree with me. The ones I looked at were by Aune, Beale, Mounce, Ladd, Kistemaker, Smalley, Osborne, and Chilton. Thats not every commentator there is but it is a pretty good list and they are all in agreement (which is pretty rare) that it is Jesus speaking here. I didn't find anyone who said it wasn't Jesus.

Beale summarizes things well.

The Apocalypse has already called God "the Alpha and the Omega" (1:8; 21:6) and "the Beginning and the End" (21:6), and Christ has been called "the First and the Last" (1:17; 2:8). Now all these titles, which are used in the OT of God, are combined [in Rev. 22:13] and applied to Christ to highlight his deity. The titles figuratively connote the totality of polarity; Christ's presence at and sovereignty over the beginning of creation and over the end of creation are boldly stated in order to indicate that he is also present at and sovereign over all events in between.

Beale, The Book of Revelation (1999), 1139

Smalley similarly says the following on Rev. 22:13:

In verse 13 the risen Christ declares that he is "the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." The title "Alpha and Omega" is used of God at 1:8 and 21:6 and of Jesus in 22:13. The equivalent "first and last" appears in Revelation soley in association with Christ (1:17; 2:8 and 22:13); while "beginning and end" is a description of God at 21:6 and of the Messiah here [22:13]

Stephen Smalley, The Revelation to John (2005), 573

[darinhouston]

No surprise that there is near unanimity in the commentaries on this -- this is a very strong tradition (perhaps the strongest of any derived/deduced doctrine).

[darinhouston]

No surprise that there is near unanimity in the Christian commentaries on this -- this is a very strong tradition (perhaps the strongest of any derived/deduced doctrine).

This doesn't do my theory much in the way of credibility, but you should consider some of the Islamic commentators.

Wikipedia states:

Though many commentators and dictionaries apply this title both to God and to Christ,[4] some secular sources argue otherwise. Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament (1974) claims: "It cannot be absolutely certain that the writer meant to refer to the Lord Jesus specifically here ... There is no real incongruity in supposing, also, that the writer here meant to refer to God as such." [5] Most Christian denominations also teach that the title applies to both Jesus and God.