title: Jesus is eternal published: true
The First and the Last
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me,
"Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am he who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen." -- Revelation 1:17-18 (NKJV)
But so will other humans too:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." -- John 3:16 (NKJV)
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. -- Revelation 21:4 (NKJV)
And this title was also given to other humans too:
1 Chronicles 29:29 gives this same title to "David the king":
Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer.
2 Chronicles 35:26-27 gives this same title to "Josiah":
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the Lord, and his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
Therefor Revelation 1:17 alone it not enough to conclude that Jesus is the Almighty God.
The Alpha and Omega
Some scholars teach that the "Alpha and Omega" is Jesus based on Revelation 1:17-18 where Jesus said that he is "the First and the Last". From the text of the book of Revelation it is clear that this title belongs to God Almighty, therefore they conclude that this "proof" that Jesus is the Almighty God.
The facts are that:
- the New Testament were originally written in Greek, the Old Testament in Hebrew;
- the "Alpha and Omega" found in Revelation 1:8, 21:6-7, 22:12-13 are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet which cannot exist in the Hebrew text, unless it is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Aleph-Tav.
Therefore, any cross-references from the Greek "Alpha and Omega" title back the Hebrew Old Testament should be done with caution.
There are no proof that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega.
The Aleph-Tav
Some believe the Aleph-Tav means "Jesus" because:
- John of Patmos revealed that Jesus is the "first and last" and they reason this is a Greek transliteration of the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
- The symbols look like the Christian cross to some which they assume refers to Jesus' "crucifixion".
Why Jesus?
This is important to some people, because Jesus name is nowhere to be found in the Old Testament, yet to support the pre-existence doctrine, Jesus need to be found somewhere in the Old Testament.
However, one need to be very careful with these claims as it completely changes the meaning of many scriptures.
Those who believe Jesus is God would also quote Genesis 1:1 and state that the "God אֵ֥ת" was in the beginning the Creator, which they reason means Jesus was the Creator.
The Arians and Jehovah Witnesses use the Aleph-Tav as proof in Genesis 1:1 to proof that God first created was the "Aleph-Tav" (Jesus), then the heaven, then the earth.
According to the Interlinear Bible, the Hebrew:
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
directly translates to the English:
[first / beginning] [create] [God] אֵ֥ת [heaven / sky] [earth / land]
Why Alpeh-Tav is not Jesus
The following objects or persons had an Alpeh-Tav:
- The heaven (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:4)
- The light (Gensis 1:4)
- The firmament (Genesis 1:7)
- The sun and the moon (Genesis 1:16)
- The stars (Genesis 1:16)
- Every living creature that moves (Genesis 1:21)
- The seventh day (Genesis 2:3)
- The tree of good and evil (Genesis 3:6)
- Abraham's hand (Genesis 22:10)
- Abraham's knife (Genesis 22:10)
- Abraham's country (Genesis 24:4)
- The cave of Machpelah (Genesis 25:9)
- Jacob's (fake) hair on his hands (Genesis 27:23)
- Joseph's coat (Genesis 37:23)
- Egypt (Exodus 1:7; 10:13)
- Moses' bush (Exodus 3:4)
- The waters of Egypt (Exodus 7:20; 9:23)
- Moses' rod (Exodus 9:23; 10:13)
- Wonders (Exodus 11:10)
- Moses' hand (Exodus 14:21; 17:11)
- The sea (Exodus 14:21)
- Idols (Exodus 20:4)
- The earth (Exodus 20:4)
- The water under the earth (Exodus 20:4)
- Jericho (Joshua 2:1; 8:2)
- The ark of the covenant (Joshua 3:6; 4:5; 6:7)
- Josua's eyes (Joshua 5:13)
- Josua's sword (Joshua 5:13)
- Josua's hand (Joshua 5:13)
- The accursed thing (Joshua 7:1)
- Ai (Joshua 8:2)
- Israel's enemies' horses and chariots (Joshua 11:9)
- Hebron (Joshua 14:13)
How could all these objects be Jesus or even relate to Jesus?
The following persons also had an Alpeh-Tav:
- Adam (Genesis 1:27, 2:7)
- Eve (Genesis 4:1)
- Noah (Genesis 6:22)
- Sarai (Genesis 12:5, 21:1)
- Esau (Genesis 25:28; 27:1,15,19; 33:1)
- Jacob (Genesis 28:1)
- Moses' wife (Exodus 4:20)
- Israel (Exodus 5:1; 17:11; Josua 12:7)
- Levi's daughter (Exodus 2:1)
- The Reubenites (Joshua 13:8)
- The Gadites (Joshua 13:8)
- The Jews (Joshua 15:13)
- Moses (Exodus 12:28)
- Some of Israel's enemies:
- Pharaoh king of Egypt (Exodus 6:13)
- Jericho's king (Joshua 8:2)
- The elders of Gibeon (Joshua 9:11)
- The five kings of the Amorites (Joshua 10:5)
How could all these people be Jesus or even relate to Jesus?
There many examples, but the point is, there are no consistent pattern to link Jesus with the Alpeh-Tav.
Begotten son
According to John, Jesus did not exist from all eternity:
The only begotten son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared him. -- John 1:18 (NKJV)
For someone to be "begotten", there has to be a period where the person did not exist before.
Matthew wrote:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. -- Matthew 1:18 (NKJV)
This implies that is how Matthew understood Jesus was originally born. Matthew does not mention any pre-existence or reincarnation of Jesus.
Paul also support this view:
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His son, born of woman... -- Galatians 4:4 (ESV)