I Am the First, and I Am the Last

 

Thus, Jehovah of hosts said, “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.” This is the truth. Therefore, we call “Jehovah” the one and only “God.” Through other writings of Isaiah as well,

 

Isaiah 41:4 “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last, I am he.”

 

Isaiah 48:12 “Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.”

 

Thus, He clearly made known that from the beginning, that is, from the first, to the end, that is, to the last, only “Jehovah God” exists. Now, please read the following verses.

 

Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

 

Revelation 4:8 “And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”

 

Who is the “Lord God” recorded in these words?

 

If you thought that this “Lord God” is “the Lord Jehovah,” then the added phrase “who is to come,” which does not appear in the above writings of Isaiah, may not be easy to understand at first. Let us continue and read the following words also.

 

Revelation 1:17-18 “17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, 18and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

 

Revelation 2:8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the last, who was dead, and lived again.”

 

In these words, the phrase “the Living one,” that is, the One who was dead and lived again, is added. Now, through these words, we can know with certainty that the “Lord God” is the “Lord Jesus.” This is because the added expressions above, “who is to come” (John 14:3, Acts 1:11) and “the One who was dead and lived again” (2 Tim. 2:8, 1 Cor. 15:12), point only to one Person: Jesus.

 

Now, to summarize, the One who exists from the first to the last is the one and only “God.”

 

That God worked in the Old Testament under the name “Jehovah,” and in the New Testament under the name “Jesus.” In other words, “Jehovah” and “Jesus” are the same one “God.” If these two were not the same God, then since Jehovah of hosts said, “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God,” how could Jesus also say, “I am the first and the last”? Let us also briefly consider the matter of “witnesses.”

 

Isaiah 43:10-12 “10Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour. 12I have declared, and I have saved, and I have showed; and there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and I am God.”

 

In this word also, Jehovah said, “Ye are witnesses of Jehovah,” because before Him and after Him, only Jehovah exists. But please read the following verse.

 

Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

 

Jesus told His disciples, “When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall be witnesses of Jesus unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This also is one of the words that Jesus could never have spoken if He were not God (Ex. 20:3-6). Because of this word of Jesus, we today also live not as witnesses of Jehovah, but as witnesses of Jesus. Therefore, the reason Jesus can say, “I am the first and the last,” is that Jesus is God.

 

Revelation 21:5-7 “5And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true. 6And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”

 

Revelation 22:12-13 “12Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

 

Revelation 22:20 “He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.”

 

Thus, the Lord Jesus said, “Surely I come quickly.” And since this “Lord Jesus,” who is to come, is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, and the “Lord God,” we must surely know and believe this.

 

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

 

Amen.