Sunday School Notes: Revelation 1:8-9
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was an who is coming; the Almighty.” 9 I, John, your brother and fellow-sharer in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus, I was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the witness of Jesus.
We actually covered some of verse 10 too this week, but since I’ll probably review that next time, I’ll save those notes for then.
After the Old Testament allusions of verse 7, such a declaration of God’s sovereignty seems appropriate. He encompasses all of time and history. The Lord is the almighty power behind whatever happens. We have already seen the phrase “who is and who was and who is coming” back in verse 4. There we noted John’s deliberate grammatical error to draw our attention to the Old Testament significance of the phrase. Here, the grammar is correct, and the purpose is, perhaps, to “bookend” verse 4, so verses 4-8 form a complete section that begins and ends with this statement.
There are two ways to understand “the Alpha and the Omega.” The first is that this is a common literary formula where two polar opposites are stated with the intention that the reader include everything in between. We might say that someone knows a topic “from a to z,” meaning that they have a full, comprehensive knowledge of the subject. Another example might be in Luke 11:51, where Jesus warns the Pharisees that they shall be held to account for the blood of the prophets “from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zecharaiah.” The story of Abel’s murder is in Genesis, and the story of Zecharaiah’s murder is in 2 Chronicles, the first and last books of the Hebrew Old Testament. The point is that God encompasses all things and transcends all things. Nothing is beyond His purview, and nothing outside His control. Another way to understand “Alpha and Omega” here has to do with the fact that AΩ was used in pagan magical texts as a divine name, a symbol of power. By taking that name and applying it to Jesus, the assertion is that there is no-one who deserves this name more than Christ. While I think the first understanding is more likely the intended meaning, both of these could be true.
The underlying message of verse 8 is, I think, a reminder that God is in control. John’s vision over the next 21 chapters is going to show the power of evil, and while God will triumph, it won’t be without the suffering of His people. It’s important that they (and we) remember the fact that God is the almighty, the One who has all of history in His hand.
In verse 9, John describes his situation when these visions took place: he was on the island of Patmos on account of the word of God and the witness of Jesus. The first thing to note is that John refers to himself as a “fellow-sharer in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus.” He identifies himself as one of the brethren, not claiming any apostolic authority or special privilege. As is evident from his exile, he is not immune to tribulation, and indeed shares with his audience all that they might be expected to find in the Christian life. The mention of endurance, or steadfastness (Greek hupomonê) is particularly important since this is a theme we’ll see in the visions. There are always temptations to compromise with the world for an easy life. Sometimes, honoring Christ with our words and our conduct, and truly making Christ our Lord in all situations, can put us at odds with the world. This was the stark reality for many believers in the first three hundred years of the church, where resistance to declaring Caesar as Lord could result in death. Throughout Revelation, John encourages his readers to have the courage and faith to remain true to Christ in the face of adversity, and this is something we need to remember even today. After all, we don’t do this in our own power; it’s only in Jesus that we’re able to stand. Indeed, Jesus is our greatest example of someone who experienced tribulation, showed true kingdom servanthood, and remained steadfast in the face of death.
John says that he was on the island called Patmos. The use of the Greek aorist tense, which is often a simple past tense, may be significant, indicating that John is writing this after the event. In other words, he is no longer on Patmos, and is recalling what happened. In support of this is the tradition (quoted by early church fathers Ireneus, Eusebius, and Jerome), that John left Patmos and went to Ephesus after his exile was completed. While Eusebius claims this happened under Domitian, the others don’t make that specific claim, so John’s exile could have been under Nero. However, it was common practice that edicts issued by one emperor would expire at that emperor’s death, and we know that when Domitian died in 96, Nerva, his successor, recalled all those exiled by Domitian. As far as we can tell, Patmos was not a deserted island. It was inhabited, and had been part of the territory of Miletus. The city of Miletus was considered a major maritime power, and the three islands of Patmos, Lipsos, and Leros formed a defensive barrier for the city. Garrisons were posted on these islands that would govern them, and there are inscriptions that indicate the existence of a gymnasium on Patmos, as well as a temple of Artemis. Given that John was commanded by the Lord to write what he saw (1:19), one would imagine that if he had the means to write, he wouldn’t have waited until he was in Ephesus. From these few facts we know about Patmos, it would seem he would have access to writing material, however, we don’t know the terms of his exile, so we can’t be certain he wrote Revelation while there. Of course, it’s always possible that he wrote down the visions as instructed, but didn’t actually write the letter we know as Revelation including what he had written while on Patmos until after he left, but again, we can do no more than speculate.
The important point of John’s statement is why he’s on Patmos: on account of the word of God. But not simply preaching “the Bible”–it was his witness of Jesus. We’ve seen this word “witness” before in one form or another. John uses the Greek word martur or marturia several times throughout the book. In verse 2, John says that he bore witness to the testimony of Christ, and in verse 5 he describes Jesus as the faithful witness. In his willingness to suffer for the witness of Jesus, John indicates to us that he, too, is a faithful witness. He will mention other faithful witnesses later, and this is an attribute he wants all of his readers to aspire to. The steadfast Christian is one who is not afraid to witness for Christ, even if it results in exile or death.
We’ll start with verse 10 next time.
