Revelation 1:8 - Who is Speaking?

Mural painting from the catacomb of Commodilla. One of the first bearded images of Jesus, late 4th century. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 ““I am the Alpha and the Omega, ”says YHWH The God, the One who is and the One who was and the One who is coming–the Almighty!” (Re 1:8 MHM)Revelation 1:8 has been traditionally applied to Jesus, even by many Bible Students. Charles Taze Russell probably applied these words as being spoken by Jesus, partly because of the trinitarian tradition of doing so, and also because of the way it reads in the traditional King James Version.
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The scripture itself, the context, as well as other scriptures, show that it is the God of Jesus who is being quoted as speaking in Revelation 1:8, not Jesus himself. The Revelation is from the God and Father of Jesus, who, in turn gives the message to his angel, who in turn gives the message to John. There are four persons involved in the transmission of the Revelation, and sometimes it is Jesus who is being quoted, and sometimes it is John who is speaking, and sometimes it is the angel who is quoted, and sometimes it is the God and Father of Jesus who is quoted.
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Revelation 1:8 tells us who is speaking, that is, the Almighty Lord [Yahweh] God, the God of Jesus. Hebrews 1:1,2 agrees with this, showing that the God of Israel speaks through his Son. It should not be considered anything extraordinary for Jesus to be quoting his God and Father in the Revelation, since the Revelation came to Jesus from his God and Father. — Revelation 1:1.
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“The Lord God” in this verse is Yahweh (Jehovah), the God of Jesus spoken of in verses one, two, four, and addressed in verse six as “his [Jesus'] God and Father”. (World English) Verse Four, in speaking of the God and Father of Jesus, applies this expression to the Jesus’ God, not to Jesus.

Restoration Light study >Who is Speaking?

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February 2014 update:
 

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