This past Sunday morning, I spent some of the time doing what I often do on Sunday mornings and channel-surfed through various televangelist programs to see what kinds of messages are being taught and how they are often so contrary to what the Bible actually says.  What makes it all the more interesting to me is the fact that many of these shows hosts are people that I knew from my youth.  Some were ministers in my church.  Others were faculty members from my college.  And now, I find several hosts who were my own classmates from our theology studies at Ambassador College in Pasadena, CA.

One of these TV hosts is located in Oklahoma and his church is an almost exact replica of the church that Herbert W. Armstrong had built since the early 1930’s called the Worldwide Church of God.  To say that I’m familiar with this man would be an understatement.  Since he formed his church, he introduced no new doctrine that had not been previously taught in the church we once attended years ago.  In fact, his church’s theology is rigid in its belief that Herbert W. Armstrong was 100% right about all of his doctrine and his understanding of the Bible.  He didn’t just model himself after Mr. Armstrong’s church; he has created an almost exact replica of it.

This past Sunday morning, he posed the question about who or what the “Word” was that John wrote about in the first verse of his gospel, here:

John 1:1–“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.“

For the next 30 minutes, he spoke about how the “Word” has been with “God” for all of eternity, and it is the “WORD” who is the author of the Old Testament.  As he spoke, he would refer to the “Word” as a metaphor or an expression to identify a person.  When he talked about him being there “in the beginning”, he concluded that this meant “the beginning of time”.  If I could have asked him a question, it would have been two-fold.  1)  Does he believe that the Father and the Son have always existed?  If he agrees that this answer is yes, then 2)  Why would John have written that he was with the Father “in the beginning”, when it would have been impossible to conclude that?  You can’t have a “beginning” if you’ve always existed, right?

I don’t blame this televangelist for wrestling with this subject the way he did.  He merely discussed it from the normal, human reasoning standpoint that it’s always been discussed.  But, he is trying to make this topic deeper and more difficult than it needs to be because the truth is so simple that once it’s understood, it will be like a bolt of lightning hitting you right between the eyes.

If you’ve been reading any of the other posts to my blog, you’ll know that I dig down into the original language of the author in order to try and understand his original intent, in the language most closely associated with the text that came out of Israel.  Paul told us that this is how we are to think.

Phil. 2:5–“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Yahshua Anointed:”  If we are going to have any chance to begin to think like Yahshua, we must read what was written in its original language.  Here is what John actually wrote in the first verse of his gospel.

Στην αρχή ήταν ο Λόγος, και ο Λόγος ήταν με τον Θεό, και ο Λόγος ήταν ο Θεός.

John 1:1–“In beginning was the word and the word was toward Yahweh and Yahshua was the word.”

This doesn’t clean up the thought very much,  but you’ll notice that the word “Word” is in lower case, not identifying anyone by name, rather it’s identifying a specific word.  In fact, John does not use “Word” as some sort of metaphor.  He is identifying something much more precise and unambiguous.  You will also notice that John cites the existence of not just ONE member of Elohim’s family, but two: Yahweh and Yahshua.  Reading this verse solely in the English translation, it’s impossible to differentiate the different references to “God”, like the Greek text does easily.

John’s gospel is much different from the other three gospels.  Instead of just writing a book about the life of Yahshua, John wrote his book TO the Sanhedrin–the governing body which decided legal matters.  This book is, in fact, a LEGAL court document which was written for the Sanhedrin to prove that Yahshua was the Messiah.  It is why he repeatedly uses the expression “verily verily”, as a way to put a notary stamp of authority on his book.  AND, most importantly, when he wrote “In beginning”, he was not referring to the beginning of time.  He was referring to the book of Genesis.

In Hebrew, each Old Testament book did not have titles like we see today.  The books of the O.T. were referred to by the first word in the first verse.  In Hebrew, the book of Genesis begins with the word התחלה,  “Barashith” which means “Beginning”.  When John wrote that Yahshua was in BEGINNING, he is explaining that Yahshua was there, in the book of Genesis.  More importantly, he’s telling the Sanhedrin that Yahshua was in BEGINNING (Genesis), in the first chapter and in the first verse!  Here is Gen. 1:1 in both English and in Hebrew:

English–“In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth.”  10 words.

Hebrew–   בהתחלה אלוהים ברא את השמים והארץ Or, “Beginning created Elohim (a 4th word–את– that is unpronouncable) heavens and earth.”  7 words, only 6 can be spoken.

It is this center word, the 4th word in a 7-word verse that John is referring to when he cites the Word in his gospel as being there, in Genesis, or the book called “Beginning”.  The 4th word in this short verse consists of only two letters, aleph and tav.  These letters are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  Written together, the reader can see them, but because they create no sound, there is nothing to hear.

I know what you’re thinking.  For centuries, expert theologians have concluded that this expression “Word” in John 1:1 is an obvious metaphor for the author of the Old Testament, and they would be right.  Rather, they would be only 1/2 right.  It’s common knowledge that Yahshua was indeed the author of the O.T., but in this instance John is not talking about authorship.  He’s making the legal case of his relationship with Yahweh because he was there WITH Elohim in the very first verse of the Bible.  And for those who think this is a stretch, John makes it even easier to completely understand exactly who and what the “Word” is when he wrote the book of Revelation.

Rev. 21:6–“And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.“

Rev. 22:13–“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.“

Each of these verses are clearly describing Yahshua, our Messiah.  Think about what each verse says.  When we read that he is the beginning and the end, is John talking about the beginning and end of time?  The beginning and end of scripture?  The beginning and end of prophecy being fulfilled?  What does it mean?

Remember, the book of Revelation is not a book that hides its meanings.  The word we call Revelation is from the Greek word αποκάλυψη, “apokalupsis”, which literally means “revealed”, “naked” or “nothing hidden”.  You do not have to try and make the plain words of Revelation any more complicated than what John wrote.  The problem is, throughout all of the rest of the Bible, readers had to try and figure out what was literal, what were parables, what was prophecy and what was a metaphor.  So, when they read Revelation, the tendency is to do the same thing.  But Yahweh gave us this book to expose truths point-blank, if only we have the courage to believe the words.

Back to the two verses above–we know that Yahweh and Yahshua have no “beginning” nor “end”.   They have always existed.  Therefore, neither verse can be describing Yahshua’s “lifespan”.  But John quotes Yahshua as saying “I am Alpha and Omega”.  Why?

In Greek, the first letter of the alphabet is alpha and the last letter is omega.  As I mentioned earlier, John told the Sanhendrin that Yahshua was there in the book of Genesis “Beginning”, visible as a word consisting of aleph and tav, the FIRST and LAST letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and here in Revelation, Yahshua uses the FIRST and LAST letters of the Greek alphabet.  But this is not the original language in which John wrote the book of Revelation.  He originally wrote it in Hebrew.  Thus, in its original text, we would have the identical expression in Genesis and in Revelation.

In Genesis, the letters aleph and tav can be seen but not spoken.  Finally, in Revelation, Yahshua himself identifies what this unpronounceable word is by saying “I AM ALEPH AND TAV”!  I am the FIRST AND LAST [letters of the alphabet]!”  Prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., it remained guarded by Roman soldiers.  No Hebrew materials were allowed to be taken off its premises.  In order for any holy texts to be allowed to leave the Temple in Jerusalem where they were stored for safekeeping, each manuscript had to be translated into Greek.  That is why Revelation had to change the LAST letter to the only letter of the language it was translated into–Omega.

John’s gospel forcefully established the legal authority by which Yahshua conducted his ministry on earth.  He pointed out his existence, in a silent word, in the very first verse of the Bible.  Finally, in the last book of the Bible, Yahshua makes it clear that HE is that Word–an ACTUAL literal word, not just a metaphor–which can be seen from the beginning of the Bible to the end.

If you ever read the Old Testament in the Hebrew language, which can be done easily if you have an interlinear Hebrew-to-English tool, you will see hundreds to thousands of occasions where Yahshua makes his presence known with the insertion of the word “aleph tav”, just two letters, in the original text.  For example, the Elohim that lead the Israelites out of Egypt is identified as “aleph tav”.

In Exodus 10:1, we read about the moment that Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but unless we read this text in Hebrew, we miss the biggest impact, because this verse actually cites BOTH the Father and the Son in the same verse:

“And Yahweh said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:”

Now, the original Hebrew–

ויאמר ה’ אל משה לך אל פרעה כי הקשתי את ליבו ואת לב משרתיו, כי אני יכול להשיל את הסימנים האלה לפניו

In this scenario, the Father–Yahweh–gives instructions to Moses, but it is his son–Yahshua–who hardens Pharaoh’s heart!  But, unless you are aware of the truth of “aleph tav”, you’d have no idea he was directly involved!

The author of the Old Testament text was also the Elohim that fought for his chosen people all along the way.  This gives us a clearer understanding of Yahshua’s role, both while still in heaven and while on earth.

I am the beginning and the end.  I am the first and the last.  He has no “beginning” at all.  Ever.  The first and last are the revelation of how we can “see” Yahshua all throughout the Bible, even though he himself is never named by the one name he was given when he became human.  The first and last letters of the HEBREW alphabet are a kind of shorthand to see what he did and where he was all throughout scripture.

Revelation was given to us as a gift to understand the rest of the Bible.  But too many people will read this clear explanation and reject it outright because “it can’t possibly be that simple”.

Suit yourself.