How is it that Christ Jesus is the beginning and the end?
The “Aleph” (א) and The “Tav” (ת)
Revelation 22:13… I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Why do some refer to Christ as “the Alpha, the First, the Beginning and the Omega, the Last, and the End” but others say this is God?
Are we to take this description at face value or are we to seek a deeper understanding of it? Could this be God speaking and not the Son of God?
When did the angel gave the message to the apostle John, what language was spoken at that time or what language was it conveyed in? Was not the apostle John a Hebrew man that spoke the Hebrew language?
Let us first examine the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek word “Alpha.” We need understand that the New Testament has been translated into Greek which was the popular language of the time before being translated into your language.
When defining “Alpha”, Strong’s Concordance uses the first Hebrew letter (א) called Aleph which means the beginning and that is our first clue that we need to be look into the Hebrew language to get a deeper understanding before looking at it the Greek.
Next when looking up the last Greek letter Omega (Ω), Strong’s Concordance uses the Greek letter ant not the Hebrew, and it simply means Final.
It Is All About the Hebrew
As I said before the key to understanding the New Testament is that we need to understand the teachings of the Hebrew people because God spoke to them as his people, they had the revealed truth first.
The Hebrew language uniquely reflects its divine source. Each letter in every word contributes to the definition of that word, building a profoundly rich vocabulary by which our Heavenly Father first began to communicate with his creation.
For those who do not know about the Hebrew language it is written without vowels.
How we understand the meaning of the words has to do with the location of the letter within the word, the context of the sentence. God spoke prophetically about future events. Because God’s word was written with Holy Spirit it has to be understood by means of Holy Spirit.
Notice what the apostle Peter had to say about God’s word:
2 Peter 1:19-21… So, we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
How do the Hebrew letters give up their meanings so that we understand their depth?
Aleph (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, is generally considered a silent letter and has a numerical value of 1. Each one of the Hebrew alphabet letters conveys meaning whereas the Aleph conveys a sense of first, oneness, unity, master, teacher, chief, source, strength, a concept of God, wondrous or it has a pictorial meaning of Leader.
The Hebrew equivalent of Greek letter Omega (Ω) refers to the last Hebrew letter Tav (ת) or Taw. It has numerical value of 400 and it too has multiple meanings such as life-or-death, truth, perfection, mark, completion, omen, seal, or sign. It also had a pictorial meaning of the word Covenant.
Each Hebrew letter can have multiple meanings to it. So, when we put two letters together to form words. Ok, how are we to understand them?
Rabbinic teaching sources indicate that the beginning (Aleph), and the end (Tav) are connected. That the end is really never the complete end but is the beginning of something new as it cycles back around.
Let us compare this Rabbinic thought to that of a magnet, were we have a north pole, and a south pole and there is energy field all around it. There is now the grouping of atoms and energy is flowing in a loop from one pole to the other pole like here upon the earth.
Next, let us examine the first words spoken into creation as recorded by Moses in the Bible.
The Beginning
Genesis 1:1 – use the Hebrew word Beresheet (בראשית) and it means beginning.
The first sentence conveys the very essence of what God has accomplished. He set in motion the universal creation by means of bringing life (as we know it) into existence. This movement of His dynamic nature shows us God’s interaction with mankind is important to Him.
God made the physical dimension and gave his word that these things should be sustained by his power and godship. He established a covenant so it should be everlasting.
If we were to read Genesis 1:1 as it is actually translated word for word something marvelous is revealed. There we find God created the son of his love first, the heaven second, and the earth third just in that first sentence.
This may be a new thought for you, so if you would like to follow the hyperlink you will find there is more to be said about Genesis 1:1 in the article: In The Beginning.
All the apostles knew of this sacred secret even as the disciple John showed when he writes at the beginning of his epistle about the son of God calling him the logos (the Word).
Next, consider what the apostle Paul said about the beginning of God’s creative works found at:
Colossians 1:15-20… He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace
through the blood of His Covenant whether things on earth or things in heaven.
The words of the apostle Paul found here explains how Christ is the beginning.
Next we will begin to answer the question “how Christ is the end”?
את
These two Hebrew letters together form a forgotten word according to Strongs Concordance #H853. It even calls it “untranslatable,” the definition of which has been lost in history.
How convenient for those who oppose the ultimate covenant which Christ Jesus extended to us by means of his blood. (Matt. 26:29) He is the Leader of this Covenant.
By joining the two letters named at Revelation 22:13 as the “Aleph” and “Tav” (את), this produces a pictorial meaning as “Leader of the Covenant.”
Follow this hyperlink to understand more about the covenants and the leader of it.
So, imagine yourself as though a Hebrew / Jew reading this part of Revelation where God identifies himself as the beginning and the end, but if Christ Jesus had said this as the Aleph and the Tav the first and the last. Would this change your thinking?
Christ would be encouraging us to be brought along into perfection and join him in this eternal life because he is the Leader of the Covenant by means of his blood, He is now calling us to step over from a physical life into the everlasting life.
Is death really the end of the matter? Not at all because as we said before the teachings of the scribes indicate that the end cycles back around and becomes the beginning of something else.
This teaching the Rabbinic teachers have discovered through the study of the Hebrew language is deeper in meaning. They have identified the door leading to everlasting life, but they refused to go through it. They even try to hinder anyone else from entering in. Read Luke 11:45-52, John 10:6-9, John 14:6
Thanks be to God for the invitation for us to join Him, for he is righteous, and he is good toward those who express love for him and the One (son of his love) that he sent forth to save us. Ephesians 1:3-12
It is God who has said “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End”. But look it is the Son of God who has become the Leader of the Covenant the beginning of God’s creative works “the first and the last” that ends with us accepting the New Covenant.
Come Lord Jesus, Amen! Blessed are you that come in God’s name.
Writingwithlogos.com – Last Revised 4/12/26