Hi Sacramentalist:
By comparing it with Isaiah 44:6 -
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell as dead at his feet. "And he laid his right hand upon me and said: “Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last” (NWT)
Isaiah 44:6 This is what Jehovah has said, the King of Israel and the Repurchaser of him, Jehovah of armies, ‘I am the first and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.’ (NWT)
Jesus does not qualify the statement by saying “I am the first and last direct creation of God”. He is directly using the language of Isaiah. Additionally, he does not say, “I represent the first and the last”, or something similar. He says, “I am the first and the last.” By definition, how many “first and lasts” can there be?
Also, at Revelation 2:23 Christ uses language of the OT reserved for Jehovah. The literal reading of the NWT in that verse (using the idiomatic “kidneys and heart”) helps bring this out:
Revelation 2:23 (Christ speaking) And her children I will kill with deadly plague, so that all the congregations will know that I am he who searches the kidneys and hearts, and I will give to YOU individually according to YOUR deeds. (NWT)
Jeremiah 17:10 I, Jehovah, am searching the heart, examining the kidneys, even to give to each one according to his ways, according to the fruitage of his dealings. (NWT)
AHF
