Jesus Comes With Encouragement

"The Alpha and the Omega" 

Now, wonder of wonders!  The Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself speaks.  How appropriate this is as preface to the visions that are about to unfold, since he is our Grand Instructor and the ultimate Source of Revelation!  (Isaiah 30:20)  Our God declares: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, . . . the One who is an who was and who is coming, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8)  This is the first of three times in Revelation that Jehovah himself speaks from heaven.  (See also Revelation 21:5-8; 22:12-15.)  First Century Christians  would quickly have recognized the alpha and omega as the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.  Jehovah's calling himself by those two letters stresses that before him, there was no almighty God, and there will be none after him.  He will bring to a successful conclusion, for all eternity, the issue of Godship.  He will be forever vindicated as the one only almighty God, Supreme Sovereign over all of his creation. - Compare ISAIAH  46:10; 55:10, 11. 

Confident that Jehovah will direct the outcome of matters, John tells his fellow slaves:  "I  John, your brother and a sharer with you in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in company with Jesus, came to be in the isle  that is called Patmos for speaking about God and bearing witness to Jesus."  (Revelation 1:9)  A prisoner on Patmos for the sake of the good news, enduring tribulations with his brothers, hoping firmly to have a share in the coming Kingdom, the aged John now sees the first of the visions of Revelation.  No doubt he was encouraged greatly by these visions, just as the John class  is stimulated today at seeing their fulfillment. We do not know how John forwarded the scroll of Revelations to the congregations, since he was in confinement at the time.  (Revelation 1:11; 22:18, 19)  Jehovah's angels must have cooperated in getting this done, just as they so often protected faithful Witnesses of Jehovah who serve under bans and restrictions today, so that these have been able to get timely spiritual food to their truth-hungry brothers. - PSALM 34:6, 7.

How deeply John must have appreciated his privilege of being used by Jehovah as His channel of communications to the congregations!  Similarly, the John class today treasures greatly its privilege of providing the household of God with spiritual  "food" at the proper time."  (Matthew 24:45)  May you be one of those strengthened  by this spiritual provision so as to attain the glorious goal of everlasting life! -PROVERBS 3:13-18; John 17:3.

Next time: Jesus Comes With Encouragement - Obtaining Spiritual Food in Difficult Times

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