Revelation 1:4

More of Revelation 1 on this siteRevelation 1:5-6 · Revelation 1:7 · Revelation 1:17-18

Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalWho is 'him which is, and which was, and which is to come'? Four verses later He says it Himself: 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty' (1:8). Then the One speaking says, 'I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead' (1:17-18). The Almighty who was dead is Jesus. The 'seven Spirits' are the fulness of the one Spirit (Isa. 11:2), and in 5:6 they are the Lamb's own 'seven eyes'.

Jewish'Who is, and was, and is to come' echoes the divine name (Exodus 3:14) as Jewish interpreters expanded it.

CatholicRead as the Trinity: the Father, the sevenfold Spirit, and Jesus Christ (1:5).

ProtestantMost read a Trinitarian greeting: from God, the Spirit (the 'seven Spirits'), and Jesus Christ.

OrthodoxRead as Trinitarian; the seven Spirits as the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

DispensationalRead as Trinitarian; the seven churches are often seen as stages of church history.

Academic'Who is, who was, who is to come' expands the divine name of Exodus 3:14, as in some Targums. The 'seven Spirits' are much debated: the sevenfold Spirit, or seven angels.