III. ALPHA AND OMEGA.

'And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.? Rev. xxi. 6.

THESE appellations, which are as remarkable for their condescending simplicity as for their majestic sublimity, occur only in three other instances, and all in this highly figurative book, ch. i. 8. 11;* xxii. 13.

A very popular commentator has the following criticism on the titles here applied to the Redeemer:

"This mode of speech is borrowed from the Jews, who express the whole compass of things by aleph and tau; the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet: but as St. John was writing in Greek, he accommodates the whole to the Greek alphabet, of which alpha and omega are the first and last letters. With the rabbins mealeph vead tau, "from aleph to tau," expressed the whole of a matter, from the beginning to the end. So in Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 17. 4. Adam transgressed the whole law, from aleph to tau: i. e. from the beginning to the end.

'Ibid. fol. 48. 4. Abraham observed the law from aleph to tau; i. e. he kept it entirely, from beginning to end.

*This whole clause is wanting in ABC; thirty-one others, some editions; the Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Slavonic, Vulgate, Arethas, Andreas, and Primasius. Griesbach has left it out of the text. -A. Clarke.

'Ibid. fol. 128. 3. When the holy blessed God pronounced a blessing on the Israelites, He did it from aleph to tau; i. e. He did it perfectly.'

There is a sublimity in these words which it would require volumes to illustrate, but as our plan requires great brevity that each title may be considered, we shall be obliged, in this instance, as in many others, to omit many thoughts that may present themselves. That the reader may see the great beauty and force of these names, we will direct his mind to the transporting view which the glowing pencil of prophecy has predicted: 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 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.' How grand! How transporting is this language! The mind is at once carried beyond all the scenes of time to that bright and beautiful period when the vast family of

man will be gathered around the throne of God, when every eye will cease to weep, and death and the grave be destroyed forevermore. O transporting hour! My soul longs for its approach. There never will be a point, even through unlimited eternity, when Jesus will cease to be, or will be less the source of my felicity. I shall behold in his eternity the perpetuity of my own existence and my own joys.'

Dr. Watts must have felt the power of the great truth, here revealed, when he presented the whole language in the glowing strains of poetry :

*

'His own soft hand shall wipe the tears

From every weeping eye;

And pains, and groans, and griefs and fears,
And death itself, shall die.

How long, dear Saviour, O how long
Shall this bright hour delay ?

Fly swifter round, ye wheels of time,
And bring the welcome day.'

These titles denote the completeness of the Saviour. Jesus is the beginning and the end of the christian dispensation or of man's salvation; 'the author and finisher,' 'the first and the last.' He has commenced the great work of redemption, and he will never leave it till the whole human race stand perfected before the throne of Him who sent him. Then will he say, 'Here am I and the children which thou hast given me.' How grand! how glorious! With such transporting views of the Saviour, we may look forward with great joy to that blissful period, everywhere presented by prophets and angels, when tears shall be

wiped from all faces, and pain cease forever throughout the whole moral universe of God.

We cannot close this number more appropriately, than by presenting the following paragraph from a writer, whose language would seem to denote that he felt the love of the Redeemer in his inmost soul:

'Is the Lord Jesus Christ then, the Alpha and Omega of my soul? Does he hold precedency in my affections! Is he the more than magic circle drawn around my heart, which meets me and is most welcome wherever I turn my eyes? Is he at once the centre and circumference of my happiness-the point to which all my desires tend, and the limit beyond which they would never stray? If so, I am blest indeed.'

IV. AMEN.

'And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God.' Rev. iii. 14.

'AMEN, in Hebrew, signifies true, faithful, certain. It is used likewise in affirmation; and was often thus used by our Saviour: Amen, Amen, verily, verily. It is understood as expressing a wish, Amen! so be it! or an affirmation, Amen, yes: I believe it. Numb. v. 22, She shall answer, Amen! Amen! Deut. xxvii. 15, 16, 17, &c., All the people shall answer, Amen! 1 Cor. xiv. 16, How shall he who occupieth the place of the unlearned say, Amen! at thy giving of thanks? seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest. The promises of God are Amen in Christ; i. e. certain, confirmed, GRANTED, 2 Cor. i. 20. The Hebrews end the five books of Psalms, according to their distribution of them, with Amen, Amen; which the Septuagint translate Γένοιτο, γένοιτο, and the Latins Fiat, fiat. The gospels, &c. are ended with AMEN. The Greek, Latin, and other churches, preserve this word in their prayers, as well as alleluia and hosanna. At the conclusion of the public prayers, the people anciently answered with a loud voice, Amen! and Jerome says, that, at Rome, when the people answered, Amen! the sound was like a clap of thunder. Præf. in Lib. ii. Ep. ad Galet.'

This is the only instance where Jesus is thus distinguished, though the word occurs frequently in the