Hearing Voices

John hears several voices as he sees new Jerusalem descend from heaven like a bride. He hears a loud voice “out of the throne” announcing, in third person, that God has pitched His tent among men (Revelation 21:3-4). Then the one seated on the throne speaks: “Behold new I make all things” (v. 5). Then an unidentified voice exhorts John to write the faithful and true words (v. 6). Finally, another unidentified voice announces that “it is done,” identifies himself as “Alpha and Omega,” offers the water of life to the thirsty, promises an inheritance of “these things” to conquerors and warns about the lake of fire (vv. 6-8).

The last speech has a chiastic format. After the speaker’s initial identification, we have:

A. Spring of water of life to the thirsty, 6b

B. Inheritance to the conquerors who are treated as sons, 7

C. List of 8 vices, 8a

B’. Their portion (meros) is lake of fire, 8b

A’. Second death, 8c

But who is speaking here? Jesus might be “Alpha and Omega, beginning and end” (cf. 1:17-18), but the “Lord God” is also named as “Alpha and Omega” (1:8; prp. 22:13). That the conqueror is a “son to me” (moi huios) suggests that the speaker is the Father of the Son who makes those who overcome into sons (Davidic sons, cf. 2 Samuel 7, echoed here). The one seated on the throne is clearly the Father (v. 5), and the fact that the command to “write” is set between two speeches from the Father might indicate that it too is a command from the Father. Verses 5-8 would thus contain speeches from the Father.

What of the voice “out of” the throne? That appears distinct from the voice from “the one enthroned.” Besides, the loud voice from the throne speaks of God in the third person. The throne itself is speaking about God, and that likely reaches back to the early chapters of Revelation, where the Lamb suddenly appears in the midst of the four living creatures and takes the place of the cherubim as the ultimate cherub, the Lion-Lamb from Judah, upon whom the Father is enthroned.