In Revelation 1:8, the Lord God identifies himself as "the Alpha and the Omega" Revelation 1:8. He also describes himself as "who is and who was and who is to come" and "the Almighty" Revelation 1:8.
In Revelation 1:7–8 the writer interrupts the opening greeting with a public announcement: “Look—he is coming.” This arrival is pictured as visible and unavoidable, drawing the attention of “every eye,” including those linked to his wounding, and it produces widespread mourning among the earth’s tribes. These lines sit inside Revelation’s opening section, where the book introduces its message and speaker(s) and frames how it should be heard. After greetings and blessings in 1:4–6, 1:7 reads like a bold headline that sets the book’s direction: the coming of “he” and its worldwide impact.
Revelation 1:7–8 breaks into the opening greeting with a headline about a coming arrival and then follows it with God’s own self-description.
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with Revelation 1:8, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."