Are God and the Lamb the same being? Revelation 22:3-5

Question

Revelation 22:3-5 (ESV) reads:

3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Verse 3 talks about the throne of God and of the Lamb as two separate entities, but then the following verses use the third-person singular ("he", "his", "him") to address a single being. Are God and the Lamb the same being?

Answer 1

The context of Revelation 1 shapes how we read of God and His son in the rest of the book. (and impacts how we read of God and His son in the rest of the bible)

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bond-servants... 1:1

The one who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God 3:12

I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name 3:12

The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat with my Father on His throne 3:21

I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll... 5:1 Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to be able to open the scroll and its seven seals. 6 And I saw ... a Lamb standing, as if slaughtered v5-6

What we see quite clearly (and presented very persistently) is a fitting differentiation between God and His son Jesus, the Lamb of God. The risen Jesus, the Lamb, the firstborn of many brothers, still has the same God we do.

With this plain understanding, we can grasp the meaning of other verses that may seem confusing when read alone.

In the passage in question, 22:3 has as the primary subject God (and the Lamb), but the subject is God and the 'His' referred to.

The passage closes with the focus on God as the subject providing the light. Jesus is mentioned in passing through this passage so the 'His' cannot refer to him.

Conclusion:

So the passage must be read in light of other writings by the same author showing that God and the Lamb are not the same being - God is not the Lamb and therefore, the Lamb is not God.

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Some may use John 10:30 to suggest that Jesus and the Father are one. Using proper exegetical process we must not assume this means they are one ‘substance’ or some other fanciful interpretation. To understand what Jesus meant we search other texts to find the answer.

Jesus prayed to his Father regarding the disciples,

...so that they may be one as we are one. John 17:11

And repeated again v22

Now we know what John meant in 10:30 - to subscribe to another meaning than being one in purpose is to ignore the inspired text interpretation of itself - as God intended.

Answer 2

At the beginning of Revelation (1:8), it says

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

And at the end of Revelation (22:13), Jesus says

13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

There are several other parallels throughout the Bible that identify Jesus with YHWH (compare Zechariah 12 with John 19, and Isaiah 45 with Philippians 2, etc.), so it would seem reasonable that this passage would allude to it

Answer 3

From the very first verse of Rev, John makes a clear distinction between the God the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. Here are some examples:

• Rev 1:1 - This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants
• Rev 1:4, 5 - ... from Him who is and was and is to come, ... and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness
• Rev 1:5, 6 - To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father
• Rev 4, 5 describes the enthronement of the Lamb (Jesus) on the right of the throne of the God
• Rev 14:1 - Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
• Rev 14:4 - They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

in the case of Rev 22:3, we have:

καὶ ὁ θρόνος τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἀρνίου (= and the throne of the God and of the Lamb)

Grammatically, there is no doubt that this is discussing two different people, "God" and "Lamb" because both have an article (ie, Sharp's rule does not apply.) Therefore, what is the antecedent of the pronouns later in the same verse, "and His servants will worship Him"? Is it God or the Lamb? If we look earlier we find exactly the same construction, "the throne of the God and the Lamb" - so that is not much help either.

Note the characteristics of the servants in Rev 22:3, 4:

• "his servants serve him" (compare Matt 28:19 - serving Christ; and 2 Cor 3:18, 1 John 3:2 - being like Christ)
• They see his face (contrast John 1:18)
• His name is on their foreheads (compare Rev 14:1 with the Father's name on their foreheads)

Thus, there is little to choose between God and Jesus in the above parallel passages. The commentaries are similarly vague but perhaps the most helpful is the Pulpit commentary that suggests this:

But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him; and the throne, etc. This is the consequence of there being no accursed thing (cf. Joshua 7:12, 13, "Neither will I be with you any more .... There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel"). God dwells in the city because all is holy. The throne of God and of the Lamb is one - God and the Lamb are one. Again, his servants, the servants of God and the Lamb (cf. John 10:30). They "serve him," as described in Revelation 19:1-7 and elsewhere. Revelation 22:3

As noted above, we see the same grammatical problem exists in V1 as well - God and the Lamb are separate people but are referred to here as a single unit. (Compare Gen 2:24, Eph 5:31, Matt 19:5, Mark 10:8, "the two [married people] shall be one", etc). That is, while the Father and the Son are separate people, they occupy the same throne and are "one" just as Jesus declared:

John 10:30, "I and the Father are one."