In the scriptures – Revelations 1:8, 21:6, 22:13 – Christ states that He is “Alpha and Omega.”

It is often asserted that this phrase, “alpha and omega,” is interpreted to mean “the begging and the end.”

Perhaps there is something deeper and more intimately applicable to each of us from this title – “alpha and omega” – that we miss.

Although one of the beauties of the scriptures is that there are any number of doctrinal meanings interlaced within each verse, perhaps we can gain some deeper spiritual insight from the science of ethology and the behavior of wolves in the wild.

Social animals in a hierarchal community are assigned ranks for the purpose of scientific study.

Six of these ranks have attracted special attention in ethology and are identified as follows:

(1) Alpha
(2) Beta
(3) Gamma
(4) Delta
(5) Epsilon
(6) Omega

The wolf pack hierarchy is a very strict social order.

The Alpha male is the dominant member, and get preferential access to food and all other desirable resources or activities.

The Beta mail acts as the second in command, and so on down through each successive class.

Finally, the omega member of the pack is the lowest member of the group.

The omega member is subordinate to all others in the community, are are expected to remain submissive to everyone. Quite often, they are used as communal scapegoats or outlets of frustration, or given the lowest priority when distributing food or other valuable resources.

So this begs the question. Why is this study of wolf pack hierarchy important?

The answer is simple!

No matter who you are, you too belong to a pack … a pack of humans.

Humans also have a hierarchal structure, irregardless of whatever political environment you may find yourself living in.

You might find yourself as the alpha member of society who has preferential access to resources or desirable opportunities, or you might find yourself as the beta member who still as ample resources and opportunities to select from.

Or perhaps you might find yourself as the omega member of society, the one who gets the brunt of everyone else’s frustrations and aggressions, the one that is constantly pushed down and violated, the one that the world has not been kind to when it comes to resources, opportunities, and most importantly, happiness.

And that is why it is so important and significant that Christ says that He is “alpha and omega.”

No matter who you are or what life has dealt you, Jesus Christ is emphatically stating that He understand how you feel.

He is unequivocally stating that he can heal you because you know you … and in a sense, Christ is stating that He is you!

If you are the alpha member of society … He is you!

If you are the omega member of society … He is you!

He gets you, He can relate to you, He can heal you and make you whole!

Indeed, Christ who has suffered all can understand all, and consequently He can heal all, and that is the personal significance of the title “alpha and omega.”

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As a side note, it is interesting to pay particular attention to the fact that in hierarchal communities, that ethologists pay special attention to six (6) specific ranks or classes in social structures.

One of the features or characteristics of pride is the desire to be better than everyone else, which inevitably leads to rankings or classifications, or a hierarchal structure.

The fact that a society has class rankings or a hierarchy evidences a society that is still dealing with pride – or Satan’s greatest tool.

Furthermore, the number six (6) in Hebrew signifies pride or imperfection, the human number, the number of man as destitute of God – without God and without Christ.

Although we don’t fully know what the mark of the beast represents (666), we know the beast is Satan, and the mark could potentially signify a society that is ruled by him in that its structure is a byproduct of pride, or an oppressive hierarchal social structure.

This is in stark contrast to those who follow Christ. For the scriptures clearly state that are all equal before the Lord, and that He does not make distinction, nor does He play favorites (based upon prideful worldly distinctions, classifications, or achievements).

Obviously that is not to say we are all carbon copies of each other, and equal in that respect.