Does Revelation 2:23 Teach the Trinity or Deity of Christ?


Revelation 2:23

23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

Argument

In this passage, Jesus says what Yahweh says in Jeremiah 17:10. This demonstrates that He is Yahweh.

Response

Here, Jesus says the same thing that God says in Jeremiah 17:10. Concluding that on that basis, He just is God, is a massive logical leap, which would need much more supporting evidence to substantiate.

Consider how, to this point in the book, the author has always and everywhere distinguished God from Jesus, in a way that guards against such an interpretation:

Revelation 1:1-2 (NRSVUE)

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place, and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

Revelation 1:4-6 (NRSVUE)

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood
6 and made us a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 1:9 (NRSVUE)

9 I, John, your brother who share with you the persecution and the kingdom and the endurance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

Additionally, in both Revelation 1:6 above, and repeatedly in a verse from the chapter after the passage in question, Jesus is taught to Himself have a God (also compare Revelation 3:2):

Revelation 3:12 (NRSVUE)

12 If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

Unless one would assert that this author is, without any commentary or explanation, declaring that God Himself has a God, these statements are more testimonies to the fact that God is distinct from Jesus. When the entire work is considered, there is no ambiguity on that point.

In the passage in question, Jesus is taking on His role as God's appointed agent of judgment - a role which He confesses has been given to Him by God (John 5:22, 5:27). He is not, by quoting Jeremiah 17:10, declaring that He just is Yahweh.