Study Audio

Rev 13:6-9 Part 2, Whose Names are not Written in the Book of Life

[Study Aired January 19, 2025]

Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear.

Introduction

Let’s begin this study by once again reminding ourselves that this entire prophecy begins with these words:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.

“Blessed is he that reads… hears, and keeps the things written therein” includes the words of today’s study as well as “every [other] word… of the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Rev 22:7). Unless there are qualifying statements like this:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

The reason ‘overcomers’ do not experience the second death is that they are the first to die daily with Christ (1Co 15:31). The overcomers of this age are the first who are being crucified with Him (Gal 2:20), and we are the first to be presenting our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1) in this present time (Rom 8:18). In other words, God’s elect are the first to be judged now, in this present time and are therefore granted to be raised in “the resurrection of life… the blessed and holy first resurrection”, at the beginning of the thousand-year reign:

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920: ‘Krisis’, judgment, the “great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/ second death”].

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us [because we are dying daily first, Eph 1:12], what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? [At a later judgment, the great white throne judgment of Rev 20:11-15]

There are great benefits to being chosen to be the first to suffer and die with Christ in this present age:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we [who are in the first resurrection] should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [the promise] of our inheritance until [in hope of (Rom 8:23-24)] the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit [being “sealed with that holy spirit of promise” (Eph 1:13)], even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. [“To wit… the blessed and holy first resurrection”]
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope [in a promise]: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

It is our faith in that promise of being “to the praise of His glory” in the first resurrection which will see us through the hardest trials which the Lord will send our way:

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the [trials of the] world, even our faith.

 The “lake of fire [which] is the second death” is the great white throne judgment at which all of mankind who are not being judged in this age will come up in what Christ called “the resurrection of judgment” (Joh 5:29):

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened [Psa 139:16] and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life [Those upon whom judgment “first began” in “this present time”] was cast into the lake of fire.

“Things present and things to come… all are yours” certainly includes this composite beast we have before us here in Revelation 13. We, in Adam, are all of mankind, and therefore we are this beast with seven heads and ten horns. The reason the fourth beast is not described as any particular beast on earth in Daniel, is because, as it is not revealed until here in Revelation, that fourth beast in us is the son of “our father the devil, the great red dragon”, who also has “seven heads and ten horns.” This connection was not revealed to Daniel, but it is revealed to us here in the revelation of Jesus Christ, within us. All Daniel could see was the four physical nations signified by the four beasts. He was not given to see the spiritual application of these four nations to all of mankind as children of the great red dragon:

Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

As Joseph has instructed us, these visions in Daniel 2 and 7, and now here in Revelation 13, are all one and the same vision, and the Lord is “showing us what He is about to do” in our lives, just as he showed Pharaoh.

Gen 41:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
Gen 41:18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
Gen 41:19 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
Gen 41:20 And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
Gen 41:21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they [were] still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
Gen 41:22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
Gen 41:23 And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, [and] blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
Gen 41:24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told [this] unto the magicians; but [there was] none that could declare [it] to me.
Gen 41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Those are the same words by which the holy spirit introduced this prophecy to us:

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Truly the book of Genesis is hidden in the book of Revelation, and the book of Revelation is revealed in the book of Genesis. It would be just as true to say that the book of Genesis is revealed in the book of Revelation, and the book of Revelation is hidden in the book of Genesis.

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Whose names are written in “the book of life of the Lamb”

Why is this not simply called “the book of life”? There is a very good reason why we are discussing “the book of life of the Lamb” instead of simply “the book of life”. They are one and the same book, but “the book of the life of the Lamb” insinuates that “as He is, so are we in this world”, and our lives are the same as “the life of the Lamb… a living sacrifice… for His body’s sake which is the church”.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Rev 13:8 (EDT) And will worship him all those dwelling on the earth, of which not has been written the name in the scroll of the life of the lamb of that having been killed, from a casting down of a world.

Rev 13:8 (YLT) And bow before it shall all who are dwelling upon the land, whose names have not been written in the scroll of the life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world;

Both the Emphatic Diaglott and Young’s literal translation call this “the scroll of the life of the Lamb…” In other words, this is the scroll or the book which details the life of the Lamb and the life of all who are in the Lamb. This is the revealing of the life of Jesus Christ and the revelation of Jesus Christ in the lives of all who “read, hear and keep the things which are written therein”.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Exactly who was “slain from the foundation of the world”? Is not that a crucial part of “the life of the Lamb”? Well, of course Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. But was Christ’s Christ, who He has sent as His Father sent Him; were they also slain from the foundation of the world?

First, let’s just ask if we are really “slain” as Christ was slain? What do the scriptures teach us? Here is how we are told to view ourselves, and our lives:

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Those are but a few of the verses of God’s Word which tell us that we are to count ourselves as dead to this world, and alive in the spirit to God. But when were we “crucified with Christ” as far as God is concerned? Here is when that was done:

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

There it is in 2Timothy 1:9: We were “in Christ Jesus before the world began”. If that is true, then we, too, were “slain before the foundation of the world… in Christ Jesus”. So the truth is this verse is again confirmed to be true:

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Summary

In summary we must remember that this is all leading up to the revealing of what is the seventh trumpet, and what is the day of God’s wrath against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness in our lives. All of the first six trumpets are followed immediately by the revelation of exactly what are the details of each of those first six trumpets. But this seventh trumpet, while first alluded to in Revelation 10:7, and while we are told that the seventh angel sounds his trumpet in chapter 11, the revelation of what this seventh trumpet is will not be revealed until chapter 16, where we are finally given the details of what is the effect of God’s wrath upon all of our sins in our lives.

In today’s study, as part of this long introduction to the detail of this seventh trumpet, we first saw that “he that hath an ear” is just Biblical, spiritual language for those “few chosen” who have been granted eyes that see and ears that hear “the mysteries of the kingdom of God”. “He that hath an ear” are the few who are blessed to be given to understand this revelation of Jesus Christ and to understand that this revelation of Jesus Christ is to be read, heard and kept by all who are “the Christ… the sent” of Christ and who are given to “keep the things which are written therein”.

We have seen that the beast who opens his mouth in blasphemy against God, His name and His tabernacle is first all of us, for this one simple reason which is contained in these four sections of scripture:

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man[kind] shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

We also saw that because of the truth of these four sections of scripture, it is absolutely essential and it is incumbent upon us to recognize that while we blaspheme God, His name, His tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven, that it must also be equally essential and incumbent upon us to recognize that we must be the ones who bear God’s name, by the way we live our lives in this world; that we are the temple of God, and that it is we who dwell in the heavens.

Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

We have seen that it is we who first make war with the saints, and we first must overcome them, just as Saul of Tarsus first “persecuted the church” and was himself first “a blasphemer”. We saw that we are first given complete power to rule over all the kindreds, tongues and nations which, as all the beasts which represent all the nations of Daniel 7, all just typify our flesh, which causes us to worship the dragon, who gives us our power by simply serving our flesh. Obedience to our true father is the worship both Christ and the devil really want, and obedience to the flesh is what is meant by the statement “the man of sin sitting in the temple of God showing himself that he is God”

2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Once again, because “all thing are ours”, we are made to understand that after we have come to see ourselves as this beast and the man of sin, that we then must recognize that we must also become those saints against whom our beast was waging war, and we must acknowledge that we must live by every one of these words of God and do all these things.

Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Finally, we have seen that we first worship the beast and “sin against our God”, causing our names to be blotted out of God’s book of the life of the Lamb.

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Then we saw that our names are reinstated and “written in the book of the life of the lamb”. Having our name reinstated is accomplished only when we are caused by God to repent, and watch as God, “through righteousness” and obedience, takes us back to himself after having blotted our name out of His book because of our sins against Him.

Exo 32:33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

We saw that this is an all-inclusive indictment against all men because “all have sinned”.

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

We saw that since “all have sinned” and since God will “blot out of His book whosoever has sinned against Him”, it is obvious that all men are first in God’s book, are then blotted out due to their sins, which God “makes them” to commit, and then He visits us all, judges our sins in His wrath and places our names back into the book of the life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world.

We have seen that this is accomplished only by Christ living His life in us, and living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and living in us “the book of the life of the Lamb”, which Lamb we are in Christ.

We have demonstrated with the scriptures that this is the doctrine of all of scripture, and that this is the doctrine of “the sum of God’s Word” (Psa 119:160), as it is so stated in Isaiah 63…

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return [back into “the book of life”] for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

… and in Jeremiah 33, even after we have all “sinned against God”, here is what eventually happens to all.

Jer 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

This simply complements, and does not contradict, what God told Moses in Exodus:

Exo 32:33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

In our next study we will see why a second beast must arise “out of the earth” demanding that we worship the first beast that came “out of the sea”, and with the Lord’s mind we will see how these two successive beasts differ and what they signify about how the Lord is working with us. We will cover these verses of Revelation 13:

Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,