In the Book

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

IN THE BOOK

Rev 17:6-8

When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 7 Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.

NIV

Although we should include all of the explanation of this angel concerning the lady, the beast, the seven heads and ten horns, there is something here which bears a deeper look first. This beast, which once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction surely seems to describe Satan. He once was Lucifer, but now is no longer him, and he will be put in the Abyss for one thousand years, but let loose for a season, then cast into the lake of burning sulfur. At least that seems to make sense except for his destruction part. From other scripture it appears he will not be destroyed but tormented forever, as well as it says the devil, along with the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake. So this beast is not the devil or Satan. But in the rest of this description we will see the seven heads are hills and the ten horns are kings. This beast is not a physical beast as we would think of wild beasts that roam the forests and plains. Again our scholars would have us consider this describes the power of the Latin Church and that pagan Rome was built on seven hills. We have to go back once again into history and name all the rulers and the rise and fall of each power to fulfill this portion of the revelation. Or we could see this as a power, a great influence over the hearts and minds of people. But this is not the greatest or perhaps different point in this portion of scripture. The idea that there are people whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world seems different then what we have thought before. We know from the early part of this revelation in one of the letters to the churches, we see that those who overcome will never have their name blotted out from the book of life. We see that the Psalmist wrote about the wicked having their names blotted out of the book and not being listed with the righteous. So there are people who will have their names blotted out. But here it tells us there are some who it appears never had their names in the book of life from the beginning of creation. How can that be? Did God chose to not include their names in the book of life and thus predestined them to destruction? Certainly some could make that case and thus ascribe to predestination, God choosing who will live and who will perish. This takes all the free will of man completely out of play. This would mean it really does not matter what we do, as God has already determined that we will either be saved or be condemned to perish. If we decided to believe then maybe we are believing in error as our names were never written in the book of life to start with. Are we wrong in thinking that God desires all men to be saved?

1 Tim 2:2-6

 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men

NIV

Yes, that is true, He desires all men to be saved, he has not determined some to be lost, and he has not decided not to write these names in the book of life so they will perish. SO then how can we justify what is said here? Certainly we know some names, our names will never be blotted out, yet some names will be blotted out.

Ps 69:28

28 May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.

NIV

Ps 9:5

5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

NIV

If God is all knowing, which he is, and there is no time with God, which there isn’t, then he is forever in the present. All what we consider past and future do not exist with God. We are linear with a beginning and an end, at least in this physical life. But God has no beginning nor an end, he is forever. This may be a mystery to some extent for our human minds, but nevertheless it is a fact. So then with that in mind, God already knows those who would chose to be influenced by the power of the beast, the ideologies of man, and therefore they names are not in the book, or blotted out of the book, left out, not in it. What we need to see is not to be influenced by any power other than the power of God. It is always good to remember that God’s grace is sufficient, and this grace, as the Greek defines it, is the influence of the Spirit on our heart and how that is reflected in our lives. Do we give in to the grace of God, or do we give in to the influence of the beast, the ideologies created by man? We want to be in the book.