And all who dwell on earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.     Revelation 13:8

During the tribulation, people whose names are not in the Lamb’s book of life will worship the Antichrist.

In Revelation 3:5 it says, “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Our former pastor explained in a study on Revelation that everyone’s name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. Our names are blotted out or erased when we reject the Lamb or Jesus Christ as our Savior.

We are told in Revelation 20:15 that anyone’s name not written in the Lamb’s book of life will be thrown into the fire.

Revelation 21:27 says, “And nothing defiled and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it (heaven), but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

So, what does our Scripture passage mean when it says everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain?

Well in all honesty, reading this it sounded like only some names were written in the book of life before God created the world and only those will be saved. A friend had asked me what I thought about the meaning of this. It sounded like we have no choice in our salvation, but our names were either written or not written in the book of life before God created the world. If your name is in, all is well. If not, oh well, you didn’t make the cut.

After consulting commentaries from Charles Spurgeon, Charles Ryrie, Tim LaHaye and Warren Wiersbe, I am happy to tell you this is not at all what it means. I consulted all these commentaries, which pulled together a really good explanation. I then searched it on Bing and found it to give the same meaning as the collaboration of all of these scholars.

Anyway, that phrase from the foundation of the world is used in other passages in the Bible. Jesus said in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given to Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which you have given Me, for you loved Me before the foundation of the world.” This is Jesus asking God to allow those of us who have accepted Him as our Savior to be with Him.

What’s hard for us to wrap our finite brains around is that God is eternal. He always was, always is, and always will be in existence. So, the phrase from the foundation of the world refers to pre-creation or God’s eternity past. We also have to understand that God is omniscient or all-knowing. He knows all things. He knew before he created the universe that people would sin and would need a Savior. His plan for our salvation was in motion even before creation.

I believe this reinforces what Brother L. C. Lord said when he said our names were all written in the Lamb’s book of life, but we are given the choice to keep them there or have them blotted out. When we choose to reject Christ as our Savior, the names are blotted out. This goes along with what Jesus said in Revelation 3:5, mentioned above.

Many will be saved during the tribulation. These are referred to as the tribulation saints. Many will be martyred for their faith. Mid-tribulation, God will give the Antichrist the authority to wage war against the tribulation saints and many will be captured or die for their faith. Those whose names have been blotted from the book and are not found in the book written before the foundation of the world will worship the Antichrist.

Those whose names are found still written in the Lamb’s book of life will not which were not blotted out, they will suffer war with the Antichrist but will ultimately spend eternity in heaven with God the Father. Be sure your name is in there and not blotted out.

Have a great day!