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'And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the Beast), whose
names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world' (Rev. 13:8).
'And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not
written in the book of life from the foundation of the world' (Rev.
17:8).
'And I saw the dead (i.e. "the rest" Rev 20:5), small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened,
which is the book of life' (Rev. 20:12).
'And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire' (Rev. 20:15).
'And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth,
neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life' (Rev. 21:27).
'And if any man shall take away from the words ... of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part:
(1)
out of the book of life, and
(2)
out of the holy city, and
(3)
from the things which are written in this book'
(Rev. 22:19).
Some authorities read 'the tree of Life' here. While the margin of the
R.V. reads at Revelation 13:8 'written from the foundation of the world in
the book ... slain' it still retains in the text the order 'in the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world', and this should
give us pause, lest in sweeping aside a difficulty, we also remove an index
of its meaning. By referring to Luke 11:50,51 we shall see that 'the blood
of Abel' was the first to be 'shed from the foundation of the world', and
this suggests that the 'Lamb's book of life' contains the names of all those
who have suffered martyrdom for the faith since the first martyrdom of Abel.
Incidentally this reference disposes of the suggestion that 'before the
foundation of the world' refers to the future, for if we go back as far as
Genesis 4, for the period 'from' the foundation of the world, the period
indicated in Ephesians 1:4 must be earlier still. Abel especially sets forth
the condition we find ruling in the Revelation, for it was Cain, who was of
'that wicked one', the seed of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15), that shed the first
martyr's blood and it is the Dragon 'that old Serpent', the Beast, the False
Prophet and their followers, who shed the blood of the overcomers in the time
of the end.
'And they overcame him
(1)
by the blood of the Lamb,
(2)
and by the word of their testimony;
(3)
and they loved not their lives unto the death' (Rev. 12:11),
and at the end of the chapter we see the Dragon makes war with the remnant of
the woman's seed 'which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ' (Rev. 12:17). We have already referred to those who
apostatize in the day of tribulation, who draw back unto perdition, who 'fall