"All who dwell on earth will worship it [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear: If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
(Revelation 13:8-10)
Neutrality in relationship to the Lord God is impossible. If any in John’s audience think that they can straddle the fence in order to avoid persecution and oppression, he lets them (and us) know that there’s no middle ground. He tells us, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him,” that is, the beast. This whole spirit of rebellion against God and rejection of Christ as Savior characterizes the spirit of those worshiping the beast. John wrote in his first epistle along this same vein. “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ [i.e., Messiah]? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son…and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” He added another note in his second epistle. “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist”. John indicated that the antichrist is not a singular person but a pervasive, singlular spirit of rebellion against God denying Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the gospel.
He further clarifies who will worship the beast and who will not: “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.” That is all-encompassing. The line of distinction is clearly drawn. The whole mass of unbelieving humanity is likely in mind here and not merely a part from one brief period of history. Who worships the beast? John makes it clear; those whose names were not written from the foundation of the world in the Lamb’s book of life. Leon Morris is right, “John wants his little handful of persecuted Christians to see that the thing that matters is the sovereignty of God, not the power of evil. When a man’s name is written in the book of life he will not be forgotten. His place is secure”.
(Dr Phil A. Newton)
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