REVELATION 4-6
SEGMENT II
page 1
Segment II
The Secret Contents of the Book of
Life
The Seven Seals
“Then I saw in
the right hand of him who sat on the
throne a scroll with writing on both
sides and sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming
in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy
to break the seals and open the
scroll?’ But no one in heaven or
on earth or under the earth could
open the scroll or even look inside
it. I wept and wept because no one
found who was worthy to open the
scroll or look inside.”
(Revelation 5:1-4)
Too many students of
apocalyptic prophecy skip over the
pivotal importance of the book that
was sealed with seven seals, because
they do not understand why the book
is necessary. It is as though the
seven seals are more important than
the contents of the book itself.
Actually, the contents of the book
have much more significance than the
seals securing the book. The exalted
purpose of the book gives the seven
seals their importance! God wrote a
complete history of life before life
occurred and sealed it because He did
not want anyone to know what He
foreknew. Many Christians do not
understand how this book resolves an
enormous problem for God. The throne
scene described in Revelation 4-6
highlights the fact that sin is a
very serious problem in God’s
universe. The scene also demonstrates
that God has a plan to prevent sin
from rising again within His
universe. Once you understand the
issues involved with sin from
Heaven’s perspective, the story
of the seven seals will make a lot of
sense just as it reads in the
Bible.
The Lamb’s Book
of Life
It is important to
remember that before sin began, God
solved the sin problem! He solved the
sin problem by writing a complete
history of life in a book. Then, He
sealed it with seven seals. The
following texts prove in the three
steps that the book sealed with seven
seals is appropriately called the
Book of Life.
1.
First, John mentions the Book of Life
six times in Revelation, and he
distinguishes the Book of Life from
other books that are in Heaven.
(Revelation 3:5; 20:12) Daniel also
makes a distinction between
“books, plural and “the
Book [of Life],” singular.
(Daniel 7:9,10; 12:1) After Jesus
(the Lamb) was found worthy to
receive the book having seven seals
in Revelation 5, John refers to the
book with a possessive noun. He calls
it, “the Lamb’s Book of
Life” (Revelation 21:27) or
“the Book of Life belonging to
the Lamb.” (Revelation 13:8) In
other words, after the Lamb received
the book with seven seals from the
right hand of the Father, the Lamb
possessed “the Book of
Life.”
2.
Second, the Book of Life, unlike
the other books of record in Heaven,
remains sealed until the end of the
1,000 years. (Revelation 20:12) This
is a critical point. The Book of
Life is not opened or used during the
judgment of human beings. Human
beings will be judged according to
their actions and choices that are
recorded in the book of deeds.
(Ecclesiastes 12:14; 2 Corinthians
5:10; Daniel 7:9, 10; Malachi 3:16;
Revelation 20:12) When Abel was
born to Adam and Eve, his life’s
record was recorded in the book of
deeds “in real time,” just
as it happened. The books of deeds
were opened in 1844 and, most likely,
Abel’s record was the first to
be examined since he was the first to
die. (Daniel 7:10; 8:14) On the other
hand, the Book of Life is not opened
until the end of the millennium.
(Revelation 20:12) According to the
Bible, the Book of Life is opened
once – at the end of the 1,000
years. (Revelation 20:12) The
chronology of the seals indicates the
Book of Life is the book sealed with
seven seals.
3.
Third, we know the book with seven
seals is the Book of Life because of
its contents. Even though no one
knows the specifics found within the
book sealed with seven seals
(Revelation 5:3), we do know about
the contents! Notice the verse:
“If anyone’s name was not
found written in the book of life, he
was thrown into the lake of
fire.” (Revelation 20:15) This
verse speaks volumes. Many Christians
read this verse and think the Book of
Life contains only the names
of the saved. They interpret
the title to mean the “Book of
[Eternal] Life.” The Bible does
not confer this meaning on the book
even though the people who will
receive eternal life will be found in
the book. The book of Life includes
the life’s record of everyone
who was given life from God. Every
person was originally entered into
His book because God foreknew who
would receive the gift of life from
the beginning. Our choices and
actions were prerecorded in
God’s book before we had the
privilege of living. (See Psalm
139:16.) Naturally, the question
rises, “Why was every life
prerecorded only to have the names of
the wicked blotted out before we were
created?” On the basis of
perfect foreknowledge, God wrote out
a complete history of life before
life was created and then He
“blotted out” the names of
the people who would choose
rebellion. He did not blot out their
record of life; He simply blotted out
their names.
Blotted Out?
Perhaps a little
background information about
“blotting out” names will
be helpful. In ancient times, the
tribes of Israel kept very accurate
records of their family tree. We find
two excellent examples of this in the
Bible. In Matthew 1, the linage of
Jesus is traced back to Abraham. In
Luke 3, the lineage of Jesus is
traced back to Adam. It was the
custom in those days, to enter the
names of the offspring in the
official records of the nation
because tribal lineage was very
important. The land of Canaan was
divided according to the size and
lineage of each tribe. (Joshua 14:5)
Temple responsibilities and duties
among the priests were determined by
lineage. (Exodus 40; Numbers 4) Even
more, God said, “No one born of
a forbidden marriage nor of his
descendants may enter the assembly of
the Lord, even down to the tenth
generation.” (Deuteronomy 23:2)
Whenever an Israelite defiantly
violated the law, depending upon the
offense, God commanded that person to
be “cut off” from his
people or put to death. If a person
was “cut off” from his
nation, his name was blotted out of
the tribal rolls. Erasures were not
possible. The written evidence of
that life could not be removed.
However, the name was blotted out
with an inkblot so that the identity
of the wicked person could not be
known. This imagery helps us explain
two important points. First, God
wrote out a complete history of life
and He included everyone in the
record who would receive eternal
life. Then, He blotted out the names
of those who would refuse to submit
to the Holy Spirit. Second, if this
information were “leaked”
prematurely, God would have a
difficult time proving that He did
not predestine some people to eternal
death and some to eternal life before
they were created. So, the book was
sealed – seven times.
My life and your life
are recorded in the Book of Life.
Because God foreknew who would choose
eternal life and who would choose
rebellion. He has determined that no
one could have access to this
information (that is, information
indicating who would be saved and
lost) until sin’s drama has been
completed. Therefore, He perfectly
sealed the book of life with seven
seals and put it in Heaven’s
vault. Keep this thought in mind: The
Book of Life remains sealed until the
1,000 years are ended. The Book of
Life has nothing to do with the
judgment of mankind. Humanity is not
judged or predestined to life or
death on the basis of God’s
foreknowledge. We are judged
according to our deeds. (Revelation
22:12) Our deeds are recorded as they
transpire. Angels chronicle our daily
actions in the book of deeds. (See
Daniel 7:9, 10; Revelation 20:12; 2
Corinthians 5:10; Ecclesiastes 12:14
and Malachi 3:16.)
God Proves Three
Things
God wrote out a
complete history of life before life
began to prove three things at the
end of sin’s drama. First, He
will prove that every being was
granted the power of choice. Second,
He will prove that He did not
manipulate our freedom of choice. In
other words by prerecording the lives
of everyone in the Book of Life, God
can show at the appointed time that
even though He foreknew who would
rebel and who would submit to His
authority, He did not treat anyone
unfairly, God’s love will not
allow Him to treat one rebellious
child unfairly. Third, the Book of
Life will exonerate God from the
charges of unrighteousness. When the
Book of Life is opened at the end of
the thousand years, everyone will see
the contents of the Book of Life are
identical to the book of deeds. In
other words, God will prove to the
universe that He foreknew the outcome
of every life before life was granted
to the first being. God will prove
that He foreknew the rise of sin, and
that He was willing to die for
sinners from the beginning if they
were not defiant sinners. God will
prove that He not only gave life to
His creatures, but also gave the
power of choice to them so they could
rebel against Him if they wanted. He
will prove that Jesus was willing to
cease to exist for the rest of
eternity in order to save sinners.
This is God’s humility and love
– a love that goes beyond finite
comprehension.
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