By Sonny Hernandez
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8 portrays the deceived giving adulation or worship to the beast, clearly prohibited in Scripture (Exodus 20:3-5; Isaiah 42:8). John also described the Lamb's "…book of life," linguistically indicating the nature of the book, excluding the non-elect, along with the identity of the book's owner.
Not everyone will agree with the paragraph above but will rely on eisegesis, importing inane assertions into the plain reading of Revelation 13:8. As a result, this article aims to explain how and why people will abuse or misinterpret this text and, most importantly, provide a biblical and concise summary of Revelation 13:8 to the glory of God alone.
Rather than meticulously and cogently examining lexical definitions, verb forms, syntax, and significant contextual and grammatical insights from John's apocalyptic message in Revelation 13:8, some erroneously think the apostle underscored the doctrine of eternal justification (EJ), also known as justification in eternity.
For example, a few ministers, not all—listed on the FreeGraceRadio.com website—have preached sermons on Revelation 13:8. After listening on Sermon Audio, it's patently clear these sermons on Revelation 13:8 lacked substance, presented absolutely no exegesis, showed no scrupulous interaction with the text, and ignored the central points of Revelation 13:8. Instead, these EJ proponents slavishly and mundanely avowed their loyalty to the doctrine of EJ, at the expense of twisting Revelation 13:8.
John's emphasis on "...the Lamb slain," along with his subsequent use of the preposition ἀπὸ ("from"), followed by the two genitives καταβολῆς κόσμου ("…the foundation of the world") in the Greek New Testament (GNT), has led EJ rhetoricians to think the doctrine of justification in eternity was at the forefront of John's mind. While the purveyors of EJ and their acolytes believe John stressed the doctrine of EJ in Revelation 13:8, Christians who value exegesis know they cannot predicate the doctrine of EJ from this text.
John's use of ὧν οὗ γέγραπται τὰ ὄνοματα ("...whose names are not written," emphasis mine) points to the non-elect whom God actively and unconditionally decreed for hell before the world's creation. The Greek root word γράφω is in the passive voice, linguistically ruling out the possibility of men choosing to have their names excluded from the "...book of life." It's also in the perfect tense, signifying God accomplished this action in eternity and indicating the "...continuing results and binding authority of what is written."[1] These grammatical points prove no one or thing can thwart God's inviolable plan of reprobation.
The names of the non-elect, also known as the reprobates, goats, and vessels of wrath, are not included "...in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The genitive "...of life," according to Beale, "...denotes the nature or purpose of the book."[2] He also described the dual notion of a "book of life," one for the righteous and the other for the wicked, "...based on Dan. 12:1-2 and 7:10."[3]
The "...Lamb slain" in Revelation 13:8 does not accentuate the doctrine of EJ because it's possessive, grammatically known as a genitive of possession. McClean believed the "...' genitive of possession' is strictly defined in terms of belonging (i.e., 'the people belonging to God')."[4] Beale noted that it identifies "...the lamb as the 'source of life' associated with the 'book' (the genitive functions likewise in 21:27)."[5] Thus, the genitive of possession reveals the identity of the book's owner or the one who possesses the "...book of life," and the perfect "...slain" indicates Christ's completed and saving work, demonstrating that God decreed the death of the Son in eternity, as noted in 1 Peter 1:20: "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you."
It's not wise to delineate the timing of Christ's substitutionary and propitiatory death on the cross after reading Revelation 13:8 because the "...Lamb slain" does not alter "the foundation of the world." The meaning of this text would not have changed if John had not included the "...Lamb slain" in Revelation 13:8. As proof, contrast Revelation 13:8 with Revelation 17:8:
Revelation 13:8: And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life [of the Lamb slain] from the foundation of the world (emphasis mine).καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς ζωῆς [τοῦ ἀρνίου τοῦ ἐσφαγμένου] ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου (emphasis mine). Revelation 17:8: The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: 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, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is (emphasis mine).Τὸ θηρίον ὃ εἶδες, ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστι, καὶ μέλλει ἀναβαίνειν ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσου καὶ εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑπάγειν· καὶ θαυμάσονται οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα ἐπὶ τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, βλεπόντων τὸ θηρίον ὅτι ἦν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι καὶ παρέσται (emphasis mine). As shown above, the highlighted texts in brackets [Gk. τοῦ ἀρνίου τοῦ ἐσφαγμένου; Eng. "...of the Lamb slain"] in Revelation 13:8 present the only difference. Apart from "...of the Lamb slain," the highlighted words are identical in Revelation 13:8 and 17:8, proving John's point was on the names not written from the foundation of the world, not the timing of justification.
The paragraph above explains why Christians must address the antecedent in Revelation 13:8. It refers to the "names" not written, and the concluding ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου ("...from the foundation of the world") points to the antecedent. It's for these reasons Christians will interpret ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου as a prepositional phrase that immediately ensues οὐ γέγραπται τὰ ὀνόματα ("...names are not written"), leading to the following interpretation and reading of the text:
And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain (emphasis mine). Furthermore, in the act of desperation, some EJ teachers or sympathizers, not all, will pretend to be knowledgeable of the GNT. Because "...the Lamb slain" is immediately followed by the preposition ἀπὸ ("before") and the two genitives καταβολῆς κόσμου ("the foundation of the world") in the GNT, many think this undeniably supports their EJ doctrine. These opinions prove that many EJ teachers are, at best, novices or, even worse, Greek illiterate. Many EJ advocates embrace these infantile opinions but fail to understand three basic essential points of the GNT: (1.) Greek is an inflected language. (2.) Word order is not an absolute necessity in every text of the GNT, and (3.) several texts exist in the GNT where the antecedent is further back in the sentence; for example, see the texts below:
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.21 Νυνὶ δὲ χωρὶς νόμου δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ πεφανέρωται, μαρτυρουμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, 22 δικαιοσύνη δὲ θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας, οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολή. 23 πάντες γὰρ ἥμαρτον καὶ ὑστεροῦνται τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ, 24 δικαιούμενοι δωρεὰν τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι διὰ τῆς ἀπολυτρώσεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· 25 ὃν προέθετο ὁ θεὸς ἱλαστήριον διὰ πίστεως ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι εἰς ἔνδειξιν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ διὰ τὴν πάρεσιν τῶν προγεγονότων ἁμαρτημάτων ἐν τῇ ἀνοχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ, 26 πρὸς τὴν ἔνδειξιν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν δίκαιον καὶ δικαιοῦντα τὸν ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ (emphasis mine). The Greek texts above reveal that the location of the prepositional phrase διὰ πίστεως ("through faith") in verse twenty-five, just before ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι ("in his blood"). Yet, in Romans 3:25, God set forth Christ as a propitiation, not "though faith," but "in his blood," whereas the preposition διὰ + noun πίστεως in verse twenty-five links to the end of the preceding verse, meaning verse twenty-four highlights justification by the grace of Christ's person and work, through faith, i.e., δικαιούμενοι δωρεὰν τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι [διὰ πίστεως]. Similarly, Revelation 13:8 demonstrates that it's not unusual to see the antecedent in the GNT further back in the sentence.
This theological article has demonstrated how some will misinterpret Revelation 13:8 while concisely summarizing the text. Many will disagree with the exegesis presented in this paper because they desperately want to defend their EJ tradition, sadly, to the detriment of mishandling the text. Instead, Christians must exegete texts like Revelation 13:8, per the context, to the glory of God alone.
[1] Cleon L. Rogers Jr. and Cleon L. Rogers III, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), 637.
[2] G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013), 702.
[3] Ibid.
[4] B. H. Mclean, New Testament Greek: An Introduction (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 48.
[5] Beale, The Book of Revelation, 702.
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