Revelation 13:7 Commentary and Bible Study

‘It was given unto him to make war with the saints,’ – see Daniel 7:21,25 – and to overcome them’ which he does at the very end: Satan’s little season. ‘And power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.’ So while there may be a difference between nations – for a time some may fare better than others – all will follow the same track, even if there are ups and downs at different times. This is universal and international. It is an offence to him that believers serve the Lord on earth. Doesn’t the earth belong to the beast? How can any fail to recognise his supreme authority? They must be made to submit. But when the beast finds that this cannot be easily achieved, he is determined instead to destroy them. ‘And all they that dwell upon the earth shall worship him’ – those who are unconverted – ‘whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.’ They worship him, not in an act of worship such as believers make to God, which is an intelligent direction of language and sentiments to God, and appreciation and thanksgiving. But they worship in the sense that civil government is accorded the highest place. It may be criticised; it may be hated, but it is worshipped in the sense that whether it is loved or loathed, it is accorded the principal place. There’s nothing higher than civil government. So if you hate it you want to gain control of it, but the notion, the concept, of civil government is the highest place. At times in history this has been done in an overt way, as in the emperor worship of the Roman empire, in which those like Nero claimed to be gods. At other times, it appears in the state’s attempts to suppress all worship. God is out of the picture. Instead the people must believe in no god at all, or in the god of human technology. That’s what is meant here by worship.The Lamb’s book of life is a symbol of God’s predestinating love. God does not know any man simply by a name; he knows them comprehensively and perfectly. All is made to hang on the presence of our names in this book, but it follows from this that all those whose names are written will seek the Lord, repent and trust in him, be justified, sanctified and glorified. They will not worship the beast. Election is powerful and certain. Our past, present and future is secure in the hands of him who is the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega.