Revelation 17:6b-8 – When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 7 Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the Beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The Beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the Beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.
“The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the Beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.” The “inhabitants of the earth” is a way of speaking about those who do not belong to Christ. These are they who deny the deity of Jesus (1 John 4:3). It is clear that the Word of God clearly states that Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:1, Titus 2:13, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 1:8, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16). In Mark 2:3-12 we read of friends of a paralyzed man taking extraordinary effort to bring him to Jesus, hoping that Jesus would heal his paralyzed condition. When Jesus saw that the man and his friends had faith that Jesus would be the answer for their friend He told the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven. Now it would seem that the friends of the paralyzed man, and perhaps the man himself, were thinking something like “What? We’ve carried our friend so that Jesus could merely tell him that his sins are forgiven? We wanted Jesus to heal his paralyzed condition!” The Word states that Jesus knew what those present were thinking in their hearts (consider that for a moment!). From a natural perspective, rather than a spiritual perspective, they were thinking that anyone could say the man’s sins were forgiven. How could they even know if Jesus truly had the right to forgive sins? Some of the “teachers of the law” were sitting there thinking, within themselves (no verbalization), that Jesus was blaspheming because only God can forgive sin (which shows that all sin is first against God).
Jesus had no responsibility to prove Himself (Mark 8:11-13), yet for the benefit of all there (and for the benefit of men throughout the ages, including us) He did illustrate His right to forgive sin. Coming down to their level of understanding He asked them what is easier to say, that the man’s sin are forgiven or to heal him and tell him to get up and walk? To the natural mind, since it lacks understanding, it would be easier to say to that sins are forgiven (Though they would know that to God Himself, both are equally possible for God to do). After all, having said that, who could disprove whether the sins are forgiven or not (though sins in the mindset of the Jews at that time, were the cause of the man who was paralyzed, or from sins of his parents). They may have thought that any one of them could say that the man’s sins are forgiven. To them that was easy to say but lacked proof. In their misunderstanding they likely thought that if his sins were forgiven then he would be healed. Jesus then healed the man and showed that He had the authority to both heal the man and to forgive his sins. Now the lawyers there (teachers of the law) rightly spoke that only God can forgive sins, and the healing of the man showed that Jesus definitely had divine power working through him. Jesus, by proving that He had the right for forgive sin (by healing the man), and He proved that He was (and is) God. Thus Jesus was asserting His divinity.
Also, only an evil man (or a crazy man) would accept worship that was intended for God. In Isaiah 42:8 God clearly states that He will not yield the right to be glorified as God to any other. Yet Jesus allowed Himself to be worshipped (Matthew 28:9, Luke 24:52, John 9:38, John 20:28). If Jesus were not God in the flesh He would have been sinning greatly to accept worship as God. But Jesus did not sin (1 Peter 2:22). He indeed was God in the flesh.
Therefore the “inhabitants of the earth” are those who refuse the obvious, that Jesus was God the Son in the flesh. They were not part of, and never will be a part of, God’s kingdom.
God has always known who would be part of His kingdom. God knew who would respond to Jesus and submit to Him, and who would not (In Romans 8:29). Since God has always known who are His and who are not His, these inhabitants of the earth have never had their names written in the Book of Life. The Book of Life has the names of all those who belong to God and these who do not know, love and serve Jesus are not in the Book of Life because they are not God’s children.
The “inhabitants of the earth” are astonished, and deceived, because they refused the Truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-13). So they believe that the Beast is a god, and so by virtue of refusing the truth, have been consumed by a lie. Just as mankind has done throughout history and continues to do now.
In Revelation 3:4-5 Jesus promises to the Church in Sardis “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.” We who belong to Christ are held close, are protected, and will forever be with Him. Praise God that we have our names written in the Book of Life and God has no intention of every blotting our names out of it. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.