Revelation 13:8-10 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. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

‘And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him,‘

The entire world will worship him leading us to believe that he will act as some sort of religious figure, most likely a pope.

‘whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain’

Finishing up verse 8, we learn the identity of those that worship the Antichrist, those whose names are not written in the book of life of Jesus. This means that if anyone is saved in the Lord Jesus, their name is a part of that book.

‘from the foundation of the world.‘

Calvinists believe that this verse proves their doctrine that a person has no free will to choose to follow God, but rather that people are chosen from the beginning by God to follow Him (predestination).

To obtain the correct interpretation of this verse, it has to be read as is (in terms of context) and compared using other similar verses (scripture with scripture). The world slain before the beginning of the phrase gives us insight into the time period and event the verse is referring to when it says “from the foundation of the world”. This word is important to context because it reveals that only after (time period) Jesus was slain (event), names can be written in the book of life of the Lamb. This disproves the notion that names have existed in the book since the beginning of creation.

However, it is totally impossible for our names to be written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. Because we are not even born yet, therefore not saved yet, and it is not possible to have our names written in the book of life.

Comparing verse 8 to 1 Peter 1, we see that there is a similar interpretation here in terms of the event that was pre-determined before the foundation of the world, which is that Christ was destined to die so that his blood could save mankind.

1 Peter 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

In verse 9, God gives us the recommendation to use our ears to hear what is written in these verses. Recall when He was speaking to the Seven Churches in Revelation 2-3 that the phrase “If any man have an ear, let him hear” was mentioned numerous times, but this phrase was not mentioned until Revelation 13:9. This is because this particular chapter is something that God wants his people to pay close attention to. Although specifics in terms of the identity of the Antichrist and other details pertaining to him are not revealed (as to not give Satan credit), God wants us to be alert of what is to come.

‘He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity‘

Those who lead people into captivity suffer captivity themselves. What we can interpret from this when taking verses 7 and 8 into consideration is that the Antichrist will take captives of the Tribulation saints. However, because the Antichrist and his followers have persecuted God’s people, these persecutors will also be enslaved.

Certain verses in the books of the major prophets mention that pagan countries that have persecuted the nation of Israel will later come to serve Israel in God’s future kingdom, which supports the context of verse 10. Not only that, but the Bible also says that there are chains of darkness in hell so the captivity might refer to being slaves in hell as well.

James 5:3-6 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

James 5 describes a time where the evil and rich people will enslave the poor or the just and will be punished by God for mistreating the just. Because this is a verse concerning the tribulation timeline, God’s saints are the poor and the rich are evil followers of Satan. You cannot become rich unless you took the mark of the beast. Although some try to apply this verse to the Christian church, the fact that there are rich Christians that are not evil debunks this.

During the tribulation period, however, those who are rich are automatically evil because they are the ones that, according to Revelation 13:17, can buy and sell due to possessing the mark of the beast. To sum it up, the notion that there will be slavery during the Tribulation is supported by the aforementioned verses.

‘he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.‘

Verse 10 continues to say that those who kill with a sword will also die in the same way. This goes hand in hand with Revelation 19, where Jesus will come down and kill His enemies with a sword that comes out of His mouth.

‘Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.‘

Much like the patience that is mentioned in James 5:7, the word patience is attributed to the tribulation saints because they are waiting for God to come down and save them from the Antichrist. The end of verse 10 mentions the patience of the saints and how important it is to have along with their faith in God.