Here is one explanation .... one person, Larry Wilson, offers ... Don't know if I agree ... but it's a plausible explanation :
http://www.wake-up.org/daystar/ds2001/JulA.htm
The All Important Book
The Seven Seals -- Part 2
Day Star
July, 2001
by Larry Wilson
Review
Initially, I anticipated this topic could be covered in a two-part series, but I was wrong. At a minimum, it appears this will be a three-part series. To review briefly, the previous issue of
Day Star presented an aspect of God’s love that is very interesting to ponder. For example, because God is love, He grants every child the freedom of choice. We can choose to obey God or to rebel against Him. This freedom is
never revoked. Lucifer exercised this freedom when he chose to disobey and so did Adam and Eve. Many people may consider this topic "no big deal," but this freedom to choose comes with a great price. The freedom to rebel against our Creator was granted by our Creator and it puts Him in a very vulnerable position! This does not mean that God is subject to weakness, but that a God of love is willing to be vulnerable. Lucifer rebelled and God lost one-third of His angelic host. Adam and Eve rebelled and it cost the life of Jesus. So, this freedom of choice that God offers has enormous consequences for God, as well as His children. This also means that God cannot demand our love. He may ask for it and He may seek our love and affection, but affection for God and submission to His commandments are the reciprocals of intelligent love. In other words, love for God is awakened in our hearts after we first understand something about His love for us. (
Romans 2:4;
1 John 4:19)
God is omniscient (all knowing). The Bible states that He knows the changing number of hairs on our heads (
Matthew 10:30), when every sparrow falls (
Matthew 10:29), and what choices each of us will make before we are created! (
Psalm 139:16;
1 Kings 13:2) Because God has omnipotence (all power) and omniscience, He can do something
today that may take 7,000 years of study to understand. Even more, His wisdom allows Him to know what to do
today for the benefit of His children 7,000 years from now! This kind of wisdom belongs only to God. Consequently, relating to God during those periods of time when we do not understand what He is doing can be difficult. There is only one way to live in peace with the Creator of the Universe and that is through a nonnegotiable faith in His righteousness (right doing). With that short review, let us consider the Book of Life.
The Book of Life
"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 was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside." (
Revelation 5:1-4)
Many people unintentionally skip over the pivotal importance of the "book" that is sealed up! For some reason, the seven seals
on the book have gained more attention than the book itself. Actually, it is the other way around. The all-important purpose of the book gives the seven seals their profound importance! The drama in
Revelation 5 occurs in Heaven because sin produced a number of problems in Heaven. To be sure, the problems that accompany the presence of sin and rebellion are not limited to Earth. Therefore, Revelation’s story reveals God’s methods for resolving sin from both perspectives – Heaven and Earth.
My study has led me to conclude that the book sealed up with seven seals is the "Book of Life." I have come to this conclusion for three reasons: First, John mentions the "Book of Life" six times in Revelation and distinguishes this book from other books. (
Revelation 3:5; 20:12) For example, in
Revelation 5 Jesus (the Lamb) is found worthy to receive this book with seven seals. John sometimes refers to this book using a possessive noun such as 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 receives the sealed book from the right hand of the Father, the Lamb possesses the Book [of Life].
Second, according to the Bible, the Book of Life is opened and its contents revealed
only at the end of the 1,000 years. (
Revelation 20:12) Notice how this unfolds: The sixth seal is broken at the time of the Second Coming; therefore, the seventh seal must be broken and the contents of the Book of Life revealed at some point
after the Second Coming. According to John, the Book of Life is opened at the very
end of the 1,000 years. Since the breaking of the seventh seal has to also occur
after the Second Coming, the alignment of these two features suggests the Book of Life is the book sealed with seven seals.
The third reason I have concluded the book with seven seals is the Book of Life centers on its contents. Even though no one knows the specifics that are recorded in the book sealed with seven seals (
Revelation 5:3), we do know the contents! Notice this 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 suggests that only the names of the redeemed are found in the Book of Life. In fact, because of this verse, many Christians believe the Book of Life contains
only the names of the saved. They interpret the title to mean "The Book of [Eternal] Life," but the Bible does not confer this meaning on the book, even though this will be the final result. The Book of Life includes the life’s record of everyone who was given life. Think of this book as a roster about everyone who was ever born. In fact, God prerecorded our choices and actions in His book before we had life. (
Psalm 139:16) On the basis of God’s perfect foreknowledge, He wrote out a complete history of life before life was created. Then He blotted out the names not of those who would live, but chose to rebel. In other words, God foreknew who would choose eternal life and who would choose rebellion. God does not want anyone to know who will be saved or lost (information that He foreknew) until the judgment of wicked angels and mankind has been completed.
Keep this thought in mind: The Book of Life remains sealed until the 1,000 years have ended. The Book of Life has nothing to do with the judgment of mankind. Man is not judged on the basis of God’s foreknowledge, but from the information written in separate books by angels who chronicle our daily actions. (See
Daniel 7:9,10;
Revelation 20:12;
2 Corinthians 5:10;
Ecclesiastes 12:14;
Malachi 3:16)
more here ...
http://www.wake-up.org/daystar/ds2001/JulA.htm
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