5. The names not written in the book of life. “ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” --20: 15. The book of life was the registry of the approved of God. The names not found in it were not a part of God’ s called and chosen people--they belonged to the society opposed to the church. The same reference in chapter 13:8 mentioned the names not written in the book of life “ from the foundation of the earth,” which affirms the great truth that in all nations and ages the only people who belong to God in the true sense of the people of God were and are the people who have lived and now live in obedience to His divine will. Let it be impressed on the minds of the readers of Revelation, that these visions of resurrection; of second death and judgment; were all extraordinary and of special character. They were not intended for future and general application. They belonged to the apocalypse, and the apocalypse belonged to that period. The depiction of the first resurrection and the second death were not meant for expositions of the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead and the future eternal punishment of the wicked, abundantly taught elsewhere in numerous scriptures. Though the imagery has basis in these fundamental doctrinal truths, the visions of Revelation were limited in application to the pageantry of apocalyptic description of the fortunes of the early church and the divine judgments on its enemies.