It is a deep study and it is in God's word. His truth is a treasure which we dig for, we dig through Scripture. Rarely is a treasure found on the surface. And God does tell us to study to show ourselves approved:
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
This is what I found in our Father's word concerning predestination and those who are predestined:
Rev13:8 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.
There is so much written in those words and one really need to take it back to Greek to fully understand. God wishes all to understand his word in depth.
The word "foundation" in the Greek is:
katabole
kat-ab-ol-ay
From G2598; a deposition, that is, founding; figuratively conception: - conceive, foundation.
The word "world" in the Greek is:
kosmos
kos'-mos
Probably from the base of G2865; orderly arrangement, that is, decoration; by implication the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively [morally]): - adorning, world.
This is speaking of the orderly arrangement of first earth age. Read Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The word "was" in the Hebrew is:
hayah
haw-yaw'
A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary): - beacon, X altogether, be (-come, accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), continue, do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, X use.
The words "without form" in the Hebrew is:
tohu
to'-hoo
From an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain: - confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.
The word "void" in the Hebrew is:
bohu
bo'-hoo
From an unused root (meaning to be empty); a vacuity, that is, (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin: - emptiness, void.
Gen1:2 is saying the world became worthless and empty, an undistinguishable ruin. And I might add, God did not create it in this state. He says so himself in Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
This word "vain" is the same word used in Gen1:2. He did NOT create it this way, it became this way.
Jere 4 speaks of the destruction of the first earth age:
Jer 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Jer 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
Jer 4:24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
Jer 4:25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
Jer 4:26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
This is not the flood of Noah's time. There were people aboard the ark, animals aboard the ark, and plant life still alive. The dove brought back an olive branch. God destroyed that first earth age because of satan's rebellion. Read Eze 28. and Rev 12.
God foreknew all of us. If he foreknew us, then he knows which one of us he can trust with a certain job.
Certain ones he foreknew he predestined, called, and justified. This means he chose them before this age; he called them before this age; and he justified them before this age. It was when he foreknew them, (in the first earth age), that they were justified. The word justified means innocent. They were found innocent in the first age. Why were they found innocent? Well, God destroyed that age when Satan caused a rebellion. Satan wanted to be God and he tried to take over. Satan caused a third of God’s children to follow him in his rebellion. So the ones who were found innocent obviously did not join in Satan’s rebellion. Because they were found innocent, God will make sure they come to salvation in this age. They had already earned it when they stood against Satan. All others of freewill also have a choice to receive salvation; but for those who were predestined to do God’s work, because they were justified in the first earth age, God will make sure they come to the truth in this age and that they will know what their purpose is. The word “called” in the Greek is “kletos”, it means- [invited, i.e. appointed, or (spec.) a saint:- called.] God appointed them before they were born; they were and are considered saints before they are ever born because of what they did in the first earth age. These are the Elect of God. These were the patriarchs of the Old Testament, also the prophets of God, the Disciples, those who have passed God’s deeper truth down through time, and those who will stand against the Antichrist. These are people who have shown themselves approved in the first earth age. God knows he can trust them to do their job, which they are called to do in this age.
Go to Ephesians 1:4-:5, Paul speaks of the predestined as being chosen in the first earth age. It reads, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: :5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” Paul says that they were chosen before the foundation of the world. The word “foundation” is the Greek word “katabole” or the overthrow. This was Satan’s overthrow, the destruction of the first earth age. These people were chosen before Satan’s overthrow, before the foundation of the world. They were chosen in the first earth age. They were predestined to have salvation from the Lord. This is because they have already earned it. Again, this is not to say that all other cannot have salvation. Salvation is open to all who will receive it. Everyone has freewill to either accept or reject God’s saving plan. But for the Elect, God will make sure that they come into salvation. They’ve earned it, God sent them here to do a job, and he will make sure that they do not lose what they have already earned.
Also go to Psalm 104. The first 9 verses speak of the world age before and the beginning of this age. It reads, :1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. :2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment:” The light is God’s truth, his word. In Genesis, you see God separated the light from the darkness. This was before the sun and the moon were shown in the heaven. This was not the light from the sun. This was not day and night as we know it. He was separating his truth from Satan’s lies. This took place after Satan’s overthrow. Darkness symbolizes Satan or his lies. In verse 1 here, there was only light mentioned, there is no darkness. God is speaking of the first earth age when it was still perfect. Continue with verse 2, “who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: :3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind”:, meaning he is able to move in and out of the clouds. :4 “Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:” God is a consuming fire. His fire is his truth. In Eze. 28, It speaks of Satan walking among the fiery stones. Satan was among the altar of God. He knew God’s truth, but because of his pride, he tried to take over. These ministers are ministers of fire, meaning they have God’s deeper truth in them. These ministers were in the first earth age. God is speaking of the first earth age, before the “katabole” in these 4 verses.:5 “Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.” God created the earth to be inhabited forever. :6 “Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. :7 At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.” This took place because of Satan’s overthrow. This is when the world was void and without form; and water was covering the earth, (Genesis 1:2), God did not create it this way; it became this way. So here God is speaking of the beginning of this age, the second earth age. :8 “They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. :9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.” This means that he will never again destroy the earth age with water. So, I hope you can see that these people, or ministers of fire where chosen in the first earth age.
In 1 Kings19:18, Elijah is the only prophet left, he says “there’s no one left but me Lord”. But God tells him, :18 “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” This is mentioned again in Romans 11:3-:4, “Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. :4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.” What God is telling Elijah, is that, he has 7,000 people set aside or reserved for himself. The Elect are the set-aside ones. They did not, and will not bow a knee to Baal. Baal is symbolic of false religions or Idolatry, or to be more exact, the worship of the “Antichrist” or “Satan”. Worshipping the Antichrist is the ultimate act of Idolatry. These 7,000 did not worship Satan before and they will not worship him when he appears as the Antichrist. Now, compared to the population of the earth, 7,000 are not a great number. The elect are not many, but with God’ help, they will stand and defeat the “Antichrist” or “Satan”. The number 7 in the Bible means “spiritual completeness”. God is showing that his plan is complete with the people he has chosen, which are needed to defeat Satan, with God’s help. They do not do it on their own. God works through them.
In Revelation 11, you can read about the two witnesses which are the two main people elected by God. God says, :3 “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. :4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the god of the earth.” Take notice, they are standing before God, meaning they were in heaven when this was written. They are spiritual beings that will be on earth at the time of the Antichrist. They are the anointed ones, for olive oil is what is used for anointing, and God calls them “the two olive trees”. And the two candlesticks are the two churches that Christ was pleased with in Rev. chapter 2 and 3, they are the church of Smyrna and the church of Philadelphia. The two witnesses go before the Elect. They will lead the Elect. :5 “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies.” This fire is God’s truth. God’s truth will devour the lies of the enemy.
Skip to Revelation 14, this chapter speaks about the 144,000 that are sealed by God. You can read this also in Rev.7. The 144,000 represent 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus explains who they are in Revelation 14:4, it reads, “These are they which were not defiled with women: for they are virgins.” This means that they were not deceived into worshipping the Antichrist. “Women” symbolizes false religion. Remember the harlot in Rev. 17? The whole world commits adultery with her. She symbolizes the false religion that the whole world will follow. The whole world will worship the Antichrist. Also they were virgins. This means they were virgins in a spiritual sense. We are called the bride of Christ. We are to remain pure until his return. These 144,000 did not commit adultery with the false Christ. They remained faithful to the Lord. They were not deceived by the Antichrist. They did not bow a knee to Baal, (Satan). This does not mean that the rest of the world is going to hell. Many will come out of the deception of Satan. Many will realize that the Antichrist is not the real Christ because of what the Elect will be saying and doing at that time. The one that are deceived for a moment but then wake up and realize who the Antichrist is, are those who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes in the blood of the lamb and have made their robes white; (Rev. 7:14), meaning that though they bowed a knee to Baal for a moment, they will realize whom the Antichrist is and stop worshipping him. They are no longer deceived. There will be a great multitude of people that come out of the deception. So great a number that no can count; (Rev. 7:9).
Think of Jacob and Esau, God hated Esau while he was yet in his mother’s womb. God will not hate an innocent infant that did nothing wrong. So you have to ask yourself, why did God hate Esau? God hated the soul that was in the infant’s body. Who knows what Esau did in the first earth age to cause God to hate him? But Esau still had a chance at salvation in this age. We all have a chance at salvation in this age. We are all born innocent, with no memory of the first earth age. God will judge us for how we live our lives now, not how we behaved in the first earth age. Some of are predestined to salvation because they earned it in the first earth age; and all the rest have freewill. They have the freedom to make up their mind whom they will follow, either God or Satan. The Elect were sent here to help the rest of God’s children. Jesus tells his disciples that, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,” (John 15:19). Jesus is telling them that they were chosen out of the world or “kosmos”. The word “world” does not mean the earth as a globe; it is not talking about the soil or the land. The word “world” is “kosmos”. It means an orderly arrangement. Jesus is saying that they were chosen out of that orderly arrangement of the world, that orderly time period. That was not this age, for in Genesis 1:2 it says, the earth became void and without form, meaning the earth became an undistinguishable ruin. So this age started in a state of ruin. The disciples where chosen in that first, orderly, age. They were not chosen in this age.
Sorry for such a long post, but that verse: Rev13:8 takes alot of study to understand what is being said.
