And all those who dwell on the earth will worship it; the name of not one of them stands written in the scroll of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered, from the founding of the world.”​—Revelation 13:5-8.

Thus, from the end of 1914 on into 1918, while the warring nations were literally tearing at one another like wild beasts, citizens of those nations were pressured to worship the wild beast, to indulge in the religion of nationalism, even to be ready to die for their country.

Having authority “over every tribe and people and tongue and nation,” the wild beast clamped down on God’s work worldwide.

23. (a) What is “the scroll of life of the Lamb,” and what has been proceeding to completion since 1918? (b) Why was any apparent victory for Satan’s visible organization over “the holy ones” merely an empty one?

²³ This seemed like a victory for Satan and his organization. But it could bring them no long-term benefits, since no one in Satan’s visible organization had his name written in “the scroll of life of the Lamb.” Figuratively, this scroll contains the names of those who will rule with Jesus in his heavenly Kingdom. The first names were written in it at Pentecost 33 C.E. And in the years since then, more and more names have been added. Since 1918, the sealing of the remaining ones of the 144,000 Kingdom heirs has been proceeding to completion. Soon, the names of all of them will be written indelibly in the Lamb’s scroll of life. As for the opposers who worship the wild beast, not one of these will have his name written in that scroll. So any apparent victory these may have over “the holy ones” is an empty one, merely temporary.