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by Kevin Pauley
So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, this people has committed a great sin; they have made for themselves a god of gold. Now if You would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book You have written." The LORD replied to Moses: "Whoever has sinned against Me I will erase from My book. Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, My angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin." - Exodus 32:31-34 HCSB
The idea of the Book of Life (“Sefer ha ch’aim” in Hebrew) first appears when Moses pled with the Lord not to destroy the people for worshipping the golden calf while Yahweh was giving Moses the Law on Mount Sinai.[1] Like the faithful shepherd he was, Moses stood with the people and basically said, “What you do to them, do to me too.”
In his argument, Moses implied that he and the people were already in the book and that recalcitrant sin would get them erased from it. The Lord confirmed this by saying that only those who stubbornly remained in their sins would be erased. He further intimated that the Book would be a critical element “on the day I settle accounts.”
This concept of stubborn sin resulting in one’s name being blotted out of the Sefer ha Ch’aim was continued when God called on the people to choose life under the Law or death outside of it. The Lord made it clear that anyone who thought to himself “I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart” was well on their way to destruction. He stated that He would not be willing to forgive such a recalcitrant person and that their name would be “blotted out” under heaven.[2]
Much may be learned about the Sefer ha Ch’aim from King David. When Hashem took King David’s baby in response to David’s adultery, deceit and murder, David took comfort in the knowledge that his baby was in heaven. As we will see in this 3-part series, entrance into heaven is contingent upon one’s name being in the Book of Life. Therefore, David believed his baby was automatically written into the Book at conception.[3]
As Hashem had already said in Exodus, only our rebellion removes us. Since a child cannot be held accountable for its sins, a child who dies under that “age of accountability” automatically goes to heaven.
Afterward, in his psalm of repentance, King David asked the Lord to “blot out” his rebellion.[4] So not only our names (in essence our existence) but also our actions are recorded in the Book of Life. David also stated that God also records our day to day “wanderings” and our emotional trials.[5]
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
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