Ángel
Manuel Rodríguez
My
questions are about God’s heavenly books. Why are there books? Why
is that important?
In
order to answer comprehensively I would have to examine all the biblical
passages in which reference is made to heavenly books. That would take
more space than I am allowed. I’d prefer to limit our discussion
to only one of those books, the book of life.
1.
Record Keeping: The Israelites practiced the keeping of records
of the names of the citizens of their cities. Genealogies were important
to determine legal rights and social and religious functions (cf. Ezra
2:62). The deletion of a name from those registers was a severe legal
punishment (Eze. 13:9). Isaiah gives the practice an eschatological significance
when he announces that in the Messianic kingdom “he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for
life in Jerusalem” (Isa. 4:3).* One could
conclude that the register of a city may be called a “book of life”
in the sense that those inscribed in the list had the right to live there
and enjoy the privileges and responsibilities of a citizen.
2.
Recording Names in the Heavenly Book of Life:
The Bible mentions a heavenly register in which the names of those who
belong to the Lord are recorded (Luke 10:20; Ex. 32:32; Ps. 69:28; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 17:8; Dan. 12:1). That book contains
only the names of those who have chosen to be citizens of the New Jerusalem
(Rev. 21:27; 17:8). Jesus encouraged His disciples to rejoice because
their “names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20), and Paul refers to his fellow workers as those “whose names are
in the book of life” (Phil. 4:3). Some have concluded, based on Revelation
17:8, that the names of believers have been written in that
book from the foundation of the world. The text describes divine foreknowledge
but not predestination in the sense of an arbitrary decision that fixed
the eternal destiny of human beings. The inclusion of names in the book
of life is grounded in the cross (Rev. 13:8).
3.
Preserving and Deleting Names From the Book of Life:
Moses asked the Lord to remove his name from the book of life if that
would make it possible for the Israelites to be part of it (Ex. 32:32,
33; cf. Ps. 69:28). But names are preserved or removed through a divine
act of judgment (Dan. 7:9, 10; 12:1, 2). It is through Christ’s mediation
that the names of God’s people are retained in the book of life (Rev.
3:5). Only the names of those who have fallen from grace will be erased
from that book (Rev. 3:5; 20:12, 15).
4.
Significance of the Book of Life:
The biblical information concerning the book of life leads to several
conclusions.
a.
The Bible clearly uses a social practice—keeping
record of the names of those who were citizens of a particular city—to
help us understand heavenly realities. The social practice illustrated
and pointed to something more significant in the heavenly realm. The liberation
of souls from darkness into the kingdom of God is not only celebrated in heaven but is also recorded
in the book of life.
b.
The book of life underscores the fact that those who
belong to Christ are already citizens of the heavenly city. Their names are already written in the heavenly ledger,
and they are considered citizens of that kingdom, with all its privileges,
prerogatives, and responsibilities.
c.
The decision to record the names of believers in the
book of life is not arbitrary or accidental. It was not a divine afterthought
but part of the divine intention
before they actually and willingly decided to be members of the city of
God. Divine foreknowledge and human freedom do not cancel
out each other.
d.
What makes possible the inclusion of the name of the
believer in that book is at the same time what makes it possible to retain
it there, namely, God’s forgiving grace. As long as repentant sinners
persevere in faith and retain a spirit of dependence and submission
to God through Christ’s atoning work, their names will not
be blotted out. They are indeed citizens of the heavenly city.
* Bible quotations in this column are
from the New American Standard Bible.
2/14/02
Copyright © Biblical Research Institute General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists®