The Book of Life

The Book of Life Are Names Added, or Blotted Out? Chapter 38 Preview: Why is it that the Bible never mentions someone having their name ADDED to The Book of Life? Why is it that the Bible only mention people having their names BLOTTED OUT of that precious book? People ASSUME that the Bible says: “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will ADD his name to the Book of Life”! This chapter makes the arguments about “predestination” irrelevant since we can know that Elohim (God) has predestined that all of us would be winners in the “game of life” if we simply play by the rules! The later part of this chapter goes beyond just having your name recorded in heaven. It covers what is required to actually be present in the coming Everlasting Kingdom. INDEX The following verse illustrates a key point concerning the Book of Life. This would be the ideal place to mention that your name could be added to the Book of Life—yet instead we see that it is already there! Revelation 3:5 Anyone who is victorious will wear white clothes, and I WON’T BLOT THEIR NAMES FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE. I’ll acknowledge their names before My Father and before His messengers. This passage adds an interesting perspective to all of those passages telling us to “confess” Yeshua (Jesus)! Yeshua will confess us! Revelation 17:8 The predatory beast that you saw who was, and is not, is ‘destined’ to reascend before long from the bottomless pit and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth will be amazed (everyone whose names are not written in the Book of Life [1] that was written from the creation of the world), when they see the predatory beast that was, and is not, and yet is coming. —The Gabriel Bible [1] The Greek seemingly says “were not”, as virtually every translation from it says. The Aramaic says “are not”. But names are in the Book of Life unless they are blotted out. Revelation 3:5; Exodus 32:33; Deuteronomy 29:20. Weymouth may be the only translator who understood this verse—that it doesn’t contradict the other verses about the Book of Life. His version says, “whose names are not in the Book of Life, having been recorded there ever since the creation of the world.” The Weymouth was freshly translated from the Greek in the nineteenth century, without reference to previous versions. It wasn’t simply a revision of the Tyndale, like virtually every other Greek translation appears to be. Their names have been removed: Psalm 9:5 You’ve reprimand the nations. You’ve destroyed the wicked. You’ve BLOTTED OUT THEIR NAMES into the unending future! There is little doubt that “the wicked” once had their names recorded, or their names could not be “blotted out”! The wicked “who live on the earth” at this time are separated from the merely unconverted, “the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left”. Yehovah recorded everyone’s name in advance, because He doesn’t want any to perish, but the incorrigibly wicked will have their names deleted! But the sheep and the goats are not who they are being promoted as being. The sheep are not “converted” people! Need proof? Here it is: Are the “Unsaved” Lost?. Exodus 32:31-33 So Moses returned to Yehovah, and said, “Oh, these people have committed a serious sin. They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, if you will, remove their sin” and if not, BLOT ME OUT OF THE BOOK that You’ve written. 33 Yehovah told Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me will be BLOTTED OUT of My book. Again, the names of the incorrigibly wicked were formerly in the Book of Life, but are being removed daily. These were not converted people whose names were to be blotted out of Yehovah’s book! A few verses earlier it says: 22 Aaron said, “Master don’t allow your anger to get hot. You know the people, how they are set on being bad. Interestingly, we are told exactly when these ancient people will be punished a few verses later. They will receive their reward “on the day when I visit for punishment”. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place that I told you about. Look, My Messenger will lead you. But on the day when I visit for punishment, I’ll punish them for their sin. This is explained fully in “The Last Day”—Judgment Day. This timing of punishment is the same timing that Peter mentioned when he spoke of “the day of the Return”. However, Peter admonished the kadishea (saints) to set an “honorable” example, so that some of the “gentiles” who “speak against you as evildoers” may eventually “praise Yehovah”! 1 Peter 2:11-12 Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and foreigners to separate yourselves from all carnal desires, because they war against your consciousness” [psyche, Gr: psuche]. 12 Your behavior should be obviously commendable to everyone, so those who are slandering you can see your good behavior and praise YHVH in the day of probation. David, in a long lamentation about the worthlessness of the wicked said: Psalm 69:28 Allow them be blotted out of the Book of Life, and not be recorded with the righteous. The alternative to having your name written in the Book of Life is to have it written in the dust of the earth—“ashes to ashes, dust to dust”, so to speak: Jeremiah 17:13 Yehovah is the hope of Israel. Everyone who forsakes You will be disappointed and ashamed. Those who abandon You will be recorded in the dirt, because they’ve abandoned Yehovah, the spring of living water. Philipptians 4:3 I also urge you, my true colleague, to help the women who worked hard with me in proclaiming the Good News, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are recorded in THE BOOK OF LIFE. As in every age, some of our “fellow workers” will drop out of the race, but as long as they remain faithful, their “names are in the Book of Life”. Luke 10:20 But don’t be elated because the demons yield to you, rather be elated because your names are recorded in Heaven. Revelation 20:15 If after a thoro search, anyone’s name wasn’t found written in the Book of Life, they were thrown into the lake of fire. The following passage is translated into many translations in a way that implies that some names were never recorded in the Book of Life to begin with. The actual transliteration of the words from Green’s Interlinear Bible are: “And will worship it all those dwelling on the earth of whom not was written the names in the scroll of life ....” Those names “not was written” because they had been removed—as every other account explains—not because they were never there! The KJV correctly says: “ARE not written in the Book of Life”, present tense, as does this: Revelation 13:7-8 He was given authority over the various tribes and ethnicities and languages and nations and he was ‘allowed’ to wage war against the kadishea [saints], and to ‘conquer’ them. 8 Everyone who lives on earth, whose names are not [not ‘were not’] written in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world will worship Him. The implication is that Yehovah will demand that everyone bow to Him and acknowledge His fairness even if He must break their knees first. The point is not to indicate that Yehovah failed to “give them a chance”, rather, the focus in on the tragedy that many are no longer in the Book. Revelation 21:27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it or anyone who performs idolatrous abominations or a liar—only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Small Book of Life. You want nothing to do with adding or taking away from the Bible! Revelation 22:18-19 I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this small book [4a]: if anyone adds to them, YHVH will ADD to them the catastrophes [plagues] that are described in this small book. 19 If anyone takes words out of the book containing this prophecy [4b], YHVH will TAKE AWAY their destiny from the Tree of Life and from the kadosh city described in this small book. [4a,b] John repeatedly referred to “his” Book of Revelation as a little book. But “the book containing this prophecy” is the entire Testimony of Yeshua! This penalty apparently applies not only to the translators who deliberately changed some of Yehovah’s word, but also to those who deliberately misrepresent Yehovah’s thoughts in their sermons and conversations. A careful reading of Psalm 139 indicates that every part of our bodies has been recorded in Yehovah’s book, before we were even conceived! This is a bit awkwardly written, but on examination we can understand that in addition to our names being written in a book in heaven, and the number of hairs on our heads counted—Yehovah has even recorded information about our genetic profiles before we were conceived! Apparently Yehovah obviously “booked” us prior to our conversion—right? Certainly He can determine who the goats are with foreknowledge as amazing as that, especially after He has witnessed our “works” for years. Psalm 139:13-16 You formed my inner being. You protected me in my mother’s womb. 14 I thank You because I’m fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I have a great sense of self awareness. 15 My frame wasn’t hidden from you when I was made, hidden away, skillfully woven together here below on earth. 16 You saw my body developing. The days of my life were pre-recorded in Your book before any of them had taken place. Nearing the time of the end, many sleeping Believers will blow the dust off of their Bibles and race “to and fro” thru the pages of “the Book” of Daniel. As a result of this, Biblical “knowledge will increase.” This verse is not just about trains and planes and fast cars, nor is it just referring to scientific advancement, it also refers to “the words” and “the book” of Daniel itself being understood, if you consider ALL of verse four! (Dah’-ath can also mean “knowledge”, discernment, understanding and wisdom”). Contrast this “run to and fro” to the previous situation! Daniel 12:1-4 AT THAT TIME, Michael will take a stand, the great leader who stands for your ‘countrymen’, and there will be a time of trouble [the great Tribulation], such as there has never been since the first nation up until that time, AND AT THAT TIME [during the “time of the end!”] your people will be rescued, everyone whose names are still found [niphal] recorded in the Book. 2 Multitudes of people sleeping in the dust of the earth in the dust of the earth will awaken, some of them to everlasting life, and the others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Amos 8:11-12 The time will come, says the Sovereign Yehovah, when I’ll send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of Yehovah! 12 They’ll wander from sea to sea, and from the north clear to the east, they’ll quickly run back and forth to find the Word of Yehovah, and won’t find it. Why did Yehovah tell us that He gathers information about the unborn? Does Yehovah relish totally useless information or could that information be some of the most precious information He has? Could it be that before the seven thousand years are finished, Yehovah will have recycled all of the “useless genetic information” that was aborted, or left on the mountains to die, or was passed thru the fire for Moloch? Yeshua Himself was brought into the world via miraculous genetic code transplant! Family planning could be a bit different. Resuming: Daniel 12:5-13 Then I, Daniel, looked, and there were two others standing there. One was on the bank of the river on this side, and one on the opposite bank of the river. 6 One asked the man dressed in linen, who was hovering above the river water, “How long will it be until the end of these miracles?” 7 I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the water of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by the One who lives forever that it will be for a time, [a year], times [2 years], and half a time [1/2 a year], and when they’ve made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the kadosh people, all of these things will be finished. 8 I heard, but I didn’t understand, so I asked, “Master, what will be the end result of these miracles?” 9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the matter is secret and sealed until the end times. 10 Many will purify and refine themselves, but the wicked will continue to be wicked, and none of the wicked will understand, but those with discernment will understand. 11 From the time that the continuous burnt ze’bakim [sacrifices] are abolished, and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 Blessed are those who wait for and attain the 1,335 days [1]. 13 But go your way until the end, because you will remain resting, and arise to your compensation, at the end of the days [age]. [1] On the surface the end of the days” appears to mean that Daniel would arise at the end of the 1,335 days. But that flatly contradicts Matthew 24. It doesn’t mean that. (Interestingly, the other place usually translated as “the end of the days” refers to the end of the seven year period when Nebuchadnezzar lived as a wild beast, Daniel 4:34.) Actually, the phrase “the end of the days” used in this context means the same thing that all eight instances of the “last days” refer to in the Bible, and all eleven references to the “latter days” means “the end of the age. The whole point that I believe Yehovah has made by revealing that our names are already written in the Book of Life is to illustrate the hope that Yehovah has for each of us. Yehovah wants everyone, including unborn children, to keep not only their names engraved in His book, but He expects us to all become His very sons. Yehovah is an optimist; He assumes, until proven otherwise, that we will be “counted worthy to attain that age”! There is just one point that needs to be considered: “the books”. Two references to “books” being opened on Judgment Day appear in the Bible. Would it make sense for Yehovah to use “mysterious books” to judge mankind with, using esoteric standards? Of course not! The books that we will all be judged by are the Books of the Bible. They reveal everything that we need to know before we stand before our Maker! Revelation 20:12-14 I saw the dead, those of lower status [small] and the highly esteemed [great] standing in front of the throne, and the small books were opened [8], including the small Book of Life. The dead were judged by the things that were written in the small books, based on what they had done [their ‘works’]. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Sheol gave up the dead in them. Everyone was judged based on what they had done [their ‘works’]. 14 Death and Sheol [Ar/Heb meaning grave] were thrown into the lake of fire. [9] The second death is the lake of fire. [8] This happens in the time frame of Daniel 7:10, as the beasts are biting the dust (verses 11-12). [9] The end of death is at the very beginning of the Everlasting Kingdom. Check the entire context of Isaiah 25, particularly v.8. Yet the wicked are excluded from this blessing. Daniel 7:10 A river of fire flowed out from before Him. Millions served Him, and one hundred million stood before Him. The court ‘convened’, and the books were opened. Mastering these books, and applying them to your daily personal interactions is the best way to keep your name written in the Book of Life!   The End Part 2 of The Book of Life  Google Search only search Everlasting Kingdom   Minor update May 16, 2014   Lon Martin’s work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.