Is Your Name Written In God’s Book?

      In various occupations it is necessary to keep a ledger or record book to remember things with precision. Throughout the Scriptures, God uses that metaphor to communicate His exact knowledge of every single person who belongs to Him.

In Exodus 32.32, right after the Israelites created and worshiped a golden calf as Moses received their laws on Mt. Sinai, Moses urgently pleaded with God to spare the people. “But now, if you will forgive their sin – but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” God’s response affirmed Moses’ innocence and the Israelite’s guilt – “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.” This passage demonstrates that God is an active bookkeeper; not only will the Lord add names, He will also remove the names of those who rebelliously turn their lives from Him. We also learn about the control God exerts over the record of His people; unlike human records that can be erased or altered to suit the whims of the powerful, no one can change the names written in God’s book, except God Himself. In Malachi 3.16, after the last Old Testament prophet brought a scorching message of God’s displeasure at the lackluster and polluted worship of the Jews, some of the people responded with repentance. We are told that “the Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.” In Daniel 12.1, as the Lord described to the prophet Daniel the terrible future devastation coming for the Jewish people in the Roman destruction of Judea in A.D. 70, He promised safety for God-fearing Jews. “But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.”

God’s special book also makes an appearance in the New Testament as well. In Philippians 4.3, the apostle Paul encouraged the Philippian church to help two hard-working godly women (Euodia and Syntyche) work together as one. They had “labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” Throughout the book of Revelation, the “book of life” is used frequently to discuss the permanent record of God’s people. One such place is found in Revelation 3.5. “The one who conquered will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.”

It is profoundly comforting for us to know that throughout the course of human history, God has never forgotten or lost track of His people. Two hundred years from now, our names will be lines in a genealogical tree, etches on a tombstone, our stories forgotten by succeeding generations. But if our life was spent remembering our Creator, we will never be forgotten by Him. Is your name written in God’s book?

Nathan