Difference between revisions of "Book Of Life"

<p> <strong> BOOK OF LIFE </strong> . The legalistic conception of morality which existed among the [[Jews]] involved a record of the deeds of life on the basis of which the final judgment of God would be given. [[Allied]] with this was another conception, derived from the custom of enrolling citizens (&nbsp; Jeremiah 22:30 , &nbsp; Nehemiah 7:5; &nbsp; Nehemiah 7:64; &nbsp; Nehemiah 12:22 f.; cf. &nbsp; Exodus 32:32 ), of a list of those who were to partake of the blessings of the Messianic Age. A second natural step was to conceive of God as keeping two sets of books, a Book of Life (&nbsp; Daniel 12:1 ff., &nbsp; Malachi 3:16 , &nbsp; Psalms 69:28 ) for the righteous, and a Book of Death for the wicked (Jub xxx 20 22). To have one’s name blotted out from the Book of Life was equivalent to complete condemnation (Eth. Enoch 108:3). </p> <p> In the [[Apocalyptic]] writings of [[Judaism]] the Final [[Judgment]] was to be based upon the records contained in the books supposedly kept by the archangel Michael. In some cases Rabbinical thought elaborated the figure until each man was to read and sign his record. The judgment of God was thus supposed to be based upon absolute justice, and determined by the balance of recorded good and evil deeds. In the NT are to be found references both to the books of records (&nbsp;Revelation 20:12; &nbsp; Revelation 20:15; cf. &nbsp; Daniel 7:10 , Eth. Enoch 89:61ff.), and to the books containing a list of those who were to enjoy eternal life (&nbsp; Luke 10:20 , &nbsp; Philippians 4:3 , &nbsp; Hebrews 12:23 , &nbsp; Revelation 3:5; &nbsp; Revelation 13:8; &nbsp; Revelation 17:6; &nbsp; Revelation 21:27 ). </p> <p> Shailer Mathews. </p>

<p> (ספר חיּים , <i> '''''ṣēpher ḥayyı̄m''''' </i> ; ἡ βίβλος τῆς ζωῆς , <i> '''''hē bı́blos tḗs zōḗs''''' </i> , "book of life"): The phrase is derived from the custom of the ancients of keeping genealogical records (&nbsp;Nehemiah 7:5 , &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:64; &nbsp;Nehemiah 12:22 , &nbsp;Nehemiah 12:23 ) and of enrolling citizens for various purposes (&nbsp;Jeremiah 22:30; &nbsp;Ezekiel 13:9 ). So, God is represented as having a record of all who are under His special care and guardianship. To be blotted out of the Book of Life is to be cut off from God's favor, to suffer an untimely death, as when Moses pleads that he be blotted out of God's book - that he might die, rather than that [[Israel]] should be destroyed (&nbsp;Exodus 32:32; &nbsp;Psalm 69:28 ). In the New Testament it is the record of the righteous who are to inherit eternal life (&nbsp;Philippians 4:3; &nbsp;Revelation 3:5; &nbsp;Revelation 13:8; &nbsp;Revelation 17:8; &nbsp;Revelation 21:27 ). In the apocalyptic writings there is the conception of a book or of books, that are in God's keeping, and upon which the final judgment is to be based (&nbsp;Daniel 7:10; &nbsp;Daniel 12:1; &nbsp;Revelation 20:12 , &nbsp;Revelation 20:15; compare Book Jubilees 39:6; &nbsp;Revelation 19:9 ). See [[Apocalypse]]; [[Blot]]; [[Book Of Remembrance]]; [[Judgment]] , Last . </p>