This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 5: The Book You Have Written.

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This post begins a series of posts on Section II of The Book of Life: The Book of Life in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament features at least seven references to a set of divine books in which people’s names are recorded, along with documentation of their works. We explore these passages on the basis of our discoveries in Section I: (1) the book of life is God’s registry of the redeemed; (2) it’s a real book, not a metaphor for God’s memory; (3) it is the Lamb’s book, purchased by his blood; and (4) names are entered at or after the time of creation, with the unrepentant wicked erased from the book of life when they pass a point of no return.

Now, we begin a series of posts that examine the first biblical reference to the book of life; Moses, speaking to Yahweh, calls it “the book you have written,” and the Lord responds by calling it “my book” (Exod. 32:31-33). Then, we delve into David’s song of lament, in which he petitions the Lord for relief, asking that the names of his tormenters be erased from the book of life (Ps. 69:28). The third reference explores David’s wonder at his own existence, exalting Yahweh for writing all the king’s days in his divine book (Ps. 139:16). 

Next, we see the immediate and prophetic implications of the book of life in the days of Isaiah (Isa. 4:3), followed by the book of life as Daniel shares his vision of the Ancient of Days, and as books are opened before the almighty judge (Dan. 7:9-10). The sixth Old Testament reference propels us to a time of future resurrection and judgment, in which those whose names are written in “the book” escape God’s wrath (Dan. 12:1-3). 

Finally in this section, we investigate the only reference in Scripture to a “book of remembrance” (Mal. 3:16). As a bonus, we’ll note the connection between the Israelite festival of Rosh Hashana and the book of life.

The Book You Have Written (Exod. 32:31-33)

So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves. 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” (Exod. 32:31-33).

While Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving the stone tablets on which God has inscribed his law (Exod. 31:18), the Israelites below worry about the delay in their leader’s return. So, they gather around Aaron and say to him, “Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt ​— ​we don’t know what has happened to him!” (Exod. 32:1).

Aaron instructs the people to give him their golden earrings, which he fashions into a golden calf. The people reply, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” (Exod. 32:4).

The next morning, the Israelites engage in revelry that springs from their violation of the first two commandments: “Do not have other gods besides me,” and, “Do not make an idol for yourself” (Exod. 20:3-4). 

The Lord sends Moses back to the foot of Mount Sinai. Yahweh is so angry with the speed and depth of the Israelites’ depravity, he tells Moses, “Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation” (Exod. 32:10).

Moses entreats the Lord on behalf of the people, and Yahweh relents (Exod. 32:11-14). Then, Moses descends the slopes of the mountain, carrying the two tablets of testimony. When he arrives at the camp, he’s appalled. The Israelites’ rebellious activities include making offerings to the image of the golden calf; singing and dancing in worship of the idol; and unrestrained carousing, “making them a laughingstock to their enemies” (Exod. 32:25). 

Moses seethes with anger and smashes the stone tablets. He takes the golden calf – likely made of wood and overlaid with gold – burns it in intense heat and grinds it to powder. Then, he scatters the powder over the surface of the water and forces the Israelites to drink it (Exod. 32:20). 

While this may seem an odd response, Moses has good reasons for his actions. As Douglas Stuart explains: “[B]y putting the powder into their water supply, he saw to it that eventually the powder was drunk along with the water and thus went through the Israelites’ bodies, came out as waste, corrupted and defiled, and therefore was ruined permanently as material fit for an idol.”

Then, Moses rallies the Levites around him, commanding them to slaughter “brother, friend, and neighbor” (Exod. 32:27). Three thousand Israelites die that day at the hands of the Levites, except for Aaron, for whom Moses intercedes (Deut. 9:20).

The following day, Moses says to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. Now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin” (Exod. 32:30). 

This brings us to the key passage in this part of our study. Moses appeals to God for forgiveness of the Israelites’ grievous sin. If God chooses not to pardon the Israelites, Moses says, “please erase me from the book you have written” (Exod. 32:32). 

The Lord replies:

“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.” And the LORD inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made (Exod. 32:33-35).

My book

In exploring this passage, we see that Moses acknowledges the book of life as God’s book – “the book you have written” (Exod. 32:32). The Lord affirms Moses’s statement, calling it “my book” (v. 33).

Just as God is the author of life, he’s the sovereign giver of eternal life. He not only grants everyone “life and breath and all things” (Acts 17:25), but he’s also fully aware of every detail of every person’s life.

He knows the circumstances under which people are born; the environments in which they’re raised; the advantages and disadvantages that shape their worldviews; their level of education; their opportunities; the decisions they make, including how they respond to God’s revelation of himself in creation, conscience, Scripture, and the person and work of Jesus; and the number of their days.

Ultimately, the Lord is aware of their eternal destiny, either in the new heavens and new earth with him, or in the lake of fire, separated forever from the source of life. 

God keeps a record of our lives and holds us accountable for how we manage the time, talents, relationships, and other gifts he has entrusted to us. He knows our thoughts, which form the action plans for good and evil deeds (Matt. 5:27-28). He hears our words, which reveal the true nature of our hearts, and for which we must give an account (Matt. 12:33-37).

In various places, the Bible depicts God’s record of our lives as contained in heavenly books. No person escapes the creator’s interest or avoids a day of reckoning with him. As Joseph Seiss comments:

Myriads of human beings have lived and died of whom the world knows nothing; but the lives they lived, the deeds they wrought, the thoughts and tempers they indulged, still stand written where the memory of them cannot perish. Not a human being has ever breathed earth’s atmosphere whose career is not traced at full length in the books of eternity.

Millions of books have been written throughout human history. These include fantasies, science fiction, biographies, mysteries, dystopias, thrillers, historical fiction, horror, travel, self-help, humor, and many more. Some are bestsellers; many more litter the discount racks of second-hand bookstores or gather dust on basement bookshelves. Some are crafted by single authors. Others are collaborations, ghost-written works, revised versions, or even plagiarized tomes.

But no one may alter, rewrite, or resist the book God calls “my book,” for it’s his sovereign record of the living. The fact that God connects erasure from his book to man’s sinfulness implies more than physical death. Exodus 32:32-33 appears to be the first reference in Scripture to a divine book that records the names of those who live forever as redeemed sons and daughters of God. 

At the very least, this first reference to the book of life alludes to a census of the Israelites, with their names erased at the point of physical death. However, further revelation in Scripture attaches eternal significance to those whose names are entered there, and those whose names God erases from the roll.

Next: Erased – The Book You Have Written (Part 2)