Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BOOK OF LIFE

The mundane task of bookkeeping in the ancient Near East often found a parallel in the divine realm. The idea of divine scribal activity appears several times throughout both the OT and NT and is frequently mentioned in pseudepigraphal writings (cf. Exod. 32:32-33; Ps. 139:16; Isa. 65:6; Mal. 3:16; Jub. 30:19-23; 1 En. 47:3; Rev. 13:8). The Book of Life appears to be a heavenly book in which the names of the righteous are inscribed. The psalmist prays that his adversaries be blotted out of the book of life and that they not be written with the names of the righteous (Ps. 69:28[MT 29]; cf. Rev. 3:5; 21:27).

In addition to the Book of Life, other books appear in the literature. A book of destruction corresponds to the book of life (cf. 1 En. 81:1-4; Jub. 30:22; T. Levi 5:4), and other books record the deeds or events of life. These seem to be the basis for the last judgment, where “the court sat in judgment and the books were opened” (Dan. 7:10) and “the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books” (Rev. 20:12). Similar usages are found also in the pseudepigraphal and apocryphal writings (cf. 2 Esdr. 6:20; 2 Apoc. Bar. 24:1; Asc. Isa. 9:22; 1 Clem. 45:8).

W. Dennis Tucker, Jr.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BOOK OF LIFE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)