Here are instances of "Book of Life" in the Bible:
[Phl 4:3 NKJV] 3 And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names [are] in the Book of Life.
[Rev 3:5 NKJV] 5 "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
[Rev 13:8 NKJV] 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
[Rev 20:12, 15 NKJV] 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. ... 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
[Rev 21:27 NKJV] 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
[Rev 22:19 NKJV] 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.What about the book in Exodus 32:32-33, which read:
[Exo 32:32-33 NKJV] 32 "Yet now, if You will forgive their sin--but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." 33 And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.Is God's book in these verses the same Book of Life? God's book in these two verses may be related to the book of living in following verses:
[Eze 13:9 NKJV] 9 ... they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. ...
[Num 11:15 NKJV] 15 "If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now--if I have found favor in Your sight--and do not let me see my wretchedness!"
[Isa 4:3 NKJV] 3 And it shall come to pass that [he who is] left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy--everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.What Moses is saying in Exodus 32:32 is "God, please forgive the sin of the Israelites. If not, please let me die now.
Following is from Matthew Henry's commentary:
II. He intercedes with God for mercy. Observe,
1. How pathetic his address was. Moses returned unto the Lord, not to receive further instructions about the tabernacle: there were no more conferences now about that matter. Thus men's sins and follies make work for their friends and ministers, unpleasant work, many times, and give great interruptions to that work which they delight in. Moses in this address expresses, (1.) His great detestation of the people's sin, v. 31. He speaks as one overwhelmed with the horror of it: Oh! this people have sinned a great sin. God had first told him of it (v. 7), and now he tells God of it, by way of lamentation. He does not call them God's people, he knew they were unworthy to be called so; but this people, this treacherous ungrateful people, they have made for themselves gods of gold. It is a great sin indeed to make gold our god, as those do that make it their hope, and set their heart on it. He does not go about to excuse or extenuate the sin; but what he had said to them by way of conviction he says to God by way of confession: They have sinned a great sin;he came not to make apologies, but to make atonement. "Lord, pardon the sin, for it is great,' Ps. 25:11. (2.) His great desire of the people's welfare (v. 32): Yet now it is not too great a sin for infinite mercy to pardon, and therefore if thou wilt forgive their sin. What then Moses? It is an abrupt expression, "If thou wilt, I desire no more; if thou wilt, thou wilt be praised, I shall be pleased, and abundantly recompensed for my intercession.' It is an expression like that of the dresser of the vineyard (Lu. 13:9), If it bear fruit; or, If thou wilt forgive, is as much as, "O that thou wouldest forgive!' as Lu. 19:42, If thou hadst known is,O that thou hadst known. "But if not, if the decree has gone forth, and there is no remedy, but they must be ruined; if this punishment which has already been inflicted on many is not sufficient (2 Co. 2:6), but they must all be cut off, blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written;' that is, "If they must be cut off, let me be cut off with them, and cut short of Canaan; if all Israel must perish, I am content to perish with them; let not the land of promise be mine by survivorship.' This expression may be illustrated fromEze. 13:9, where this is threatened against the false prophets, They shall not be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel. God had told Moses that, if he would not interpose he would make of him a great nation, v. 10. "No,' says Moses, "I am so far from desiring to see my name and family built up on the ruins of Israel, that I will choose rather to sink with them. If I cannot prevent their destruction, let me not see it (Num. 11:15); let me not be written among the living(Isa. 4:3), nor among those that are marked for preservation; even let me die in the last ditch.' Thus he expresses his tender affection for the people, and is a type of the good Shepherd, that lays down his life for the sheep (Jn. 10:11), who was to be cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people, Isa. 53:8; Dan. 9:26. He is also an example of public-spiritedness to all, especially to those in public stations. All private interests must be made subordinate to the good and welfare of communities. It is no great matter what becomes of us and our families in this world, so that it go well with the church of God, and there be peace upon Israel. Moses thus importunes for a pardon, and wrestles with God, not prescribing to him ("If thou wilt not forgive, thou art either unjust or unkind'); no, he is far from that; but, "If not, let me die with the Israelites, and the will of the Lord be done.'
2. Observe how prevalent his address was. God would not take him at his word; no, he will not blot any out of his book but those that by their wilful disobedience have forfeited the honour of being enrolled in it (v. 33); the soul that sins shall die, and not the innocent for the guilty. This was also an intimation of mercy to the people, that they should not all be destroyed in a body, but those only that had a hand in the sin. Thus Moses gets ground by degrees. God would not at first give him full assurances of his being reconciled to them, lest, if the comfort of a pardon were too easily obtained, they should be emboldened to do the like again, and should not be made sensible enough of the evil of the sin. Comforts are suspended that convictions may be the deeper impressed: also God would hereby exercise the faith and zeal of Moses, their great intercessor. Further, in answer to the address of Moses, (1.) God promises, notwithstanding this, to go on with his kind intention of giving them the land of Canaan, the land he had spoken to them of, v. 34. Therefore he sends Moses back to them to lead them, though they were unworthy of him, and promises that his angel should go before them, some created angel that was employed in the common services of the kingdom of providence, which intimated that they were not to expect any thing for the future to be done for them out of the common road of providence, not any thing extraordinary. Moses afterwards obtained a promise of God's special presence with them (ch. 33:14, 17); but at present this was all he could prevail for. (2.) Yet he threatens to remember this sin against them when hereafter he should see cause to punish them for other sins: "When I visit, I will visit for this among the rest. Next time I take the rod in hand, they shall have one stripe the more for this.'
