So what does blotting out of a name in the book of life mean to you?
When it really comes down to it, my take on that terminology I keep as close to what's actually written in scripture when addressing things of scripture. Here are just a few of many examples of that concept:
2 Kings 14:27 And the LORD said not that he would
blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.
Having to do with remembrance among the nations of the earth.
Psalm 51:1, 9
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies
blot out my transgressions. ...
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and
blot out all mine iniquities.
Jerremiah 18:23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me:
forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.
Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not
blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Blotting out, whether it be from remembrance or from having any impact upon them in the Heavenlies, and even the call to NOT blot out sin so that they are an effective indictment in the Heavenlies, the concept is quite well defined.
So, the question we must ask, then is given that only blotting out is established, what can be said for when the names were written in that Book?
Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and
they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
I realize you didn't ask about this, but it does add to what we're talking about: In all of scripture, this ONE group of humans are the
only ones said to be those whose names were NOT written in that Book from the foundation of the world. The conclusion, then, given that the Book of Life is from the foundation of the world, all the other names were already written therein, based upon (and this is my personal thinking on the matter on the basis of the reasoning skills the Lord gave to us):
1 Timothy 2:4
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
To me, the harmony is unmistakable, but the Agnostics out there can and will question this, which is fine.
MM