Egyptian Book of the Dead or The Egyptian Book of Living & Dying was a guidebook to assist the deceased in the afterlife and comprised a collection of hymns, spells and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife. The work has similarities with ‘The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying’ and the Mesoamerican Popol Vuh.
These mimic the books by which the dead are judged by the Hebrew God.
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it,..
- and the books were opened…and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works, and they were judged every man according to their works. –
- “Every man’s work shall be made manifest…fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (I Corinthians 3:12-14)
- and another book was opened, which is the book of life
- And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)
In order to make sense of this book of life, we need to stay on track with the standard literary format of any book – reference back to the beginning of the story to understand the ending.
The first mention of a book recording life is found at the beginning of the history of human life, where it is stated to be a book listing the names of some of Adam’s offspring.
“This is the book of the generations of Adam.” (Genesis 5)
Adam, whose life was breathed into him by God, then passed to Eve through a cloned stem cell from Adam’s bone, was then passed through the Women’s mitochondria in her ova.
“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” (Genesis 3:20)
A straightforward interpretation of this passage is that all human beings start out written in the book of life.
“While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall [only] go to him.” (II Samuel 12:22-2)
We can conclude from this that all children younger than the age of accountability, regardless of infant baptism into a faith or belonging to a faith-less family, are found written in the book of life and enjoy eternal life.
But the Bible states flat-out that it is possible for adults to be blotted out of this book.
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods…And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves…And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said…if thou wilt forgive their sin–;
and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book…in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.” (Exodus 32:1-34)
Jesus himself confirmed this.
“what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him…keep the commandments.” (Matthew 19:16-17)
Shocking as this may be to millions of professing believers, gaining eternal life by asking Jesus to come into your heart is not found anywhere in the Bible. This can be classified as one of the Adversary’s greatest lies, right up there with “It won’t hurt you, go ahead! Taste and see that the fruit is good!”
Long before there was a religion called Christianity the Bible gave a catechism on how to have eternal life, and it is simply to be connected the Creator God that brought us into existence in the first place.
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when…
- man [personality, soul] goeth to his long home [grave], and the mourners go about the streets…
- Then shall the dust [body] return to the earth as it was:
- and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Our electronically networked society provides an understanding of Solomon’s advice to “Remember” as “Stay connected” to the one who gave life in the first place, maintains it throughout our lifetime, restores it at the resurrection and is the only deity capable of making it permanent throughout eternity.
“Thou shalt love / merge identities with, as in marriage the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40)
“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13;10)
Notice that the psalmist admits that when he is judged the evidence will show that he did not keep the commandments.
THAT DOESN’T MATTER.
- “Save me, O God…O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
- The humble…shall live that seek God.” (Psalm 69)
“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake,
- and will not remember thy sins.
- Put ME in remembrance:
let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.” (Isaiah 43:25-26)
What God wants us to remember are his mercies, his lovingkindness, the truth – i.e. existing promise – that he will save, he will redeem.
IT’S A RELATIONSHIP!
Think of it like an estranged spouse willing to forego justice, restitution, wanting restoration of the family more than anything else, willing to pay the price that forgiveness requires.
Revelation chapters 2-3 clearly details how to stay written in the book of life.
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh:
- will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
- shall not be hurt of the second death.
- will I give to eat of the hidden manna,
- I will not blot out his name out of the book of life,
- will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Revelation 2-3)
The last reference to overcoming defines for us just what we need to overcome. As was experienced by the ultimate Son of God, constant temptation to be drawn away from the sacrifices demanded of everyone who would identify with Creator God as their father-figure / role model / authority. We all prefer the easy, comfortable lifestyle, but as every human parent knows, that’s just not possible if we are going to be a good parent.
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful…I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world…we are despised…we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked [unprotected from the elements and weaponless against danger], and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.” (I Corinthians 4:1-16)
Overcoming is so much harder than asking Jesus to come into your heart and then going about your merry way or even keeping Jewish religious laws. It means overcoming our selfish human nature in order to mature into the likeness of Creator God – willing to sacrifice our prerogatives for the benefit of others within our sphere of influence, however large or small that may be. We aren’t all the Apostle Paul trudging through a pagan stronghold facing death at every turn. But we all have the same lifestyle of overcoming self-centeredness to follow.
When the powerful elite’s reckless disregard for human life reaches the inevitable conclusion of Earth’s destruction, Creator God steps in and brings this human history to a close. And what matters at that point in time is where each person stands in his relationship with God. With him, or against him?
According to the Bible, God’s checklist of those who are right-eous, right on target with his instructions, has nothing to do with going to church or professing belief, and everything to do with acknowledging the power and authority of Creator God and siding with him in secular actions in which we do not exploit or seek power over or sacrifice others for our personal gain.
Did that soul “merge with” Creator God as demonstrated by his works in following his first commandment?
- Dominion is the opposite of domination.
- Being fruitful is the opposite of being destructive.
- Multiplying is the opposite of making extinct.
- Replenishing the earth is the opposite of squandering natural resources.
“But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh….
Now the [destructive] works of the flesh [drives and cravings for bodily sensations] are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit [production] of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law….If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk [behave] in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:14-26)
This perspective eliminates Christianity as the bastion of salvation, whether the requirement to be baptized into the Catholic version or the Protestant, opening up the opportunity for eternal life to billions more humans who never encountered the Bible, let alone the name Jesus. Let alone the self-indulgent Christians wreaking death and destruction in the name of Christ on colonized peoples.
Everyone has a choice to make – acknowledge and side with good or join forces with evil. And everyone lives, or dies, by their choice.
Kingdom Come 