199. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. That this signifies that they will be in heaven because they are fitted for it is evident from the signification of name, as denoting the quality of the state of man's life (see above, n. 148) and from the signification of the book of life, as denoting heaven, concerning which we shall speak presently. Hence, not to blot their name out of the book of life signifies that they will be in heaven because their state as to love and faith is heavenly, thus because they are fitted for heaven. The reason why heaven is signified by the book of life is, that a man who is in love and faith to the Lord is a heaven in its least form, and this heaven corresponds to heaven in the greatest form: therefore he who has heaven in himself, also comes into heaven, for he is fitted for it. (That there is such a correspondence, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 51-58, 73-77, 87-102; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 230-236.) Hence it is, that the book of life is that in man which corresponds to the heaven in which he is; and because the former remains with him to eternity, if he becomes spiritual by the knowledges of truth and good applied to life in the world, therefore, it is here said, "I will not blot out his name from the book of life. In the world, indeed, it may be blotted out, if a man does not remain spiritual even unto the end of his life; but if he does remain spiritual it cannot be blotted out, because he is conjoined to the Lord by love and faith; and conjunction with the Lord, such as took place in the world, remains with man after death.
From these considerations it is evident, that by the book of life is meant that from the Lord which is inscribed on a man's spirit, that is, which is inscribed on his heart and soul, or, what is the same, on his love and faith; and that which is inscribed by the Lord on man, is heaven. [2] It is therefore evident what is meant by the book of life in the following passages; in Daniel:
"The Ancient of days did sit, and the books were opened" (vii. 9, 10).
Again:
"The people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (xii. 1).
In David:
"Let them be blotted out of the book of lives, and not be written with the righteous" (Ps. lxix. 28).
In Moses:
Moses said, "Blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written. And Jehovah said, Whosoever bath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book" (Exod. xxxii. 32, 33).
In the Apocalypse:
"All shall worship the beast, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb" (xiii. 8; xvii. 8).
In another place:
"And the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And if any one was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire" (Apoc. xx. 12, 13, 15).
Again:
"And there shall not enter into the New Jerusalem any but those that are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Apoc. xxi. 27).
In David:
"My bone was not hid from thee when I was made in secret. Upon thy book all my days were written in which they were formed: not one of them is wanting" (Ps. cxxxix. 15, 16).
By all the days being written, are meant all the states of man's life. (That all the separate things which he has thought, willed, spoken and done, yea, which he has seen and heard, are with man in his spirit as if inscribed therein, so that nothing whatever is wanting, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell, n. 462, 463, and in Arcana Coelestia, 2469-2494, 7398; and that this is the book of man's life, 2474, 9386, 9841, 10,505; and likewise, n. 5212, 8067, 19334, 9723, 9841.)
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