The concept of “books” in Heaven is borrowed from Sumer and Mesopotamia. The more ancient concept is “tablets of destinies”. Heiser approaches the question of just how much of our existence is predestined under the biblical Doctrine of Election.
NT Passages: Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:10, 15 21:27.
Heiser cites a 1973 article by Shalom Paul in the Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Society of Columbia University. The ancient pagan concept was that the gods would appoint destinies, particularly for important figures. These destinies were limited to how long these people would live. It would not cover the details of your life. In addition, the deities would record your actions and words according to their moral evaluations. This is a very ancient notion.
Obviously, we see only ancient materials written about kings because they can afford to hire scribes, so all the mythology is about the sponsors of the writings. Heiser also cites Andrew George in the Iraq journal (I found a copy here) from which he quotes a bit. It’s about Sennacherib pleading with the god Assur for a good destiny.
The point is not that you should expect God to keep a library about His people. Rather, it’s a parable declaring that God keeps track. He also makes the point that in 1 Samuel 23 we see that God had foreknowledge of things, but they didn’t happen.
David and his men went down to a town named Keilah, less than 10 miles NW of Hebron, down in the Shephelah Lowlands. David went down to deliver the village from the Philistines. The people were grateful, of course, but while David and his men were camping there, he received word that Saul had mobilized forces to come after him. David asked via the Ephod what was happening. God answered that Saul was indeed coming after him and that the town leaders would hand him over.
David and his men left the area. When Saul got a report back, he called off the march. God had foreknowledge and told David precisely so that those events would not happen. We need to shed the western logical assumption that foreknowledge always equals predestination.
These ideas are in the OT, as well. Moses mentions a book in Exodus 32:32 and we are justified in thinking it is the Book of Life. Isaiah 4:3 mentions a “record for life” specifically in Jerusalem. The same prophet in 65:6-7 mentions how God keeps a record of things Israel has done. Jeremiah 17:13 mentions things written in the earth or grave, the netherworld. Right along with this is Psalm 69:28 talks about having one’s name removed from the Book of Life.
Daniel 7:10 records a meeting of the Divine Council where the fates of the beasts were judged by the established record. Later in 10:21 the angel mentions a Book of Truth. Another shows up in 12:1, another mention seeming to point to the Book of Life. Malachi 3:16 calls it a Book of Remembrance. Psalm 56:8 mentions how the psalmist’s tears are recorded while 87:5-7 mentions that God is keeping track of those who were born in Zion.
While Heiser doesn’t mention it directly, we see a lot of this imagery in the biblical narrative regarding Babylonian and Medo-Persian rulers. From the Second Temple Period we get references in the Book of Jubilees to how Abraham was recorded in Heaven as a friend of God. In similar fashion that same source mentions how the Tribe of Levi was selected for priesthood because they had a zeal for God’s reputation. 1 Enoch 47 sounds very much like a Medo-Persian reference describing how God called for the records to be opened in His Presence.
Not everything needs to be seen as predestination in this image of God’s books. None of these references gets hung up on the precise logic of sequence. Foreknowledge is not necessarily predestination, though it can be. It is impossible for us to sit here within this space-time prison and pretend we can understand Eternity. Prophecy and revelation are often more about God paying close attention to you because He has a claim on your life. He notices what you choose and how you live.
You’ll notice there is often some ambiguity as to whether the destruction is literal or something figurative. Nor should you imagine this is limited to real-time recording, since God can foresee events before they happen. The business of recording is not literal, and it’s not limited by human restrictions. Don’t try to pin it down by your own reasoning.
