Signs of the Times, Book 1 - Ellen G. White

if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book
which thou hast written." The answer was "Whosoever hath sinned against
me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore, now go, lead the people unto
the place of which I have spoken unto thee. Behold, mine angel shall go
before thee; nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon
them." The Lord further showed his displeasure at their act by afflicting them
with a plague.
Moses manifested his great love for Israel in his entreaty to the Lord to
forgive their sin, or blot his name out of the book which he had written. His
intercessions here illustrate Christ's love and mediation for the sinful race.
But the Lord refused to let Moses suffer for the sins of his backsliding
people. He declared to him that those who had sinned against him he would
blot out of his book which he had written; for the righteous should not suffer
for the guilt of the sinner. The book here referred to is the book of records in
Heaven, in which every name is inscribed, and the acts of all, their sins, and
obedience, are faithfully written. When individuals commit sins which are
too grievous for the Lord to pardon, their names are erased from the book,
and they are devoted to destruction. Although Moses realized the dreadful
fate of those whose names should be dropped from the records of Heaven,
yet he plainly declared before God that if the names of his erring Israel
should be no more remembered by him for good, he wished his name to be
blotted out with theirs; for he could never endure to see the fullness of
Jehovah's wrath come upon the people for whom he had wrought such
wonders.
The Lord directed Moses to move his tent afar off from the encampment
of Israel, thus giving expression to the people that he had separated himself
from them. He would reveal himself to Moses, but not to such a people. Here
he puts a difference between the faithful and the unfaithful; and this rebuke
was keenly felt by the sinful Israelites.
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