Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

"You have committed a great sin," he said. "So now I will go
up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." In his
confession before God he said, "Oh, these people have committed a
great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if
You will forgive their sin--but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your
book which You have written."
The prayer of Moses directs our minds to the heavenly records
in which the names of everyone are inscribed, and their deeds, good
or evil, are written. The book of life contains the names of all who
have entered the service of God. If by stubborn persistence in sin
any of these become finally hardened against His Holy Spirit, in the
judgment their names will be blotted from the book of life.
If the people of Israel were to be rejected by the Lord, Moses
wanted his name to be blotted out with theirs; he could not bear to
see the judgments of God fall on those who had been graciously
delivered. Moses' intercession on behalf of Israel illustrates Christ's
mediation for sinners. But the Lord did not permit Moses to bear the
guilt of the transgressor, as Christ did. "Whoever has sinned against
Me," He said, "I will blot him out of My book."
In deep sadness the people buried their dead. Three thousand
had been killed by the sword; soon after, a plague had broken out in
the camp; and now the message came to them that the divine
Presence would no longer go with them in their journey: "I will not
go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a
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