Numbers 21:10-20 comments: mentions of unknown books

 

Numbers 21:10 ¶  And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth. 11  And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising. 12  From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared. 13  From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14  Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, 15  And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab. 16  And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. 17  Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it: 18  The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah: 19  And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth: 20  And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looketh toward Jeshimon.

 

The Israelites get closer and closer to the land they were promised here until they arrive at the border of Moab. From Moab, the top of Mount Pisgah the land promised could be seen. God gives Moses a glimpse from there of what he will never enjoy in his earthly body.

 

Deuteronomy 3:26  But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. 27  Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

 

But, first, a Moabite king plays a desperate move from there.

 

Numbers 23:14  And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar.

 

Exodus 17:14  And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

 

Is the book of the wars of the Lord an earlier name for Moses’ writings? There is another book that we have trouble connecting with which I often wonder if it, too, is not the original name of the book in which it is found.

 

Joshua 10:13  And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

 

Other mysterious books mentioned and other names include;

 

1Samuel 10:25  Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

 

1Kings 11:41  And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

 

I don’t believe these are simply lost books but, and I am speculating here, the earliest names of the books we have. Just my conclusion. But, they could indeed be books that we have lost or combined into the ones we have, yet another argument against the much vaunted originals being the only thing given by inspiration with copies and translations being unimportant to God by comparison.

 

1Chronicles 29:29  Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,

 

2Chronicles 9:29  Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

 

2Chronicles 12:15  Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

 

2Chronicles 13:22  And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.