103. We can tell from the books of Moses that there was a Word among the ancients because he mentioned it and excerpted from it (Numbers 21:14-15, 27-30). We can tell that the narrative portions of that Word were called “The Wars of Jehovah, ” and that the prophetic portions were called “Pronouncements.” Moses quoted the following from the historical narratives of that Word:

Therefore it says in The Book of the Wars of Jehovah, “Waheb in Suphah and the rivers Arnon, a watercourse of rivers that goes down to [where] Ar is inhabited and rests along the border of Moab.” (Numbers 21:14-15)

In that Word as in ours, the wars of Jehovah were understood to be, and served to describe in detail, the Lord’s battles against hell and his victories over it when he would come into the world. These same battles are meant and described time after time in the historical narratives of our Word - in Joshua’s battles against the nations of the land of Canaan, for example, and in the wars of the judges and the kings of Israel.

[2] Moses quoted the following from the prophetic portions of that Word:

Therefore those who make pronouncements say, “Come to Heshbon! The city of Sihon will be built up and fortified, because fire has gone out from Heshbon, flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, those who occupy the heights of Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, people of Chemosh; he has made his sons fugitives and sent his daughters into captivity to Sihon, king of the Amorites. With arrows we have dealt with them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon, and we have spread destruction as far as Nophah, which extends to Medeba.” (Numbers 21:27-30)

Translators change [the title of] this to “Composers of Proverbs, ” but it should be called “Makers of Pronouncements” or “Prophetic Pronouncements, ” as we can tell from the meaning of the word moschalim in Hebrew. It means not only proverbs but also prophetic utterances, as in Numbers 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15 where it says that Balaam gave forth his pronouncement, which was actually a prophetic utterance and was about the Lord. In these instances each of his pronouncements is called a mashal in the singular. There is also the fact that what Moses quoted from this source are not proverbs but prophecies.

[3] We can see that this Word was similarly divine or divinely inspired from a passage in Jeremiah where we find almost the same words:

A fire has gone out from Heshbon and a flame from the midst of Sihon, which has devoured the corner of Moab and the top of the children of tumult. Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished, for your sons have been carried off into captivity and your daughters into captivity. (Jeremiah 48:45-46)

Further, both David and Joshua mention another prophetic book of the former Word, The Book of Jasher or The Book of the Righteous One. Here is where David mentions it:

David lamented over Saul and over Jonathan and wrote, “‘To Teach the Children of Judah the Bow.’ (You will find this written in The Book of Jasher.)” (2 Samuel 1:17-18)

Here is where Joshua mentions it:

Joshua said, “‘Come to rest, O sun, in Gibeon; and, O moon, in the valley of Aijalon.’ Is this not written in The Book of Jasher?” (Joshua 10:12-13)

Then too, I have been told that the first seven chapters of Genesis are right there in that ancient Word, so that not the slightest word is missing.

6335. 'And Jacob called his sons' means organizing the truths of faith and the forms of the good of love in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling' as arranging into order, for the reason why they were called together was so that the truths of faith and the forms of the good of charity might be set forth in that organized arrangement; and from the representation of 'Jacob' and 'his sons' as the truths of faith and the forms of the good of love in the natural, 'Jacob' being those truths and forms of good in general, see 3509, 3525, 3546, 3659, 3669, 3677, 3775, 3829, 4234, 4273, 4777, 5506, 5533, 5535, 6001, 6236, and 'his sons', or the tribes named after them, those truths and forms of good in particular, 3858, 3926, 3939, 4060. With regard to this organization of the truths of faith and the forms of the good of love that is meant here and is set forth in the internal sense of this chapter, it should be recognized that the twelve tribes of Israel represented in general all truths and forms of good in their entirety, thus all the truths and forms of good which come forth from the Lord, therefore those which exist in heaven and from which heaven exists. And since all in general are represented, so is each one specifically; for classes in general include all members specifically, just as general wholes do their individual parts.

[2] Forms of good and the truths deriving from them are what determine the varying intensity of light in heaven; and that varying intensity of light is what determines the varying states of intelligence and wisdom. This was how it came about that light glittered and flashed through the Urim and Thummim, doing so in varying ways in keeping with the state of the matter about which questions were being asked. This took place because the twelve tribes, by whom all truths and forms of good in general were meant, were designated in the breastplate or Urim and Thummim; for each precious stone stood for one particular tribe. The reason why they were precious stones was that spiritual and celestial truths are meant by them, 114, 3720, and good is meant by the 'gold' into which they had been set, ¹ 113, 1551, 1552, 5658. This arcanum is what was meant by the Urim and Thummim.

[3] The fact that the twelve tribes meant such things is evident from places in the Word where they are mentioned by name, in particular from the inheritances of the tribes in the land of Canaan, which are dealt with in Joshua, and from their inheritances in the Lord's kingdom, which are dealt with in Ezekiel - in the final chapters, in which a new land, a new Jerusalem, and a new temple are described - and also in Revelation 7:4-8. That the twelve tribes meant such things is also evident from the order in which they were arranged when they pitched camp in the wilderness, an order which was such that it represented truths and forms of good in their right and proper order. This was the origin of the prophetic utterance made by Balaam,

When Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, the Spirit of God came upon him and he delivered an utterance, and said, How good are your tabernacles, O Jacob; your dwelling-places, O Israel! Like valleys they are planted, like gardens beside a river, like aloes Jehovah has planted, like cedars beside the waters. Numbers 24:2-3, 5-6.

See also what has been shown regarding the tribes and organized arrangements of them in 2129, 3858, 3862, 3926, 3979, 4060, 4603.

Bilješke: