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.

9375. 'Nadab and Abihu' means teachings derived from both senses. This is clear from the fact that they were Aaron's sons; therefore when the Word is meant by 'Aaron', teachings are meant by 'his sons', teachings derived from the inward sense of the Word being meant by the older son, and teachings derived from the outward sense of it by the younger. Teachings derived from the inward sense of the Word and teachings derived from the outward sense of the Word make one with each other; for people alert to what lies on an inward level are aware also of what lies on an outward level. The Lord's Church exists everywhere on an inward level and on an outward level. The Church on an inward level resides in the heart, the Church on an outward level resides on the lips; that is, the inward Church resides in the will, the outward in action. When the inward level in a person makes one with the outward what resides in the heart then lies also on the lips, or what resides in the will then lies in action. Or what amounts to the same thing, what lies on the lips is then the heart speaking, and what lies in action is then the will acting, without any disagreement between the inward and the outward. Thus it is also faith speaking and love or charity acting, that is, it is the Lord, who is the Source of faith and charity, speaking and acting.

[2] Since Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, represented teachings derived from the Word, they were therefore killed when they introduced worship based on teachings different from those derived from the Word. This was represented by the following incident involving them, recorded in Moses,

Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his censer and put fire in it, onto which they placed incense, and in so doing offered to Jehovah foreign ¹ fire, which He had not commanded them. Therefore fire went out from before Jehovah and devoured them, so that they died before Jehovah. And Moses said to Aaron, This is what Jehovah spoke, saying, In those who are near Me ² I will be sanctified. Leviticus 10:1-3.

'Foreign fire in the censer' means teachings derived from a source other than the Word. For 'fire' means the good of love and 'incense' the truth of faith rising from it, and the good of love and the truth of faith are the realities which go to make teachings derived from the Word. From this it is evident why they were devoured by fire 'from before Jehovah'. 'Being sanctified through those who are near' means with those who are joined to the Lord through the good of love and the truth of faith derived from the Word. For the meaning of 'fire' as the good of heavenly love, see 934, 4906, 5071 (end), 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324, 7852, 9055; and the meaning of 'incense' as faith rising from the good of love will be shown elsewhere.

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