[Bible Tales] Newsletter - Other Books

Published: Thu, 08/17/17

Hi ,

Have you ever read the Book of Jashar?  This week we have a background article that discusses the various books that are referred to in the Old Testament.

Just a reminder that Terror on Every Side! Volume 3 – Darkness Falling is now ready to start as an eBook serial commencing on Monday, 4 September.  For more details, look at the end of the newsletter.

Other Books
Have you ever noticed in the Bible that there are references to other books that are not included in the Bible?  From time to time, someone in our family will refer to “Waheb in Suphar and the valleys of the Arnon” – a rather quaint and attractive expression from Numbers 21:14 where it is said to come from “the Book of the Wars of the Lord”.  Unfortunately, this quaintness is missing from the KJV which says simply "What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon".

There are quite a few such books referred to in the Old Testament, and today we’ll look at them because I believe there is a connection between them and Jeremiah.

Let me show you why and then we can look at the books.  You will probably be surprised to see how many there are.

Jeremiah is traditionally thought likely to have been the author or compiler of the books of Kings.  If this is true, to achieve the task he would have needed access to notes and history which are not included in the Bible.  Some of these books that are mentioned in various parts of the Old Testament are listed here in somewhat chronological order:
  1. The Book of the Wars of the Lord (Numbers 21:14)
  2. The Book of Jashar (Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18)
  3. Book of land details (Joshua 18:9)
  4. Samuel’s book (1 Samuel 10:25)
  5. The Chronicles of Samuel the seer (1 Chronicles 29:29)
  6. The Chronicles of King David (1 Chronicles 27:24)
  7. The Chronicles of Gad the seer (1 Chronicles 29:29)
  8. The Chronicles of Nathan the prophet (1 Chronicles 29:29)
  9. The history of Nathan the prophet (2 Chronicles 9:29) (possibly the same as the previous one)
  10. The Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41)
  11. The prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite (2 Chronicles 9:29)
  12. The visions of Iddo the seer (2 Chronicles 9:29)
  13. The story of the prophet Iddo (2 Chronicles 13:22)
  14. The chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanani – “recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel" (2 Chronicles 20:34)
  15. The Story of the Book of the Kings (2 Chronicles 24:27)
  16. The Chronicles of the Seers (LXX) / The Chronicles of Hozai (Heb.) (2 Chronicles 33:19)
If you had the job of writing a book which contained all of the important information about the kings of Israel and Judah, these were the sorts of books you would have had to work with to find the information you needed to summarise.  If Jeremiah did write/compile the books of Kings, he would presumably have been familiar with these documents.

There are also other books referred to which may be the books we now have or other books:

  1. The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel (1 Kings 14:19; 15:31; 16:5, 14, 20, 27; 22:39; 2 Kings 1:18; 10:34; 13:8, 12; 14:15; 14:28; 15:11, 15, 21, 26,31)
  2. The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah (1 Kings 14:29; 15:7, 23; 22:45; 2 Kings 8:23; 12:19; 14:18; 15:6, 36; 16:19; 20:20; 21:17, 25; 23:28; 24:5)
  3. The Book of the Kings of Israel (1 Chronicles 9:1; (2 Chronicles 20:34: see earlier))
  4. The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah (2 Chronicles 16:11; 25:26; 27:7; 35:27; 36:8)
  5. The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel (2 Chronicles 28:26; 32:32)
In this list, entries 4 and 5 are probably the same.

Did you notice that the references to the books of the Chronicles all come from the books of Kings that we now have?  Despite that, it is believed that the books of Chronicles were not completed until well after the books of Kings.  However, the word “chronicles” is quite a popular title for books which present historical details of interest, so it does not necessarily refer to the books of Chronicles in the Bible.  In fact, I doubt that any of these references do so.

Not only that, but the references to the Book of the Kings of <somewhere> are all found in the books of Chronicles which are believed to have been written/compiled by Ezra, well after the time of Jeremiah.  They may refer to the books of Kings or to some other ancient records.  I suspect that they are probably different records with a lot more detail than any of the books we have.
Volume 3 – Darkness Falling
Early Days and As Good As It Gets were the first two volumes of a planned 5-part series called Terror on Every Side! – The Life of Jeremiah.

Now Volume 3 – Darkness Falling is ready for release as a weekly eBook serial:

"Slowly, Jehiel poured the oil from the container and a golden stream ran down onto Azariah’s head, coursing through his hair and across his forehead and cheeks, then slowly running down his beard and dripping unevenly to the floor, where it gathered in small clear puddles."

Darkness Falling takes up the story in the twentieth year of King Josiah and continues through the reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim.  Josiah's humble acceptance of God's laws is not felt by his sons and, once they take over, the nation recommences its moral freefall.

But what about Jeremiah?  And what about the individuals who did listen to Josiah and to the saving messages from God?

eBook serial

The eBook serialisation of this new volume is due to begin (God willing) early on Monday 4 September 2017 AEST, with subscribers being sent a new chapter every week (16 chapters).  For only $5 (AUD), you can walk awhile with Jeremiah at the start of each week.  As with Volumes 1 and 2, subscribers will also get special benefits including early access to paperback copies at very low prices.

Special Triple Offer

As a special offer, you can also sign up for the eBook serials of the last three volumes, Volume 3 – Darkness Falling, Volume 4 – The Darkness Deepens and Volume 5 – No Remedy for only $11 (AUD) so that, as each new volume is released as a serial, you will automatically receive it – and save 27% as well.

To sign up...

To sign up, simply visit one of the links above and purchase as usual through the website, or reply to this email telling me what you want and how you prefer to pay (through PayPal or POLi).

Existing subscribers

For those subscribers who have already signed up for the eBook serials for the rest of the series, I have just sent you an email confirming this.  If you think that you have subscribed for the eBook serials for the rest of Terror on Every Side!, please let me know.

Anybody else?

If you believe that anyone else you know would like to receive this serial, please forward this email to them.
 
Publishing progress...

Fiction Favours the Facts is now undergoing final editing and preparation for publishing.  If the Lord is willing, it will be released later this month or possibly in early September in paperback, eBook and audiobook formats.  For all who have ordered copies, we will get them to you as soon as possible.  Thank you for your support.


May the Lord bless you and keep you all.
 
 
Mark Morgan