There’s a lot that believers don’t know about the bible. I know because I was once in the same category.
One of the biggest lies from organised religions is that the 66 books we find in the bible are all we need.
When we look at the canon, we can clearly see that it was put together by people that were not even Hebrews, this becomes very apparent when we read the books that were left out.
This fact alone destroys the credence of any so called canon. That being said the Book of Jasher is the topic here, and we are going to look at it’s relevance and how we can justify using it.
What Does Jasher Mean?
It’s always good to get an understanding of what words mean and the same is true for the book of Jasher.
The meaning of Jasher is from the he Hebrew “Yashar” and it means,
“Upright”, or “Righteous”.
The book is also called the “book of the upright”.
When you read it you will find this to be true because of the more intricate details it gives us of patriarchs, such as Moses, Nimrod, Esau and Jacob…
Where Is the Book Of Jasher Mentioned?
If you have been led by organised religion all your life, the very thought of the book of Jasher most likely sounds very foreign to you.
But the fact is, that it is mentioned in the scriptures twice…
Unfortunately, even with these mentions, there are still those that want to oppose this book, mainly due to ignorance and their resistance to change and repentance.
Here are scriptures that mention the book directly…
The first scripture:
Joshua 10:13
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.
The second scripture:
2 Samuel 1:18
18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
So in two places within the bible we see mention of the book of Jasher…
We will be looking at these two described instances in the the book of Jasher to prove its validity, like the scriptures tell us to do:
1 Thessalonians 5:21
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
The Origin Of The Book Of Jasher
As expressed previously there are those naysayers that dispute the validity of the book of Jasher, so we will be looking at the historical background of the book of Jasher.
Unfortunately the lack of belief in other scriptures has wrought a lot of confusion about which Book of Jasher to read, Yes I did say “which” Book of Jasher?…”
I say this because there are some fraudulent translations, and because of this many people just write of all versions as not useful, what ever that means…
The truth is the only real way to know if books are valid in the bible is to read the scriptures, as the scriptures tell us too,
2 Timothy 2:15
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
In short, Studying is the only true way to know if scriptures are valid.
History: Book Of Jasher Summary
Here’s some history about the book of Jasher…
The authentic version of the book of Jasher was presented in 1840, and sold to a New York Jewish publisher in 1887.
The name of the New York publisher was Mordecai Manuel Noah, apparently popular at the time.
The book was printed in 1887 by Hyrum Parry Printing Company of Salt Lake City after they obtained rights to the New York edition of 1840.
The book was then published in Utah…
The New York Sun published a notice in Nauvoo Illnois 1840 that announced the introduction of the book of Jasher, which you can see below:
The Book of Jasher
We shall shortly have a literary, or rather a Biblical curiosity, to present to the American reader, which we feel confident in predicting, will excite great interest among those who take pleasure in reading and studying the Scriptures. It is the Book of Jasher referred to in the Bible, in Joshua, and in the second book of Samuel, and which has been in the progress of translation from the Hebrew for several years in England, and is now completed, and will be published in a few days in this city. . . . It is full of interest, and written with a warmth of piety and sacred devotion, worthy of taking an equal rank with any of the missing books, not strictly canonical. It does not differ with the Bible in a single instance, but amplifies the events recorded in Scripture, with the single difference in chronology of some 50 years, by making Noah and Abraham contemporary—commencing with the creation of Adam, and ending with the death of Joshua. . . . The discovery of missing books referred to in the Scripture, and the many yet to be discovered, joined to the singular signs of the times in relation to the chosen people, give great interest to this and similar works.—This Book, which makes nearly three hundred pages, clears up some points somewhat obscure in the Bible, and is very full in detailing the events of the reign of Nimrod; the building of the Tower of Babel, and confusion of tongues; the causes preceding the destruction of the doomed cities; the sacrifice of Isaac and the life of Joseph; and has some curious facts about the deluge. Times and Seasons 1 (June 1840): 127
During the 18th century there were also fraudulent copies of the book of Jasher that were published, this is where a lot of confusion comes from.
The litmus test to authenticate the book of Jasher, as mentioned previously is really always going to be an individual study. Only when we do this can we see if it lines up with other scriptures.
I will be presenting scriptures and scenarios that do this very thing below:
Who Are Jannes And Jambres?
You may or may not of heard of these two men called Jannes and Jambres. If you haven’t this will be your introduction…
If you read the Epistles there is mention of these two rebellious men:
2 Timothy 3:8
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
…But who are Jannes and Jambres? We are told that they are two men who withstood Moses, meaning they were in opposition to Moses.
We find nowhere in any other scriptures the names of these two men, but if you look in the book of Jasher their identities are clearly revealed, aswell as how they opposed Moses.
Jasher 79:27-38
27 And when they had gone Pharaoh sent for Balaam the magician and to Jannes and Jambres his sons, and to all the magicians and conjurors and counsellors which belonged to the king, and they all came and sat before the king.
28 And the king told them all the words which Moses and his brother Aaron had spoken to him, and the magicians said to the king, But how came the men to thee, on account of the lions which were confined at the gate?
29 And the king said, Because they lifted up their rod against the lions and loosed them, and came to me, and the lions also rejoiced at them as a dog rejoices to meet his master.
30 And Balaam the son of Beor the magician answered the king, saying, These are none else than magicians like ourselves.
31 Now therefore send for them, and let them come and we will try them, and the king did so.
32 And in the morning Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron to come before the king, and they took the rod of God, and came to the king and spoke to him, saying,
33 Thus said the Lord God of the Hebrews, Send my people that they may serve me.
34 And the king said to them, But who will believe you that you are the messengers of God and that you come to me by his order?
35 Now therefore give a wonder or sign in this matter, and then the words which you speak will be believed.
36 And Aaron hastened and threw the rod out of his hand before Pharaoh and before his servants, and the rod turned into a serpent.
37 And the sorcerers saw this and they cast each man his rod upon the ground and they became serpents.
38 And the serpent of Aaron’s rod lifted up its head and opened its mouth to swallow the rods of the magicians.
He we see the whole story. Jannes and Jambres were the sons of Balaam, an Egyptian sorcerer.
Pharaoh called his top magicians to try and prove the miracles that Moses performed were nothing more than magic tricks and not from the Most High.
We see that Moses turned his rod into a snake and the magicians doing the same.
We then see Moses proving his power came from the Most High when his rod swallowed the rods of the magicians.
All of this information can only be found in the book of Jasher, without which we would have to speculate about what is said in 2 Timothy 3:8.
Book Of Jasher When The Sun Stood Still
If your studious you know about a time that the sun stood still. It is mentioned in
Joshua 10:13
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.
And in Joshua we are told that it is written in the book of Jasher.
This is important because it clearly shows us that the book of Jasher carried authority to the author of the Book of Joshua.
That means if we can find this event in the book of Jasher we have to give credence to the books validity.
Jasher 88:55-65
55 And when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem heard all that the children of Israel had done to Jericho and to Ai, he sent to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king at Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish and to Deber king of Eglon, saying,
56 Come up to me and help me, that we may smite the children of Israel and the inhabitants of Gibeon who have made peace with the children of Israel.
57 And they gathered themselves together and the five kings of the Amorites went up with all their camps, a mighty people numerous as the sand of the sea shore.
58 And all these kings came and encamped before Gibeon, and they began to fight against the inhabitants of Gibeon, and all the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua, saying, Come up quickly to us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites have gathered together to fight against us.
59 And Joshua and all the fighting people went up from Gilgal, and Joshua came suddenly to them, and smote these five kings with a great slaughter.
60 And the Lord confounded them before the children at Israel, who smote them with a terrible slaughter in Gibeon, and pursued them along the way that goes up to Beth Horon unto Makkedah, and they fled from before the children of Israel.
61 And whilst they were fleeing, the Lord sent upon them hailstones from heaven, and more of them died by the hailstones, than by the slaughter of the children of Israel.
62 And the children of Israel pursued them, and they still smote them in the road, going on and smiting them.
63 And when they were smiting, the day was declining toward evening, and Joshua said in the sight of all the people, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon, until the nation shall have revenged itself upon its enemies.
64 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Joshua, and the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and it stood still six and thirty moments, and the moon also stood still and hastened not to go down a whole day.
65 And there was no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.
Above you can see the event in question.
Jonathan asks the Most High to give him and Israel more time in battle against the Hamite armies.
The Most High obliges and we are told that the sun stood still for six moments and the Moon did not go down, until the battle was completed.
This certainly would have been a sight to behold.
Judah’s Use Of The Bow
We are told that the use of the bow was taught to a specific tribe amongst Israel.
Bow if you’re wondering? meaning the Bow and Arrow, or in modern terms Archery…
2 Samuel 1:8
18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
It is stated here that the book of Jasher explains this use of the bow, which again points to the book as authoritative.
When we read the book of Jasher this point is confirmed:
Jasher 56:8-9
8 And Jacob said unto Judah, I know my son that thou art a mighty man for thy brethren; reign over them, and thy sons shall reign over their sons forever.
9 Only teach thy sons the bow and all the weapons of war, in order that they may fight the battles of their brother who will rule over his enemies.
Here we see that Jacob tells Judah his son to only teach his sons the use of the “bow”, because as Jacob said Judah was a “mighty man”.
So this confirms what we are told in 2 Samuel 1:18.
Moses Midianite Not Ethiopian Wife
The book of Jasher also clears up a misunderstanding that many Christians have.
There is a preconceived notion that Aaron and Miriam were upset with Moses because of an Ethiopian woman that he married, which is true…
But, the problem is most people think that it was his current wife at the time Moses was leading Israel, who was Ethiopian…
The truth is the Ethiopian wife that was being referred to was a previous marriage Moses had with an Ethiopian queen.
This information is only found in the book of Jasher. It is also confirm by an Israelite writer of the times called Josephus and can be found in his writings, which supports the book of Jasher’s account of the aforementioned events.
For more information read the article: Moses Wife: Zipporah Or Tharbis (Adoniah)?
Conclusion
For those of you that never read these things, hopefully you’re seeing the reason why we must study for ourselves and not swallow what organisations give us.
The right book of Jasher is definitely a book that needs to be read. If it is left out, there are important things we wont understand, provided we want to understand more, that is.
We are told of the Most High’s completion of his promise to Abraham, which was to give his descendants Israel (Negroes, Native Americans, Hispanics and Latinos) the land of Canaan (called Israel today).
Shalom! and share this with someone that needs it.