We all know about the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea, and even receiving the Ten Commandments. But what about the nitty-gritty details of setting up their new life, their new relationship with God? The Book of Jasher offers a fascinating glimpse into that pivotal time.
Chapter 83 dives right in. It's the 23rd day of the twelfth month, and Moses is hard at work. He's dressing Aaron and his sons in their priestly garments, anointing them, and performing all the rituals that God commanded. For seven days, they're stationed at the door of the mishkan, the tabernacle, following instructions to the letter.
Then comes a huge moment. On the first day of the first month, in the second year after leaving Egypt, the sanctuary is erected! Moses sets up all the furniture, meticulously arranging everything as God instructed. This is a big deal – a tangible sign of God’s presence among them.
But almost immediately, tragedy strikes. Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, offer "strange fire" before the Lord – fire that He hadn't commanded. And a fire comes forth and consumes them. It's a stark reminder of the seriousness of this new covenant.
After this somber event, the princes of Israel begin bringing their offerings for the dedication of the altar. Each prince offers for one day, over twelve days. The offerings are precisely described – silver chargers, silver bowls, gold spoons filled with incense, bullocks, rams, lambs, and goats. It's a meticulously orchestrated display of devotion.
Then, on the thirteenth day of the month, Moses commands the observance of Pesach (Passover), Passover. They celebrate it on the fourteenth, just as God commanded. It's another important step in solidifying their identity and remembering their liberation.
The Book of Jasher then shifts gears. In the second month, God commands Moses to number the people. A census is taken – all the males from twenty years old and upward are counted. The Levites are counted separately. We get a sense of the sheer scale of this nation on the move.
Things seem to be settling. The mishkan is built, the priesthood established, the people counted. But the journey is far from over. The cloud, which guides them, lifts from the tabernacle, and they set off from the wilderness of Sinai.
Soon, trouble brews. The people complain about the lack of meat, provoking God's anger. He gives them meat for a month, but then strikes them with a great slaughter. The place is named Kibroth Hattaavah – "graves of craving" – a chilling reminder of the consequences of their discontent.
From there, they travel to Hazeroth. And even within Moses's own family, discord arises. Miriam speaks against Moses, and she's struck with leprosy, becoming "white as snow." She's confined outside the camp for seven days, until she's healed. Even those closest to God are not immune to the consequences of their actions.
Finally, they arrive at the edge of the wilderness of Paran. God commands Moses to send twelve men, one from each tribe, to explore the land of Canaan. They search the land for forty days and return. Ten of the men bring back an evil report, saying the land is too dangerous, that it "consumes its inhabitants."
But Joshua and Caleb see things differently. "The land is exceedingly good," they declare. "If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us to this land and give it to us, for it is a land flowing with milk and honey."
But the people listen to the ten who spread fear. God hears their murmurings and is angered. He swears that none of that generation, except for Caleb and Joshua, will see the Promised Land. They will wander in the wilderness for forty years, until that generation dies out.
And so, the chapter ends with the Israelites dwelling in the wilderness of Paran, their future uncertain, their journey far from over.
What strikes me most about this chapter is the constant tension between divine promise and human failing. The meticulous detail of the rituals, the census, the offerings – it all speaks to a desire for order, for connection with God. But then, almost immediately, comes the complaining, the disobedience, the doubt. It's a very human story, isn't it? Even when faced with the miraculous, with the very presence of God, we still struggle with our own limitations, our own fears. And perhaps that's the most enduring lesson of all.
Sacred-texts Apocrypha Index Previous Next Book of Jasher, Chapter 83 1 And in the twelfth month, in the twenty-third day of the month, Moses took Aaron and his sons, and he dressed them in their garments, and anointed them and did unto them as the Lord had commanded him, and Moses brought up all the offerings which the Lord had on that day commanded him. 2 Moses afterward took Aaron and his sons and said to them, For seven days shall you remain at the door of the tabernacle, for thus am I commanded. 3 And Aaron and his sons did all that the Lord had commanded them through Moses, and they remained for seven days at the door of the tabernacle. 4 And on the eighth day, being the first day of the first month, in the second year from the Israelites' departure from Egypt, Moses erected the sanctuary, and Moses put up all the furniture of the tabernacle and all the furniture of the sanctuary, and he did all that the Lord had commanded him. 5 And Moses called to Aaron and his sons, and they brought the burnt offering and the sin offering for themselves and the children of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 6 On that day the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, took strange fire and brought it before the Lord who had not commanded them, and a fire went forth from before the Lord, and consumed them, and they died before the Lord on that day. 7 Then on the day when Moses had completed to erect the sanctuary, the princes of the children of Israel began to bring their offerings before the Lord for the dedication of the altar. 8 And they brought up their offerings each prince for one day, a prince each day for twelve days. 9 And all the offerings which they brought, each man in his day, one silver charger weighing one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour, mingled with oil for a meat offering. 10 One spoon, weighing ten shekels of gold, full of incense. 11 One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year for a burnt offering. 12 And one kid of the goats for a sin offering. 13 And for a sacrifice of peace offering, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs of a year old. 14 Thus did the twelve princes of Israel day by day, each man in his day. 15 And it was after this, in the thirteenth day of the month, that Moses commanded the children of Israel to observe the Passover. 16 And the children of Israel kept the Passover in its season in the fourteenth day of the month, as the Lord had commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. 17 And in the second month, on the first day thereof, the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, 18 Number the heads of all the males of the children of Israel from twenty years old and upward, thou and thy brother Aaron and the twelve princes of Israel. 19 And Moses did so, and Aaron came with the twelve princes of Israel, and they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 20 And the numbers of the children of Israel by the houses of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, were six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty. 21 But the children of Levi were not numbered amongst their brethren the children of Israel. 22 And the number of all the males of the children of Israel from one month old and upward, was twenty-two thousand, two hundred and seventy-three. 23 And the number of the children of Levi from one month old and above, was twenty-two thousand. 24 And Moses placed the priests and the Levites each man to his service and to his burden to serve the sanctuary of the tabernacle, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 25 And on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken away from the tabernacle of testimony. 26 At that time the children of Israel continued their journey from the wilderness of Sinai, and they took a journey of three days, and the cloud rested upon the wilderness of Paran; there the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, for they had provoked the Lord in asking him for meat, that they might eat. 27 And the Lord hearkened to their voice, and gave them meat which they ate for one month. 28 But after this the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he smote them with a great slaughter, and they were buried there in that place. 29 And the children of Israel called that place Kebroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people that lusted flesh. 30 And they departed from Kebroth Hattaavah and pitched in Hazeroth, which is in the wilderness of Paran. 31 And whilst the children of Israel were in Hazeroth, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Miriam on account of Moses, and she became leprous, white as snow. 32 And she was confined without the camp for seven days, until she had been received again after her leprosy. 33 The children of Israel afterward departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the end of the wilderness of Paran. 34 At that time, the Lord spoke to Moses to send twelve men from the children of Israel, one man to a tribe, to go and explore the land of Canaan. 35 And Moses sent the twelve men, and they came to the land of Canaan to search and examine it, and they explored the whole land from the wilderness of Sin to Rechob as thou comest to Chamoth. 36 And at the end of forty days they came to Moses and Aaron, and they brought him word as it was in their hearts, and ten of the men brought up an evil report to the children of Israel, of the land which they had explored, saying, It is better for us to return to Egypt than to go to this land, a land that consumes its inhabitants. 37 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephuneh, who were of those that explored the land, said, The land is exceedingly good. 38 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us to this land and give it to us, for it is a land flowing with milk and honey. 39 But the children of Israel would not hearken to them, and they hearkened to the words of the ten men who had brought up an evil report of the land. 40 And the Lord heard the murmurings of the children of Israel and he was angry and swore, saying, 41 Surely not one man of this wicked generation shall see the land from twenty years old and upward excepting Caleb the son of Jephuneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 42 But surely this wicked generation shall perish in this wilderness, and their children shall come to the land and they shall possess it; so the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the end of that wicked generation, because they did not follow the Lord. 43 And the people dwelt in the wilderness of Paran a long time, and they afterward proceeded to the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. 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