14That is why the Book of the Wars of the Lord says: “…Waheb in Suphah and the ravines, the Arnon”
It would be foolish to not realize that there were other books written during that timeframe, some history, some poetry, and some of the ordinary affairs of life. And only a few of those books are Scripture. God only inspired, breathed His Life into, those we have in the Bible. Here the writer, Moses, quotes from one of those other books to illustrate the region called the Arnon. It is probable that by the time he wrote it, the memory of the Arnon had already begun to fade. When you drive out in the country and as for directions from the older generations you will get directions like, “drive past where the old Smith barn used to be, past Lightening tree, and you will see where the old stone quarry was. Turn just before that.” Directions are given according to past events that are grounded in history. But when the history fades, those directions become almost meaningless. We don’t have any copies of this “Book of the Wars of the Lord” that have survived. They were not thought important enough to preserve. They were recognized as human books, so there was no effort to preserve them. By contrast, the Scriptures were recognized by the people as being from God and therefore carefully preserved and cherished. We also read about poetry in this chapter and the same applies. They were human writings and therefore not considered important to preserve.
The Arnold Journey 