The Five Books of Moses

The Five Books of

MosesPutting Together

the Pieces of Our

Faith

Livingston church of Christ 639 2nd Street Livingston, CA 95334

www.livingstoncoc.wordpress.com

http://www.livingstoncoc.wordpress.com/

The Five Books of Moses

• Name

• Torah

• The Hebrews regarded the first five books as the torah, a word that means “law, instruction, or teaching”.

• Pentateuch

• With the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, these books were re-titled, pentateuch. It refers to the five (penta) scrolls (teuchos) of Moses.


• Authorship

• Since very early times, Moses has been regarded as the author of these five books.

• Jesus believed Moses authored these books (Mark 7.10, 12.26; John 5.46-47).

• Criticism

• Some have challenged the idea that Moses wrote these books.

• Challenges have been answered, but continued to be used (see Lyons and Smith).


• Content

• It contains a wide variety of literary material – narratives, laws, ritual instructions, sermons, genealogies, poetry.

• The story is in three sections

• The beginning of God-man relations.

• The generations of the patriarchs:

• Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

• The ministry of Moses.


• Four Major Themes

1. ElectionAbraham (Gen. 12) as a father of a great nation, and ancestor through the promised “seed” will bless all nations. The Nation, the Hebrew people, and Jesus (Gal. 3.16-29).

2. CovenantGod makes covenant with Abraham, and finally with Israel. It was based on God’s initiation (Exod. 6.7), on God’s promise to reveal himself (Exod. 20.2), and on God’s moral and religious demands (Exod. 20.8, Leviticus).


• Four Major Themes (cont.)

3. LawThe idea of law is central to the books of Moses, as can be seen as the name “Law” is used for these books (Exod. 21-23, Lev. 17-26, Deut. 12-26).

4. ExodusAs a historical event, the Exodus defined the nation of Israel. God was their savior, the Law was their covenant, and their identity as a special people was created (Deut. 6.12).

Resources• Geisler, Norman L. 1977. A Popular Survey of the

Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2000.

• Jackson, Jason. “The Pentateuch: The Cornerstone of Scripture.” ChristianCourier.com. Accessed: March 2011.

• Jackson, Wayne. “Tora! Tora! . . . Torah!” ChristianCourier.com. Accessed: March 2011.

• Lyons, Eric, and Zach Smith. 2003. “Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch – Tried and True.” Reason and Revelation 23.1 (January): 1-6.

• Powell, David. 1999. “The Law of Moses.” Spiritual Sword 30.4 (July): 2-6.

• Taylor, John. 1992. “The Five Books.” Eerdmans Handbook to the Bible. Edited by David Alexander and Pat Alexander. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.

The Book of Genesis

• Name

• Hebrew people used the first words of Genesis for their title for it “bereshith”, meaning “in the beginning” (Gen. 1.1).

• Genesis is a Greek translation of a phrase from Genesis 2.4: “biblos geneseus”. It means “book of generation”.

• Purpose

• To give the earliest basic story of how God deals with man (1-11), ending with Israel arriving in Egypt (12-50).

• Key Phrase

• Beginnings



• Jackson, Wayne. 1975. “The Gist of Genesis.” Gospel Advocate 117.22 (May 29): 340-41.

• Meader, Prentice A., Jr. 2005. “Preaching from Genesis (One Man’s Way of Working).” BibleCourses.com. 2005. Accessed: March 2011.


• Rutherford, Rod. No date. Survey of the Old Testament. Olive Branch, Miss.: Rutherford Publications.

• Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures. 1985. New Jerusalem Publication Society Translation. Philadelphia, Penn.: Jewish Publication Society.

The Book of Exodus

• Name

• Hebrew people used the first words of Exodus for their title for it: “ve’eleh shemoth” = “these are the names” (Exod. 1.1).

• Exodus is a Greek compound word (ek, out of, and hodos, road/way), meaning “the way out” or “the departure”.

• Purpose

• To describe how the Hebrews came into a covenant relationship with God at Sinai (15-40), by deliverance from Egyptian Bondage (1-14).

• Key Phrase

• Departure.




• Roper, David. 1999. “Exodus: The Book of Going.” BibleCourses.com. Accessed: March 2011.


• Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures. 1985. New Jerusalem Publication Society Translation. Philadelphia, Penn.: Jewish Publication Society.

The Book of Leviticus

• Name

• Hebrew people used the first words of Leviticus: “wayyagra” = “and he called” (Lev. 1.1).

• Leviticus is from the Greek title Levitikon, and means, “that which pertains to the Levites”.

• Purpose

• Leviticus 19.2: “Speak to the whole of Israel community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.”

• Key Phrase

• Holiness.

Resources• Cloer, Eddie. 1983. “Leviticus – A Brief Survey.”

BibleCourses.com. Accessed: March 2011.

• Geisler, Norman L. 1977. A Popular Survey of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2000.


• Roper, David. 1999. “Leviticus: The Priest’s Handbook.” BibleCourses.com. Accessed: March 2011.


• Tarbet, Max. 1998.“Leviticus – Introduction.” BibleCourses.com. Accessed: March 2011.

The Book of Numbers

• Name

• Hebrew people called it “bemidbar”, taken from the fifth word in Numbers 1.1, “in the wilderness ” of Sinai.

• The Greek translation designates the book as “arithmoi”(“numbers”), referring to the two times the Israelite military was numbered (1, 26).

• Purpose

• It narrates Israel’s journeys in the wilderness after leaving Mount Sinai.

• Key Phrase

• Wilderness Wanderings.




• Roper, David. 1999. “Numbers: Census Report in the Wilderness.” BibleCourses.com. Accessed: March 2011.


The Book of Deuteronomy

• Name

• The Hebrew title for this book is “devarim”, meaning “words” (Deut. 1.1). The words of the farewell discourses of Moses.

• The Greek title “deuteronomos” is a mistranslation of the phrase “a copy of this law” (Deut. 17.18) as “this second law.”

• Purpose

• To prepare Israel for entering into Canaan as the chosen nation of God. Preparation is given by four discourses of Moses where he rehearses Israel’s history and the Law.

• Key Phrase

• Discourses.





• Spraggins, Felton. 2004. “Deuteronomy – Choose Life that you May Live and Love.” BibleCourses.com. Accessed: March 2011.

A Concluding Word

“The Pentateuch forms the introduction of God’s revealed plan for man’s redemption. From Genesis through Deuteronomy, the foundation is laid for the reader to understand the relation of God to man, the problem of sin, the development of God’s plan in Israel, and the redemptive wisdom of God which he has made known through the church (Eph. 3:9-11). The importance of this body of divine literature is embodied in those words of Jesus to his Jewish kinsmen, “For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me” (Jn. 5:46).”

Jason Jackson

“The Pentateuch: The Cornerstone of Scripture”

www.ChristianCourier.com

http://www.christiancourier.com/

Documents

The Five Books of Moses