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Introduction to the Bible Moses writes the Pentateuch
Derrick Harrison 04/11/2020
Moses writes the Pentateuch This talk is a preparation for a survey of Moses’ 5 books called the Pentateuch - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. A question often asked is to what extent Moses is the author of these 5 books? I will show you that Moses authored these books based on the revelation that God gave to him in Ex.ch.3 and ch.6 which was embodied in the Shema, Deut.6:4. The autobiography of Moses is one of the best documented lives in the Bible. The infant Moses had been miraculously delivered as an infant from murder and then drowning in the river Nile and was adopted by a royal princess of Pharaoh’s family in Egypt. For 40 years he lived in the royal palace and thus he received the best education possible, “Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:21-22). There is so much in this verse regarding training and education, much of which he would pass on to his servant Joshua who was the military commander who led the Israelites into Canaan. In Egypt he learned to be a royal prince where he was prepared for high office in government. After killing an Egyptian slave-taskmaster; he fled from Egypt and ended up with Jethro in Midian and spends a further 40 years in exile in the wilderness, in obscurity and insignificance, tending sheep in solitude, learning to be a nobody but also learning the values of family life and appreciating the basic simplicities of life. It was here that the highly gifted and educated of men learned humility and meekness, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Num.12:3). His experience of God became rich and deep, God testifying to his intimacy. New Life Radio – Talk No 4
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“My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the Lord” (Num.12:7-8). Moses’ spirituality gives authenticity to his words in the estimation of men and women, by spirituality I mean the consistent life he lived in fellowship with the LORD. The power of his anointing depended entirely on God. What a happy situation it is when there is consistency between a person’s godliness and the fact that he is God’s mouthpiece. Scripture is formed by God speaking His authoritative words to men and through men. God also speaks revelatory words – before Moses takes up his pen to write God reveals to him His name LORD. He both speaks and reveals His unique and holy Name, no one had ever heard God speak forth His Name before this awesome occasion. 1. God reveals His name (Ex.3:11-18; 6:1-8; - Deut.6:4-5) The second period of Moses’ life comes to an end when God appeared to him at the burning bush, calling him and commissioning him to return to Egypt and rescue His people from slavery. Moses was opposed to this and sought to find every reason for not going, his final objection is expressed in the following verse and is followed by the revelation of God’s name as LORD/Jehovah – the power of the name LORD will be demonstrated in the powerful judgments, known as the “ten plagues.”
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“Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.” Moreover, God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations” (Ex.3:13-15). “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” “And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them” (Ex.6:1-3). These verses from ch.3 and ch.6 link directly to the Shema in Deut.4. It is clear from the last reference that prior to the revelation given to Moses, God was known as “God Almighty” (Gen.17:1) to the patriarchs but now He will be known as LORD with regards to the Exodus and the deliverance at the Red Sea. This most crucial revelation is the foundational truth of the Bible on which every other truth is built. It is formally declared in the Shema,
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“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut.6:4-5). The truth that God is one is the most important doctrine of the OT and precedes the further revelation that God is three persons (triune) which will come to clarity with the coming of Jesus the second Person in the trinity and then the coming of the Holy Spirit the third person in the trinity. This revelation underpins Moses’ writings, imparting to them authority, unity and the stamp of God. In Exodus ch.3 and ch.6 the Lord gives to Moses the revelation of His Name which is embodied in the statement of the Shema. The Shema comes in the last book of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy, where Moses retells the story of Israel’s history and shares his reflections on that story. He re-states all his instructions given at Sinai when he built the tabernacle, established the law, the priesthood and sacrificial system in Israel. If one is studying Moses as a great leader, he demonstrates in Deuteronomy his ability to impart vision, to inspire Israel to rise up and conquer Canaan. At the same time, he re-states the commandments and the institutions which are the foundation of the nation under God. 2. God manifests the power of His name (6:6; 7:4-5; 8:10, 22; 9:14, 29; 11:9) The words of the LORD to Moses in Ex.ch.6 are words of great power, emphasising that Scripture is firstly a spoken word before it is a written word, “Therefore, say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I New Life Radio – Talk No 4
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will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments” (Ex.6:6). “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD” (Ex.12:12). Notice that in both these references the name of the LORD is directly associated with powerful judgments. Similarly, the Word of the LORD spoken by Jesus was irresistibly powerful when He confronted demons and sickness, “Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out” (Lk.4:36). Similarly, the words of Paul were spoken in power which he attributes to the Holy Spirit, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1Cor.2:4). The revelation of the LORD’S Name was timely and strategic, Moses will take the name of the LORD into Egypt and wielding its authority will bring about 10 plagues which will undermine the economy and infra-structure of Egypt. He was called to lead the Israelites out from slavery in Egypt, yet he had been a prince in Egypt! 3. God declares His name (Ex.33:16-23; 34:4-9)
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The two periods of 40 days on the mountain (Ex.24:28) had a profound effect on Moses, even his flesh radiated God’s glory. As he emerged from this prolonged time with the LORD, he was possessed by a deep desire to see the face of God, - “show me Your glory” he cried. However, the Lord said to him, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (Deut.32:20), but you may see Me from behind as I depart. In ch.34 we see what happened to Moses, “Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” So, Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped” (Deut.34:5-8). This experience must be put alongside his two previous encounters with the LORD (3:11-15; 6:1-8), when he heard the LORD revealing the meaning of His Name. Now the LORD came and stood with him there, and proclaimed His Name. Why did the LORD stand so close to him? for the same reason Jesus inclined His face to each of His disciples and breathed into them the Holy Spirit (Jn.20:22). Moses does not only hear the LORD’S Name as he did on the 2 previous occasions, but now the LORD proclaims His Name, it invades his entire being, the name
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reverberates through his soul and body, like a mighty gushing torrent of water,1 this is his baptism into the name of the LORD. I think of Charles Finney description of his experience of the baptism in the Spirit, “the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love; for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings!” Evan Roberts, the leader of the Welsh Revival in 1904 described his experience, “I felt a living power pervading my bosom. It took my breath away and my legs trembled exceedingly. This living power became stronger and stronger as each one prayed, until I felt it would tear me apart. My whole bosom was a turmoil and if I had not prayed it would have burst…. I fell on my knees with my arms over the seat in front of me. My face was bathed in perspiration, and the tears flowed in streams. I cried out “Bend me, bend me!!” It was God’s commending love which bent me… what a wave of peace flooded my bosom…. I was filled with compassion for those who must bend at the judgement, and I wept. Following that, the salvation of the human soul was solemnly impressed on me. I felt ablaze with the desire to go through the length and breadth of Wales to tell of the saviour.” Both these men were very powerful revivalists and both described this experience of God invading their soul and body with rivers of living water – rivers of power Finney described this experience as waves and waves of “liquid power” and “liquid love” and Roberts speaks of “living 1
“I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder” (Rev.14:2).
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power” which had invaded his bosom, which increased more and more in strength as people prayed. O Breath of life, come sweeping through us, revive your church with life and pow'r; O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us, and fit your church to meet this hour. O Wind of God, come bend us, break us, till humbly we confess our need; then in your tenderness remake us, revive, restore, for this we plead. O Breath of love, come breathe within us, renewing thought and will and heart; come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us, revive your church in ev'ry part. Porter Head (1850-1936)
Bessie
Moses would soon face 40 years of leading a rebellious nation through the wilderness and he could only do this by the enablement of the Holy Spirit. He had proved the power of God’s name in the 10 judgments/plagues on Egypt and now he would face defeat, discouragement and isolation in the wilderness, depending on the inward resources of God’s Spirit. His spiritual life was nourished by living in continual fellowship with the LORD (Num.12:7-8). Moses received the commandments and laws while he was on the mountain and then he had the responsibility of implementing them. Similarly, the prophets who received the word of the LORD had to speak it forth and face the consequences. The plans of the tabernacle, the instructions for the sacrifices, the training of the priests to New Life Radio – Talk No 4
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correctly execute the sacrifices (Leviticus) had to be implemented. Moses was also a law-maker, he loved the detail of those laws and he was diligent and tireless in applying them. He was extremely wise in judging individual cases which came to him daily (he established the role of the judge in Israel which became one of the essential responsibilities of the priesthood and later the kings). In Numbers, the children of Israel have journeyed from Sinai and Moses (according to the LORD’S direction) sent out 12 spies to reconnoitre the land of Canaan. The outcome was that 10 of the 12 spies incited Israel to rebel against Moses and they refused to enter the Promised Land which resulted in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Even a great leader like Moses was defeated and even his life was threatened. The key word in Numbers is rebellion with its immediate judgments (compare the 10 judgments on Egypt executed by the power of God). Deuteronomy is an amazing book – an autobiography of Moses (this is incidental) which resulted from his retelling Israel’s history to a second generation of Israelites, whom he is preparing to enter the Promise Land. He also gives his personal comments on events as he retells them. His love for the law and his understanding of its central place among the people of God is re-affirmed. He was preparing his people for living in Canaan and the re-establishment of worship there. The Mosaic institutions were embodied in the tabernacle which was dismantled for transportation and was not set up again for a long time afterwards. The period of the Judges is proof of Israel’s rejection of Mosaic worship. The period of conquest demanded all their energies and their settlement of the land demonstrated their failing strength.
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Deuteronomy demonstrates Moses amazing leadership – his ability to impart vision and thus inspire the entire nation to rise up and conquer the land. He embodied the values he propounded (authentic leadership) – the law of God, its precepts and legislation he had so skilfully and wisely applied to their lives. The law governed their lives, their institutions and formed their culture, unfortunately the wars of conquest would undermine all this and the fact was that Moses had been the man of God who made it all work. The LORD refused Moses’ request to enter the Promise Land which would have been the crowning event of his leadership of Israel from Egypt to Canaan. He had been overcome by the spirit of anger which possessed the nation. He snapped, and was overcome with anger against the rebels in the camp (Num.20:10-13). He had been commanded by God to speak to the rock, but momentarily overcome with anger he struck the rock which was a type of Christ in His crucifixion. He pleaded with the LORD to relent but to no avail. He was allowed to view the Promised Land and then he died before the LORD. He went immediately to a heavenly land flowing with milk and honey! 4. Moses writes Scripture Several times it is recorded that Moses wrote. Before this we read that God wrote with His own finger the commandments on the tables of stone (Ex.24:12; 34:1) and that He also spoke the commandments (Ex.20:1-). There is clear internal evidence that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly
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blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven” (Ex.17:14). “And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel” (Ex.24:4) “So, he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the [Ten Commandments” (v28). See further references to Moses writing in Deut.4:13, 5:22; 9:10; 10:2, 4; and 27:3, 8. The final reference to writing comes at the end of Deuteronomy where we read that he concluded his instructions to the Israelites by teaching them a song which he wrote down for them to learn, (Deut.31:19, 22, 24, also v9). Joshua also wrote (8:32; 24:26) and later the prophets (Isa.30:8; Jer.30:2; 36:2, 17, 28). We read that Daniel understood Jeremiah’s prophecy regarding Israel’s 70 years captivity by reading rather than by direct revelation, “In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem” (Dan.9:2). Moses also received instructions and plans of the tabernacle by vision, the LORD showed him the details of the tabernacle pictorially. The LORD instructed Moses to make the tabernacle according to the pattern He had shown (visually) him,
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“And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it” (Ex.25:8-9, 40; 26:30). When Moses was called by God, he received the revelation of God’s name and yet we meet this same name LORD at the beginning of Genesis in the account of creation in Gen.ch.2. At first sight this would appear as a contradiction, but in actual fact it proves Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch. The name of the “LORD,” was given to him at the strategic time of his call. It also defined his ministry, as the LORD instructed him to declare His powerful name before the gods of Egypt, the intransigence of Pharaoh’s heart and later the rebellion of Israel against the LORD and His servant Moses. When Moses obeys the LORD’S command to write, God will now be known as the LORD from the creation of the world. In Genesis the name of the LORD appears in the second account of creation: (Gen.2:4, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 3:1, 8, 9, 14, 22, 23). Bible translators write: “LORD” for the Hebrew consonants JHVH and the older translations also transliterated the Hebrew letters JHVH with English vowels added, resulting in the name “Jehovah.” Later scholars from Germany suggested that the Hebrew consonants should be YHVH and therefore, by adding the vowels we should now read “Yahweh.” Only Moses had the correct answer to this because he alone heard God pronounce His own name. Only Moses could have used the Name of LORD/Jehovah at the beginning of Genesis. It is a fact that four of the greatest leaders in the Bible contribute significantly to the writing of Scripture – Moses, David, Jesus and Paul. Jesus did not write Scripture but He is called the WORD because He New Life Radio – Talk No 4
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exactly and fully manifests God to men and women – in His life, words and actions. Four Gospels focus on Him, His life and His teaching. Not only did these key leaders write Scripture but they are also the subject of Scripture. This is not by accident, the work of God progresses when the character of men compliments the character of God, when there is a wonderful compatibility between God and His herald. With Jesus and Father there was a perfect union of hearts. The word of God must be spoken through sanctified lips and embodied in human personality. The preacher and the writer must be the embodiment of their message. We are now ready at last to explore the writings of Moses who was the great prophet, an antitype of the prophet Christ, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear” (Deut.18:15).
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