Traditional approaches to this question acknowledge that Moses did not write the entirety of the Pentateuch when they point to a so-called postmosaica. Logic and sound biblical interpretation say that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis. He was the youngest of three children, with a sister named Miriam and a brother named Aaron. Let's look at eight things about Moses - who he was in the Bible and some details regarding his life. According to the Bible, Moses was the prophet who led Israel out of slavery in Egypt and brought them to the edge of the promised land. 1. Unlike the JEDP model, the Tablet model shows a reverence for the text of Genesis and attention to these explicit divisions provided by the book itself. We call it the Old Testament, or Old Covenant, because we believe that the Jewish Messiah has comenamely, Jesusand by his death and resurrection has inaugurated a New Testament, that is, a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8:13; 12:24; 13:20). The Old Testament is a lesson book for the nations that keeps shedding light on the work of Christ. He claims that Methuselah was an ancient historian of his day . They remembered details better, had a stronger oral tradition, had longer attention spans. In John 6, Jesus reminded the Jews that their fathers had eaten manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:15) and then applied it to himself and said, For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:33). Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Salem Media Group. Moses wrote Genesis after 1440 B.C." Promises in Genesis. So we Christians dont reject the Old Testament just because we have the New Testament. The obituary in no way nullifies the claim that the author wrote the book.18. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. He says, The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed (Galatians 3:8). A primary verb; to 'grave', especially to write; figuratively, to describe. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. This is simply astonishing. Does It Really Matter If Moses Wrote Genesis? The chart below shows that the Pentateuch states that Moses wrote these books: We also have the witness of the rest of the Old Testament: The New Testament is also clear in its testimony: They assumed their conclusion. And there was evening, and there was morning the sixth day., Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.. And because he saw, he could witness. And if they did not, that would have taken a great deal of divine intervention. In this final post on the issue of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, I want to examine a couple items in the New Testament. Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. He answers for himself, and reproves them, showing by the testimony of his Father, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, NT Gospels: John 5:46 For if you believed Moses you would (Jhn Jo Jn). During their captivity in Babylon, the Hebrews . Specifically, he thought that Genesis 1:12:3 was one creation account and Genesis 2:424 was a different creation account. Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. If these passages were added later, how do we know what Moses did and didnt write? In. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus claimed to be interpreting God's Torah according to its original intent, as God handed it to Moses. Exodus 17:14Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it . It is possible that Rachel was already aware of that name (Dan), as it meant "judge," and used it for the son of her handmaiden (Genesis 30:6). For more on this topic, see Henry Morris, The record of Esau's descendants contains a. Not one of his bones will be broken (John 19:36=Psalm 34:20). Consider the following: Exodus 17:14 "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it . Verse Concepts. There are many reasons to reject this skeptical attack on the Bible. This specific place (Dan) was known to Abraham as one of the springs of Jordan. 43 I have come in my Fathers name, and you do not receive me. [2] Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, How Do We Know the Bible is True: Volume 1 (Master Books, 2011), p.90-93. He believed Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, but he unlocked the door for the skepticism of later scholars. Ibid., p. 6364. Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.". Jewish leaders asked Jesus a question based on Deuteronomy 25:510 by saying, Teacher, they said, Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him (Matthew 22:24). Instead, it is claimed that at least four different authors (or groups of authors) wrote various portions of these books over many centuries and then one or more redactors (editors) over many years combined and interwove everything together into its present form. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason. Astruc claimed that these name changes indicated different sources that Moses used. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. One complaint about the Genesis account of creation is that the first five books of the Bible, known collectively as the Pentateuch ("five-volumed book"), could not possibly have been written by Moses. 3. Still, there are good reasons to co. Take note of some the references back to Moses' work. While Abraham is Israel's ancestor, Moses is often considered its founder, for his role in establishing Israel as a . In fact, Jesus insisted this has always been the truth behind the Torah. Now back to John 5:39: You search the Scriptures, Jesus says, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me. So Jesus is saying that the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures, our Scriptures, taken as a whole, witness to Jesus. Various sections of the Pentateuch are assigned to various authors who are identified by the letters J, E, D, and P. Hence, it is called the documentary hypothesis (or the JEDP model3). (3) He wrote or compiled Genesis by using earlier written documents. Jewish and Christian tradition has consistently attributed the writing of Genesis to Moses. Also, Moses himself prophesied in Deuteronomy 17:1420 that Israel would have kings. In his book Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (1670), Spinoza, who was a pantheist and was subsequently excommunicated from the Jewish community and denounced by Christians, argued that Moses did not write the Pentateuch. And we know this chapter wasn't written after Jesus ' sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection. Books and articles that equip you for deeply biblical thinking and ministry. This oral version of Genesis goes all the way back to roughly 2000 BC in Mesopotamia. The Mosaic Law: A Preparatory Gospel Answer (1 of 6): Ok so we have seen that Moses could have written Exodus through Deuteronomy based upon his own eyewitness . From here, the door flew open to profess that other portions of the Law were not written by Moses. Moses wrote Genesis from conversations he had with God, so the author is technically God. And John 19:35 says, "He who . Genesis 1:12:4a is the fir Genesis 6:4 reads: The Nephilim were on the earth in those daysand also afterwardwhen the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. Moses couldn't have written about his own death, which shows that he didn't write Deuteronomy. John 10:35 is one of the most important references to the Scriptures in Johns Gospel because after referring to Psalm 82:6, Jesus says, Scripture cannot be broken. This is one of the strongest claims for the infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible in all of Scripture. But how do we know this? Consider the following: Exodus 17:14Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it . Besides using the verses noted by Ibn Ezra, Spinoza offered a few other brief arguments against Mosaic authorship which were easily answered by Christian writers in the following few decades.6. Regardless, the eleven uses of toledoth unite the book as a history of the key events and people from Creation to the time of Moses. Galatians 3:10,13,24 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them, Galatians 4:21-31 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? - American Standard Version (1901) Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. In John 7:38, Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to living water that will flow out of those who believe on him and says that this has all been said in the Scriptures: Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Perhaps hes referring to Isaiah 58:11You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not failand to passages that compare the Holy Spirit to water (e.g., Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 36:2526). And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. God blessed the descendants of Abraham, and all peoples on earth have been blessed through them . He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.". He saw him as his Son in heaven eternally (John 1:13), and he saw what his Son would be in history when he came. In other words, any Jew or any Gentile will be an heir of Abrahams blessing if he believes in Jesus, the Messiah. This will refute any attempt of claiming that Muhammad was the prophet that Moses predicted. We can answer this question in a number of ways. Not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 17:12=Psalm 109:8). Genesis 12:2-3 Several lines of evidence should lead us to reject the documentary hypothesis as a fabrication of unbelievers. Nothing is said about Moses in the Hebrew title to Genesis. Several sources, or literary traditions, that the final redactor used in his composition are discernable. In other words, this book talks about the beginning of the world, the beginning of God's nation . So Paul says, Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. First, consider what the Bible itself says about the authorship of the Pentateuch. And today, several variant views of documentary hypothesis exist, but perhaps the most popular is that of Julius Wellhausen proposed in 1895. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the . Christians should believe God, rather than the fallible, sinful skeptics inside and outside the church who, in their intellectual arrogance, are consciously or unconsciously trying to undermine the Word so that they can justify in their own minds (but not before God) their rebellion against God. In John 5:46 He explained to some religious leaders who had challenged Him that . Proof that Moses wrote the Torah: (Gen - Deut) 1. On the contrary, we embrace it as the word of God in preparation for Messiah Jesus, and as the word of God in the ongoing illumination of the meaning of Jesus and his work. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. How Can We Stand on Scripture in an Evolution-Pushing Culture? God saw Jesus and knew Jesus long before Jesus was on the earth. Genesis comprises narratives of historical events that occurred before Moses was born. Terms of Service apply. So the manna is a pointer, a type of the life and ministry of Jesus. The Old Testament is precious to Christians because its a book about Gods work with Israel in preparation for the Messiah who would come not only to save Israel but to save the world from the power and punishment of sin. In other words, the Bible (or any other book) should be considered innocent until proven guilty, or reliable until its unreliability is compellingly demonstrated. In this paper we will present simple evidence from 20 th century archeological findings that leads us to the conclusion that Moses wrote Genesis, as asserted by all the Fathers. And its not at all out of character. Their subjective bias led them to illegitimately assume that any biblical statement was unreliable until proven reliable (though they would not do this with any other ancient or modern text) and when they found any disagreement between the Bible and ancient pagan literature, the latter was automatically given preference and trusted as a historical witness. John 7:21-22 - 21 Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel. Jesus said (to fulfill the Scripture), I thirst (John 19:28=Psalm 69:21). http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_tradition_bailey.html, http://science.jrank.org/pages/10523/Oral-Traditions-Oral-Traditions-Source-Method-Historical-Construction.html, Noahs Flood: a Historical, Global Catastrophe, Adam by direct divine revelation, so not connected with Adam's name. However, most JEDP advocates would say that Moses had nothing to do with writing Genesis or the rest of the Pentateuch, which were written much later by many authors and editors. The Spirit of Christ was directing him. I said earlier that the implications of this for ourselves and for people of other religions are huge. But to say that the composition, even the origins, of the Pentateuch is to be associated with Moses certainly does not mean he wrote every word. In other words, where did Moses get information on the patriarchs? First, Moses was qualified to write the books. You may unsubscribe from these email communications at any time. Moses wrote about me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. Jesus calls Genesis "the book of Moses": a. The measure of all true knowing God, honoring God, and loving God is knowing, honoring, and loving Jesus for who he really is. He also consistently demonstrated an outsider's view of Canaan (from the perspective of Egypt or Sinai).12 And as a prophet of God he was the appropriate recipient of the written records or oral traditions of the patriarchs from Adam to his own day, which the Holy Spirit could use to guide Moses to write the inerrant text of Genesis. Answer (1 of 8): Ok so we have seen that Moses could have written Exodus through Deuteronomy based upon his own eyewitness testimony. Also, the account of the Flood after the third toledoth (Genesis 6:9) reads like a ship's log. You will have already known him. Postmosaica are passages that had to be written after the death of Moses, and of course, the most obvious postmosaica is the account of his death in Deuteronomy 34. A similar obituary of Joshua was added by an inspired editor to the end of Joshua's book (Joshua 24:2933). The Jews therefore object, and persecute him for it. He doesnt argue that something happened. Were on a mission to change that. Jesus said in John 5:4243, But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. Would this be a problem for Moses? He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me (John 13:18=Psalm 41:9). The attack on the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch is nothing less than an attack on the veracity, reliability, and authority of the Word of Almighty God. Such a claim is without warrant. ., 2 Chronicles 25:4Yet he did not put their children to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded . Nothing is said about the authorship of the mass of literature of which this was a part. Among the authors used by God were those who actually walked with Jesus (Matthew, Peter, and John) and had seen Jesus in His post-resurrection form (St. Paul). What Does It Mean That There Is No One Holy Like God? In the case of Deuteronomy, the author of the obituary of Moses was probably Joshua, a close associate of Moses who was chosen by God to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land (for Moses was not allowed to because of his disobedience), and who was inspired by God to write the next book in the Old Testament. Of course, there are several ways Moses could have obtained this information: divine revelation, previously written texts passed down through the generations, and/or oral tradition from his ancestors.7 Regardless, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:2021), the books of Moses would be completely true and without error. How do we know that Moses, and not a series of authors as proposed in the JEDP theory linked above, wrote this book? Moses wrote the first five books of scripture [Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy] and Psalm 90. Therefore, an oral history of the world could have been passed down from Adam to Moses through Noah's family. Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural. But most scholars place the compilation of the book somewhere between 1445 BC or 1290 BC. Nevertheless, further attacks on the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch began taking hold in France through Jean Astruc, whose book Conjectures about the original memoirs which it appeared that Moses used in composing the Book of Genesis with certain remarks which help clarify these conjectures was published in 1753. Please check errors and resubmit. The majority of biblical scholars have attributed the authorship of Genesis to Moses, but this has not gone without contest, especially from documentary hypothesis theorists . So what does it mean when John calls the Old Testament Scriptures a witness to Jesus? A. we also have other Scripture supporting these events as true and literal. So the real question is: did Moses write Genesis, or not? Proud member Right from the start it is important to note that the Pentateuch is anonymous. In John 7:42, the enemies of Jesus draw attention to the fact that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, referring to Micah 5:2, because they didnt think thats where Jesus was born. There are other examples in Scripture that lend some credibility to the idea that Moses saw his coming death and wrote about the circumstances. Genesis 12:6"Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. One of the major attacks on the Bible in the past 300 years has been directed against Moses and his authorship of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament.