Series: You Can Trust Your Bible - P2 The Biblical Data And Jesus' View On Mosaic Authorship Of The Pentatuech

Introduction:

    In my last post I introduced this series on "You Can Trust Your Bible" here Growing Christian Resources: Series: You Can Trust Your Bible - P1 Why Affirming Mosaic Authorship Of The Pentateuch Is Important. We began to consider how you can know that Moses wrote the Pentateuch or first five books of the Bible. I wanted to resume where I left off, and so I'll restate why this subject is vital in our defense of God's Word. Then, we will proceed to consider where we find in Scripture affirmations of Mosaic authorship.

Affirming that Moses wrote Genesis thru Deuteronomy.

    In what will follow, I simply want to point out where we see assertions of Mosaic authorship made in the Biblical text, as well as by Jesus. In later posts, we will offer arguments and evidence that support the Biblical witness. 

A. Moses is affirmed to be the author of the first five books in those books.

    In Exodus 24:4a we are told: “Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.”  Numbers 33:2 states “Moses recorded their starting places according to their journeys by the command of the Lord, and these are their journeys according to their starting places.”  Twice more Mosaic authorship is affirmed (Exodus 17:14; Deut 31:9). 

      As the chronology of Moses' life and the Exodus account would stipulate, Moses wrote Genesis and Exodus first, followed by Leviticus, all within the first year of the Exodus out of Egypt. Then, as he led the people of God through their wilderness wanderings for nearly 40 years, He wrote Numbers (known by its Hebrew name "m'dvar" or "in the desert") in the arid setting of the Sinai Peninsula, followed by Deuteronomy as a final set of sermons he preached before his death on the Eastern side of the Jordon on the plains of Moab.   

B. The rest of the Old Testament affirms Moses wrote the first five books.

    What do the authors of the Old Testament have to say about authorship 

of the Pentateuch? Critics will contend that Mosaic authorship was not strongly affirmed after the book of Deuteronomy. However, a scan through the Biblical data suggests the contrary. At least six other Biblical authors affirm Moses wrote these books (Josh 1:8; 2 Kings 21:8; Ezra 6:18; Neh 13:1; Dan 9:11,13; Malachi 4:4). Let me just cite one of these examples, 2 Kings 21:8 

“And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.”  

    This passage was written during the final years of the wickedest king who reigned in Jerusalem – Manasseh. He ruled from 687-643 b.c. Before he died, the passage tells us how God was going to judge the land for the wicked acts Manasseh had done. In that passage, the first five books are mentioned, written by Moses. We will return to Manasseh later in these posts, since he is the grandfather of King Josiah, who ruled in Jerusalem. I'll only mention this now since critics of Mosaic authorship claim the Book of the Law was compiled mostly during or after the reign of King Josiah. Yet we see just in this short citation that the Torah or Book of the Law existed at least in the days of King Josiah's grandfather (again, more on this in a later post). 

C. Jesus affirmed that Moses wrote the first five books.

    What did Jesus teach about Genesis thru Deuteronomy? When He had healed a leper in Matthew 8:4, he referenced Leviticus 13:49, saying these words: “and Jesus said to him, ‘See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’”  Jesus taught Moses wrote Leviticus. 

    Then in Mark 12:26 Jesus affirms Moses wrote Exodus, referencing Exodus 3 in his conversation with the Sadducees: 

“But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” 

    That’s pretty specific, isn’t it? In Matthew 19:6-8 Jesus affirms Moses’ authorship of Deuteronomy. In John 3:14, Jesus affirms the historical existence of Moses lifting up the serpent in Numbers 21, which consequently provides affirmation of his authorship of the book of Numbers.  Over 30 places in the gospel records record Jesus affirming Moses’ authorship or linking the first five books to him. We have ample examples of the Bible claiming Mosaic authorship, including Jesus Himself. 

What is the take away?

    The fact of the matter is this: if Moses did not write the Pentateuch; if the events recorded in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy were much-later embellishments by post-exilic Jews trying to account for their claim to the land of Israel (as proposed by the Higher Critics, which we will see in later posts), rather than composed by Moses under the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then not only in the Biblical record not the Word of God, but Jesus Himself would be in error at best, and a liar at worse. As we get more into these posts, I hope the reader will feel the weight of importance as to why we must defend the truth of the trustworthiness of the Scriptures. 

Series: You Can Trust Your Bible - P1 Why Affirming Mosaic Authorship Of The Pentateuch Is Important

Introduction:

    Recently I had opportunity to speak to a group of students in our local Christian school about the reliability of the Scriptures. From those messages comes forth this series of posts I plan to entitle: “You Can Trust Your Bible”. In this series, we will explore four major areas of the Bible that have been under constant attack for the last 250 years. Let me mention what those are and then explain the significance of each of them for anyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ.

Genesis Thru Deuteronomy. 

    This provides the foundation of the whole Bible. Critics have denied that Moses wrote it, discredited its details on history, and have dismissed its Divine authority.

Daniel. 

    Daniel’s prophecies give some of the greatest proofs for the Bible’s Divine inspiration. The Book of Daniel has been attacked for its claims, its setting in the 6th century b.c. during the Neo-Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires,  its prophetic predictions, authorship, and history.

The Gospels. 

    These four documents introduce us to the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, including His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. These have been opposed as lacking accuracy in history, not representing the actual Jesus, and their authorship.

1,2 Timothy & Titus. 

    Paul the Apostle wrote these three letters to instruct churches on how to conduct themselves and what to teach. These three books, known as the “Pastoral Epistles”, have had doubt cast upon them as written by Paul. Their authority is denied by critics who complain about the teachings found within them.  

A startling statistic

    Summit Ministries, a Christian ministry devoted to training Christians on how to defend their faith, surveyed 18-25 young adults on matters of faith and practice. Here is what they found:

“We talk a lot about young people walking away from the church, abandoning their Christian beliefs. The research is scary – studies show that as many as 70% of Christian students leave the church during college.” 

    The number one reason they cite for why young people leave their faith after high school:

“No Grounding — At best, many young believers don’t know why they believe what they believe. Often, those who think they do have never had their foundation of faith seriously challenged. Worst, many 18- to 25-year-olds have no hold on what Christianity actually teaches at all.”

The Bible is to judge us, rather than we judge the Bible 

   If you ever go off to college or have attended one, you may take what is called a “Philosophy of Religion” course. Such courses are so named because in their definition of "religion", they refer to how human beings respond to what they perceive to be the presence of God and His Divine revelation. In such courses there are oftentimes baked-in assumptions about God, what constitutes reality, and whether or not Divine revelation, miracles, and authoritative Divine revelation are even possible. Philosophy of Religion is a branch of Philosophical study that can have limited value in shedding light on questions raised in the study of theology. Whether the questions it raises and the answers it attempts to give prove helpful is an area of constant debate among its practitioners.

    Systematic Theology (Biblically based theology that is) goes with the assumption that God has revealed Himself in history and through the Bible, most-notably in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. There can be some overlap in philosophy or religion and theology, however either one must be under subjection to the truth of God's Word, the Bible. As with all disciplines, the danger can run where the philosopher of religion or the theologian can come-off as a judge of the Bible (a magisterial or "know-it-all posturing"), rather than letting the Bible judge him or her (which would be a "ministerial" positioning or "I'll admit I don't know everything" point of view).   

    In as much as such courses can raise interesting questions, and even be taught by Godly Christian professors, most of the time such courses promote Higher Critical theories and liberal theological views of the Bible. 

Why our young people need equipped with tools for defending the Bible as God's Word

    Young students and young adults that claim Christ as their Savior and Lord need equipped so that when exposed to criticisms of the Bible, they'll be less likely to succomb to them. If not in a college classroom, many Christians will find criticisms of Divine inspiration and reliability of the Scriptures online, in discussions with co-workers, or sadly, sometimes even in churches that departed long ago from a Biblical worldview. 

     In this opening post I want to lay out for you: “You Can Know Who Wrote Genesis Thru Deuteronomy.” We will begin to consider arguments that affirm the Mosaic authorship of Genesis through Deuteronomy, otherwise known as "The Pentateuch" (meaning "the five", as per the Greek name for the first five Biblical books) or "Torah" (the Hebrew name of these five which means "that which teaches or guides"). 

1. Affirming that Moses wrote Genesis thru Deuteronomy.

    This may not sound like an important topic, since whether Moses, or Bob wrote the Bible shouldn’t matter all that much. Right? Well, it does matter when the man Moses himself, other parts of the Bible, and even Jesus affirm that Moses wrote these five books, which are sometimes called “The Pentateuch” (meaning “The Five”) and other times “The Torah” (meaning “that which guides or teaches”). If Moses did not write the Pentateuch, then anyone else who claims He did would be wrong. That's the main idea as to why the traditional and Biblical view of Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch must be defended, as well as why opposing ideas (which I'll get to in future posts) must be answered. 

Next time I'll lay out the case for how we affirm that Moses wrote the Torah, as well as in later posts mention critical views opposing Mosaic authorship, followed by posts that answers such criticisms.