Two verses in particular stick out for me: He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. A careful examination of them may throw some light upon the question of their origin. - Why did Moses then command? Nothing is said about Moses in the Hebrew title to Genesis. Then from chapter 13 to the end of the book, John pours it on to show that almost every detail of Jesus redeeming work was planned by God and witnessed in Scripture. 4. Verse 7. These names were given to the several books at a very late day. So in that sense, the whole Pentateuch is Moses' book about Jesus. The conclusion of Bleek seems therefore to me altogether reasonable: "Although the Pentateuch in its present state and extent may not have been composed by Moses, and also many of the single laws therein may be the product of a later age, still the legislation contained in it is genuinely Mosaic in its entire spirit and character." [Footnote: Vol. 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. 3. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. As a new visitor, I'd recommend checking out the following two posts, which are meant to help newcomers "learn the ropes": Also, this would be a much better answer if you were to cite scholars, preachers, or anyone that believes that this is a reference to Jesus and not just God's forgiving, sovereignty. Genesis 26:24 Perhaps the most astonishing statements about the Scriptures in the Gospel of John is John 12:3741 where John quotes Isaiah 6 (verse 10) which has in it the famous vision of God: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! (Isaiah 6:3). If you are Christs, then you are Abrahams offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:7, 29). Heres the assumption behind these three implications, which are very controversial in a pluralistic, relativistic, religious world like ours. The law of the Great Day of Atonement (Lev. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. A witness gives firsthand evidence. Moses is preparing them with the promises of God so they may enter the land without compromising their faith in the Lord who has spoken all things into existence. John 12:3741 is an amazing window onto how Jesus viewed the Jewish Scriptures. Any claim by a Jewish person or a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist or a spiritualist or an animist or a Christianany claim to know God or honor God or love God while not receiving Christ as the Son of God and the crucified risen Savior is a false claim. The assumption is that, the God of the Old Testament and the person of Jesus are revealed in Scripture as such a unity (when Isaiah saw the glory of God, he saw the glory of Jesus) that what one makes of either can be tested by what one makes of the other. In Genesis xiv.14, we read of the city of Dan; but in Judges xviii.29, we are told that this city did not receive its name until hundreds of years later, long after the time of Moses. 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. Because most of them do not appear to be prophetic. This is the spirit of much of this ancient legislation; and these laws were, if the record is true, literally executed, in after times, by Joshua and Samuel, upon the people of Canaan. 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). Some who hold this theory are ready to admit that there may be a few verses here and there interpolated into the record by later scribes; but they maintain that the books in their substance and entirety came in their present form from the hands of Moses. or is their another prophet? "Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time" thus and thus; "but I say unto you" -- and then follow words that directly contradict the old legislation. You can also download them to your computer, phone, or tablet. But the father of Timothy was a Greek, though his mother was a Jewess; and it is altogether probable that he had studied from his childhood the Greek version of the Old Testament writings. Now that Israel had been redeemed by God, they were to be purified into a people worthy of their God. Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible, so when he wrote about God's promised seed, who would come from Adam and end up crushing the serpents head, Moses was describing Jesus, even though he didn't know it. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. How did Moses write the events which happened ~2000 years before him? Philo of Alexandria, a Jewish philosopher who died in about AD 40, cited as Scripture the books from Genesis to Deuteronomy (the Pentateuch) as well as other texts that we would recognize from our modern Old Testaments, but he did not provide us with anything like a list of books. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abrahams sake.. Who said this? At any rate Jesus introduces them with the very same formula which he has all along been applying to the words which he has quoted from the Mosaic law. Again, in Deuteronomy iii.11, we have a description of the bedstead of Og, one of the giants captured and killed by the Israelites, just before the death of Moses; and this bedstead is referred to as if it were an antique curiosity; the village is mentioned in which it is kept. The Pentateuch, commonly called the Torah among the Jews, refers to the first five books of the Old Testament Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Exodus 3:16 Look again at your Revised Version (2 Tim. If, as you assert, God ordained that marriage should be indissoluble, how comes it that Moses commanded () us to practise divorce, and prescribed rules as to its conduct?They are referring to Deuteronomy 24:1, 2.Jesus had escaped the trap which was laid for him, and foiled them by the very words of Scripture and the plain intention . It is conceivable that Moses might have left on record a prediction that he would die and be buried in this way; but the Spirit of the Lord could never inspire a man to put in the past tense a plain narrative of an event which is yet in the future. 43 I have come in my Fathers name, and you do not receive me. So Paul says, Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. Moses died in the wilderness, before the Israelites reached the Promised Land, before the Canaanites were driven out, and the land was divided among the tribes. God saw Jesus and knew Jesus long before Jesus was on the earth. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. Like the manna in the desert, Jesus is the Bread from Heaven (John 6:51) that satisfies our spiritual hunger and gives us life. This was the collection, remember, most used by our Lord and his apostles. In essence, John is saying: Where God is manifest in the Old Testament, Jesus is manifest. E: "E" stands for Elohist, the name given to the author (s) who referred to God as "Elohim.". It is sometimes said that these retaliations were simply permitted under the Mosaic law, but this is a great error; they were enjoined: "Thine eye shall not pity," it is said in another place (Deut. This law, as thus expressed, Jesus Christ unqualifiedly repeals. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. There are also laws requiring that all the animals killed for food should be slaughtered before the door of the Tabernacle. But when I look into my Hebrew Bible again no such title is there. Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. But that admission would of course discredit the infallibility of the books. Moses told the people, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. Genesis 17:1 It is upon this that the advocates of the traditional view of the Old Testament wholly rely. 18:15-18 is speaking of Jesus Christ because Peter quotes it himself in the context of Jesus. But Christ in the most unhesitating manner condemns and countermands it. It's a demanding emotion that insists on changing you. Torah is a Hebrew word meaning "to instruct.". We find also several historical repetitions and historical discrepancies, all of which make against the theory that Moses is the author of all this Pentateuchal literature. Another Scripture says, They will look on him whom they have pierced (John 19:37=Zechariah 12:10). The place of Abraham's birth, Ur, was not known as "of the Chaldeans . 15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 16 According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. It was adapted only to the time when they were dwelling in a camp in the wilderness. This is looking backward from a day when kings were reigning over the children of Israel. i. (1 Peter 3:18), Jesus is the offspring of the woman spoken of in Genesis 3 that would crush the head of Satan (Genesis 3:15). The Hebrew collection was not at this time definitely closed; there was still a dispute among the Palestinian Jews as to whether two or three of the books which it now contains should go into it; that dispute was not concluded until half a century after the death of our Lord. Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.. First of all, this prophet would be raised up by the Lord God himself. So the entire Old Testament is precious to Christians, because all Christians are counted by God as true Jewsbeneficiaries of all the promises made to the covenant people. Including photos each week from our outreaches and the weekly review. Personal updates from Samantha. It's not them. This was the name by which these books were chiefly known among the Jews; it signifies simply "The Law." He doesnt argue that something happened. The law and the feasts were only the foreshadowing of the coming of the Messiah. Sign up for our free daily newsletter. Doubtless there is good reason for the new classification, but it will be more convenient to begin with the traditional division and speak first of the five books reckoned by the later Jews as the "Torah," or the Five-fifths of the Law. Hebrews 10:1 (NIV) About the Speaker - Br.Asif is an Indo Canadian, born in the Hyderabad city of India.He is academically a Computer Sciences Engineer and a post graduate in I. And Jesus expressly forbids judicial oaths. i. Even though the books of the Pentateuch themselves do not clearly identify the author, there are many passages that attribute them to Moses or as being his words (Exodus 17:14, 24:4-7;Numbers 33:1-2; Deuteronomy 31:9-22). Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. The Torah refers to the five books of Moses in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). It will all be fulfilled. The law forbidding the removal of landmarks presupposes a long occupation of the land; and the law regulating military enlistments is more naturally explained on the theory that it was framed in the settled period of the Hebrew history, and not during the wanderings. Isaiah states that the Messiah would be "cut off from the land of the living" (Isaiah 53:8), that his death would be a sacrifice for our sins (Isaiah 53:5, 10-12) and afterward he would "prolong his days" (Isaiah 53:10). One of them must be erroneous, and it is probable that the passage in Deuteronomy is an anachronism. Jesus fulfulled the law in that way because in the few days leading up to his death, on the passover, he was questioned the most severely by the Jews. The common argument by which Christ is made a witness to the authenticity and infallible authority of the Old Testament runs as follows: Christ quotes Moses as the author of this legislation; therefore Moses must have written the whole Pentateuch. Some of the laws also bear internal evidence of having originated at a later day than that of Moses. "Star" may refer to his heavenly origin. But the new leader found himself at once in a very different position. Then John says in John 12:41, Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.. All the legislation respecting the construction of the tabernacle, the disposition of it in the camp, the transportation of it from place to place in the wilderness, the order of the march, the summoning of the people when camp was to be broken, with all its minute and circumstantial directions, would be destitute of meaning if it had been written while the people were living in Palestine, scattered all over the land, dwelling in their own houses, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Every writing inspired of God is profitable reading. It is evident that Jewish tradition is not always to be trusted. Facts, however, say otherwise. Why don't we use the 7805 for car phone chargers? Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. If we know God as he really is in the Old Testament, we know Jesus. he will take vengeance on his enemies vii.1,2.) (Luke 20:40 - And after that they dared not ask him any question at all). This law of retaliation is an integral part of the moral legislation of the Pentateuch. To this it is sufficient to reply, Christ and the apostles do quote the Old Testament Scriptures; they find a great treasure of inspired and inspiring truth in them, and so can we; they recognize the fact that they are organically related to that kingdom which Christ came to found, and that they record the earlier stages of that great course of revelation which culminates in Christ; but they nowhere pronounce any of these writings free from error; there is not a hint or suggestion anywhere in the New Testament that any of the writings of the Old Testament are infallible; and Christ himself, as we have seen, clearly warns his disciples that they do not even furnish a safe rule of moral conduct. "Thus did the Lord," as Dr. Bruce has said, is a more perfect formula of revelation than "Thus said the Lord." It is stated in Exodus xvi.35, that the Israelites continued to eat manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. Doubtless it rests wholly on the traditions of the Jews. I see no reason whatever to doubt that this is the essential fact. 17 And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. The incidental references to the conditions of the wilderness life are far more convincing than any explicit statement would have been. Ponder for a moment the implications of saying that the Scriptures witness about Jesus. Can you explain more the significance of each of these verses? Published: 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. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. Genesis 26:2 When you get a chance, please see, from your pastor, priest, or other trustworthy counselor, New blog post from our CEO Prashanth: Community is the future of AI, Improving the copy in the close modal and post notices - 2023 edition. John 5:46. Various repetitions of laws occur which are inexplicable on the supposition that these laws were all written by the hand of one person. 43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, His wife Samantha maintains this site as well as their missionary outreaches. "They were quoted," answer some, "and thus accredited by our Lord and his apostles. I have said that the Pentateuch is a composite work. "Ye have heard," he continues, "that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you." Something I do wonder about though is the three distinct persons of the questioning Pharisees in John 1:22-26. Was it some rabbin of the olden time? (46) For had ye believed Moses. It is evident that he means to give the impression that they are part of that law. for he will avenge the blood of his servants; First we have the verdict of the traditionalists, -- those, I mean, who accept the Jewish tradition, and believe with the rabbins that Moses wrote the whole of the first five books of the Bible. And Jews who dont believe in Jesus are excluded from the blessings of Abraham. Jesus said in John 5:4243, But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. In the story, a man asks what must be done to inherit eternal life. . If you see God at work, you see Jesus at work. Like this post? It illustrates the lengths to which destructive criticism can go. (John 3:14-15), Like the rock that was struck the first time, but should never be struck again, Jesus suffered once for all. we find a genealogy of the kings of Moab, running through several generations, prefaced with the words: "These are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel." Genesis 48:3 Jesus said that Moses wrote about Him: If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. of whom. Like the snake in the desert that was lifted up that those who were bitten by deadly snakes could look upon and be saved, Jesus was lifted up so that we who have been bitten by Satan in our sin can look upon Jesus and be saved from spiritual death. 18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. It is true, to begin with, that Jesus and the Evangelists do quote from these books, and that they ascribe to Moses some of the passages which they quote. Is a downhill scooter lighter than a downhill MTB with same performance? You must listen to him." (Verse 15) There are a number of things worth noting in this promise from God. No, this is not the precise state of the case. Isaiah 7:14 Acts 7:22 states, "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.". The title "prophet" is used many times in the Gospels when other people refer to Jesus (Matthew 21:11; Luke 7 . Is there any known 80-bit collision attack? Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I will give this land. And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. What are their names in the Hebrew Bible? 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). The facts are, that Jesus nowhere testifies that Moses wrote the whole of the Pentateuch; and that he nowhere guarantees the infallibility either of Moses or of the book. God said things and did things in the Scriptures which, if we had understood them, would have given us a glimpse of Jesus and would have prepared us to recognize him and receive him when he came. Could a subterranean river or aquifer generate enough continuous momentum to power a waterwheel for the purpose of producing electricity? And unless tautology, anachronisms, and contradictions are a proof of inspiration, much less could it have been written by a single inspired writer. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. His teachings made the Bible clear and easy to understand, and impacted millions of lives. He was there. AccomplishedAuthor3 1 yr. ago. Indeed he quotes from them several times for the express purpose of repudiating their doctrines and repealing their legislation. Sinai, where the Ten Commandments were promulgated, he founded the religious community known as Israel. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Not the smallest teaching of Scripture will fall the ground. Listen to our Bible studies now from your browser. And verse 46 says it again a little differently: If you believed Moses [the author of the first five books of the Old Testament] you would believe me; for he wrote of me. So verse 46 says that Moses wrote about Jesus, and verse 39 says that the Scriptures witness about Jesus. p.212.] The Pentateuch could never have been written by any one man, inspired or otherwise. The measure of all true knowing God, honoring God, and loving God is knowing, honoring, and loving Jesus for who he really is. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 33:15 - 3 - Moses showed us others who were longing for Christ. The death angel passes by those who have the blood of the lamb on the doorpost, the high priest on the day of atonement was the connection between God and man, etc. Similarly the account of the naming of the villages of Jair, which we find in Deuteronomy iii.14, is quite inconsistent with another account in Judges x.3, 4. The Law of Moses ( Hebrew: Torat Moshe ), also called the Mosaic Law, primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Both Old Testament and New Testament. All of the feasts are an introduction to the coming and second coming of Christ. But this reference does by no means warrant the sweeping conclusion that the five books of the law were all and entire from the pen of the Lawgiver. The injunction would have all the force to-day that it ever had. Much less does he teach that the contents of these books are all equally inspired and authoritative. In John 8:19, Jesus adversaries, who claimed to know God, said, Where is your Father? And Jesus answered, You know neither me nor my Father. You are referring to John 5:46-47 As yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead (John 20:9=Psalm 16:10). John shows us this three times. iii.16): "Every Scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, which is in righteousness." All of them. [Footnote: The Religion of Israel, p.9.] Such is the method by which our Lord sometimes deals with the Old Testament. 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. However, Jesus points out in Luke 24:27 that Moses prophesied concerning the Messiah when he says, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Earlier in his ministry Jesus had said in John 5:46, "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me." These fables had wide currency among the Jews; they were believed by Irenaeus, Tertullian, Augustine, and others of the great fathers of the Christian Church; but they are not credited in these days. Genesis 35:9 (Deut. as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: "an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool." And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. There are several messianic prophecies that were known to the pharisees and specifically Isaiah 7:14, which states that the messiah will be called Immanuel or "God with us". Jesus is the fulfillment of the life of Joseph, which foreshadows Him being the beloved Son, being envied by His own, begin rejected by His own, cast down into the pit, resurrected, sent to a distant country where He became lord of all, and who then provided salvation for His own. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. . Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; Exodus 6:1-2 Then the Lord said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. (Matthew 26:59-61The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Clearly the context of Deut. We look back, and the first note of time previous to this is the second month of the second year of the wandering in the wilderness. In Exodus xxiv., we are told that Moses not only rehearsed to the people the Covenant which the Lord had made with them, but that he wrote all the words of the Covenant in a book, and that he took the book of the Covenant and read it in the audience of all the people. How could it have been written five hundred years before there ever was a king in Israel? Christianity Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for committed Christians, experts in Christianity and those interested in learning more. The Jews in the time of our Lord always considered these five books as one connected work; they called the whole sometimes "Torah," or "The Law," sometimes "The Law of Moses," sometimes "The Five-fifths of the Law." Genesis is a defense for why the land belonged to the God who had the right to give it to Israel. It is not likely that he wrote the account of his own death and burial which we find in the last chapter of Deuteronomy. John 21:2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Like the water that sprung from the rock, Jesus is the living water (John 7:37) that satisfies our spiritual thirst. Thus in Exodus xxxiv.17-26, there is a collection of legal enactments, all of which can be found, in the same order and almost the same words, in the twenty-third chapter of the same book. xvi.) (Jesus) and Luke 1:48 (Mary). ], We cannot imagine that one man, with a fairly good memory, much less an infallibly inspired man, should have written these laws twice over, in the same words, within so small a space, in the same legal document. What that means is that the words of Moses contain coded or allegorical references to his life and ministry. But does not Paul say, in his letter to Timothy, that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God?" But in Joshua's days the light had begun to shine, the river of the knowledge of . Such a novelist did not exist among them; and I question whether Professor Kuenen and Professor Wellhausen, with all their wealth of imagination, could have done any such thing. But these English titles, which are partly translated and partly transferred to English from older Latin and Greek titles, tell us nothing trustworthy about the authorship of the books. Not one of his bones will be broken (John 19:36=Psalm 34:20). Their arrival at Kadesh described in the twentieth chapter would seem, then, to have been in the first month of the third year. It is held to-day by very few eminent Christian scholars. . Many wonder why Jesus did not write any books or why anything He may have written was not preserved. It was Moses; nay, the old record says that this is the word of the Lord by Moses: "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying [among other things], If a man cause a blemish in his neighbor, as he hath done so shall it be done to him; breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be rendered unto him." The Latin title was given to them, of course, by the editors who compiled them. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. These are the three implications. What were the most popular text editors for MS-DOS in the 1980s? 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). Nathanael. These are all the statements made in the writings themselves concerning their origin. In the very fore-front of his teaching stands a stern array of judgments in which undoubted commandments of the Mosaic law are expressly condemned and set aside, some of them because they are inadequate and superficial, some of them because they are morally defective. Our Lord nowhere says that the first five books of the Old Testament were all written by Moses. It would seem that this must have been written at a day when the Canaanite was no longer in the land, -- after the occupation of the land and the expulsion of the Canaanites. Then Jacob said to Joseph: God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. The overall message of Leviticus is sanctification.
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