Traditionally the authorship of the first five books of the Old Testament, sometimes referred to as the Pentateuch, has been ascribed to Moses. Several years ago, some “biblical scholars” started trying to cast doubt on that. One of their primary premises was that if one man had really written all five books, he probably would have used the same name for God all the way through. I believe their premise is flawed.
If I were to write a book about my life, one of the leading characters in it would be my father. His legal name was Reverend Carl Jay Litchfield. His middle name was originally Julius but at some point before I was aware of such things he had it legally changed. My mother most often called him Carl, but if she were speaking to my brothers or myself she might refer to him as your dad if she were appealing to our intimate relationship, or your father if she were appealing to his authority. My brothers and I usually referred to him as Dad, sometimes as Pop, and, every once in a while, as Father. His parishioners usually referred to him by his title, pastor or reverend, with either his first or last name. If I were to write that book, I would probably use all of those names for my father depending on the context of each particular paragraph or sentence.
I have also noticed in the book or Romans, Paul used at least 12 different names for Jesus and yet, to my knowledge, no one in their right mind has suggested there were 12 different authors for that book. Here is a list of those 12 names and at least one place in that book where it was used.
- Jesus – 10:9
- Christ Jesus our Lord – 8:1
- Christ Jesus – 6:23
- Jesus Christ – 1:6
- Lord Jesus Christ – 15:6
- Lord Jesus – 16:20
- Jesus our Lord – 4:24
- Jesus Christ our Lord – 5:21
- Christ – 8:11 (This seemed to be his favorite, used 33 times.)
- Son – 1:3
- Messiah – 9:5
- Lord – 10:12
If the primary premise is flawed then everything that was deduced after that premise is also suspect.
Another problem I have with those “scholars” is that they seem to have ignored eye-witness testimony. The eye-witness I am referring to is Jesus Christ. In order to accept that kind of testimony one must first be sure the witness was indeed an eye-witness to the event in question. The beginning of John’s gospel tells us that before the world began Jesus existed with God and the Holy Spirit. Jesus also tells us himself in John 8:58, “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am”.
The next question we need to answer before accepting eye-witness testimony is whether or not the witness is telling the truth. Heb 4:15 tells us Jesus “…has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Even if we limit the definition of sin to a violation of any of the ten commandments, consider Jesus’ definition of what it takes to keep just two of them. In Mat 5:21-28 he tells us that calling someone a fool is murder and having lustful thoughts about someone you are not married to is adultery. If that is what it takes to keep those two, what do you think it would take to keep the one that says “thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor? I don’t believe He would apply this commandment only to courtroom testimony. I believe even implying that something is false that you know to be true or implying that something is true that you know to be false is a sin.
So, I think I have shown that Jesus was indeed an eye-witness to the writing of the Pentateuch and that anything he said about it we can take as true and reliable. What did he say about it? I did a search on an electronic version of the gospels for the word “Moses” and for the word “law”. In Jesus time the Hebrew scriptures were often referred to as “the law” or “the law and the prophets”. Limiting my results to those verses that reflect Jesus’ words (red letters in my version), about half the time he called the Pentateuch the law and half the time he called it simply “Moses”. In Mark 10:5 it says, “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied.” I believe Jesus is implying Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch.
2 Tim 3:16 says, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” Maybe the time those “scholars” spent could have been more productively used if they had spent it trying to figure out why God would want Moses to use a particular name for God in each section where those different names were used.
Those “scholars” mentioned above would like you to believe that the Pentateuch, and hence the foundation for much of what we believe about God, is only a collection of myths and legends compiled hundreds of years after the supposed events by some anonymous writer and are not really believable nor reliable.
Compare that to Paul’s words to Timothy cited above or to Jesus’ words quoted in John 17:17 as a part of his prayer for all believers, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
Every one of us gets to choose for ourselves what we will believe. What we choose to believe about the Bible is crucial to what has happened and will happen in our lives. Deuteronomy 28 has two long lists. The first is a list of blessings on the lives of those who believe and obey God. The second is an even longer list of curses on the lives of those who refuse to believe and obey. What will you choose?
In Deuteronomy 30:19 Moses offered a similar choice to the Israelites, “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”