The Gray Monk

The Five Books or “The Books of Moses”.

A look at the foundations of the Bible – Genesis to Deuteronomy.

The first five books of the Bible form the foundations of all of the rest. It is in these five books that we see God at work, selecting a people who will become His instrument of Salvation in the World. Referred to by Jews as the Torah and by Biblical scholars as the Pentateuch, they are also called “The Books of Moses” and their authorship is attributed to him. This is thought to be unlikely, although the core material is at the very least from a source close to him, certainly the events described which occur after his death will have been added by a later hand. References in the text of Exodus certainly do indicate that Moses himself wrote down a great deal which was stored in the Ark of the Covenant for the priest’s instruction.

If we try to establish a time line for the events in these books we find that the record is incomplete in some sense and overlaps occur in others. For example, the events in Genesis Chapter 12 start in about 1250 BC (I choose this start deliberately as the events prior to this are a lot more difficult to put dates too!) with the departure of Abram and his family from Ur. The book ends in Egypt with the settlement in the Nile Delta of Joseph and his brothers around 1680 BC. There is then a gap in the record until about 1370 BC where the Exodus story begins. Then it gets more complicated; the next three books are all covering the same period, that is; starting in about 1290 BC and ending around 1250 BC – the forty years in the wilderness! Their record ends with the entry into the Promised Land and the settlement of the tribes in their new home. In effect the Book of Joshua finishes the Exodus story, although it is not part of the “Five Books” and belongs to the next group – the “Historical” books.

The purpose of these five books is to trace the history of the creation and the development from there of the chosen people who would eventually become the Israelites. The name itself means “the people of El”, “El” being yet another word for “the God of this place”. Each of these books presents us with a new problem on the one hand and a growing awareness of the guiding hand of God in uniting a very diverse people into a single Nation and Faith on the other. We encounter angels, celestial events, earthquakes, quicksand, volcanic eruptions, heroic human efforts which founder, charlatans and some pretty evil people, but the will of God is always there to guide, to retrieve and to re-order. Essentially it is a story or stories about beginnings.

The first “book” could almost be described as two “books” – the Creation stories and the rise and fall of man, followed by the calling of a man destined to be the father of the chosen people and his direct descendents – the Patriarchs. In all probability this book was the last to be written down and it shows evidence that several sources have been drawn upon to provide its content. As I have remarked in my previous ramble through these books, the outline of the Creation contained in Chapter 1 is not necessarily in conflict with the theory of evolved creation – unless you try to impose simplistic time scales to it. Mind you, even the Big Bang theory has its problems – as Terry Pratchett (a well known science fantasy author) is on record as saying, “In the beginning there was nothing. Which exploded.”

Even the flood stories are supported by folk lore from around the world, but it does seem that these are based on flooding arising from rising sea levels as the vast ice sheets melted around 12,000 years ago, rather than on a single global event. Whatever the underlying facts of the event, it does seem that God has used (as He frequently does!) a major catastrophe to bring home to those who survived it His will and direction. It is God’s purpose that is worked out to save Noah and his family and to ensure that His work of salvation continues.

The patriarchs are a rum bunch by any account. Both Abraham and Isaac at some point pass their wives off as “sisters” in order to win political favour. We aren’t told what their wives thought of this. The nomadic existence of the first three patriarchs ends in Egypt with the settlement under Joseph, thus setting the scene for the opening of the next book which takes up the story some 300 years later. By now the tribe has become both numerous and prosperous – and it would appear – a threat to the ruling hierarchy.

The four books which follow are important for several reasons, firstly they tell us a great deal about the forging of a nation from a diverse and self interested group who are not at all sure the promised reward is worth the effort and the pain. Secondly, in the laying down of principles for worship in a dignified and structured way, we have the foundations of much of our thinking on worship patterns and response to God in our life and times. While Exodus and Numbers focus on the events of the departure from Egypt and the wanderings in the desert, Leviticus and Deuteronomy set out the rules for nationhood and for worship.

The importance to Jewish worshippers and indeed to the Christians of the early church of these books cannot be overstated. Mark, Matthew, Luke, John and Paul all draw heavily on them to show the continuation the work of salvation and to support the arguments for aspects of Godliness and the need to withdraw from sin. The opening verses of John’s gospel are considered to be a meditation on the opening of Genesis – “In the beginning ..” Further examples of the use of images or ideas drawn from these books can be found in the letter to the Colossians (1: 15 – 20) which again reflects on the first word (in Hebrew) of the Book of Genesis “In the beginning ..” You cannot escape the central position of these books to the Jewish writers and prophets either. From Ezra onward references to the Books of Moses, also referred to as “The Law” abound. Far from being a slavish obedience to legalism this is an acknowledgement of the central need to divine God’s will in everything.

One of the greatest medieval Jewish scholars, the philosopher Miamonides, maintained that “The Torah” as the Five Books are known to Jews, is concerned with the welfare of both body and soul. This is borne out by even the most cursory reading of the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy as it becomes at once evident that the rules concerning meat and hygiene will, if followed correctly, prevent the spread of disease and minimize the risk of food poisoning. No wonder the Jewish quarters of medieval cities were relatively free of the usual diseases and even relatively unaffected by the plague. Had our forebears followed these simple rules they might have changed the course of history in some unexpected ways.

Within the later Christian tradition the central position of these books has been somewhat neglected. This loss of appreciation of their significance may be attributed to the importance of the New Testament writings as the Church grew away from its roots in Judaism. Another factor may be the version of the Bible used. The original translations into Latin from the Hebrew and Greek Septuagint and known as the Vulgate, included the “Apocryphal” Books, subsequently removed by the Reformation and the use of the later collation of the Talmud also seems to have diminished their significance for Christian readers and scholars.

So, should we be a bit more diligent in studying them? I think the answer is yes, because here we find the beginnings of the Eucharist – see the Fellowship Offering in Leviticus Chapter 3 and the Passover arrangements in Numbers 28: 16 onwards. Here too you will find the arrangements for rest days and “Jubilees”, matters still practiced in various forms among Jews today.

Viewing these books as a story of beginnings is a helpful way to see them as a group. The rest of the Old Testament rests, to a very large extent, upon them and, as we have seen the New Testament writers drew heavily upon them as well. Scholarship in this field is a vast and complicated arena, not least because there is argument over authorship and sources. Most scholars agree that there is no single author for any of the book, instead identifying four distinctive “sources”. This does not detract from the message, it merely complicates the study of it and makes it more difficult to get back to the root. That said, for those, like myself, who have limited time and limited access to “source” material, there are some good study guides available – some of them even easily readable!

For those of you who would like to look more closely at the Pentateuch, I can recommend The Lion Handbook to the Bible, The Pentateuch – A story of beginnings by Paula Gooder, The Bible Guide by Andrew Knowles, The Exodus Enigma by Ian Wilson, The living world of the Old Testament by Anderson and Reading the Old Testament – An introduction by Lawrence Boadt. Now there’s a reading list to keep you occupied through winter!

Peace be with you.