This ancient division of the Law into five sections is supported by the 'Septuagint' a third century B.C. translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, and also by the Samaritan Pentateuch which is even earlier. The five books together present a history of humanity from creation to the death of Moses, with particular attention to the development of the Hebrew people. The activity of God receives special emphasis throughout, and the Pentateuch reveals a great deal about God's nature and His purposes for mankind..
The Pentateuch is generally divided into six major sections: (1) the creation of the world and its inhabitants - Genesis 1-11 - (2) the period from Abraham to Joseph - Genesis 12-50 - (3) Moses and the departure of the Israelites from Egypt - Exodus 1-18 - (4) God's revelation at Sinai - Exodus 19-Numbers 10 - (5) the wilderness wanderings - Numbers 11-36 - (6) the addresses of Moses - Deuteronomy 1-34 -
From the time it was written, the Pentateuch was consistently accepted as the work of Moses. His specific writing or compiling activity is mentioned in the Pentateuch - Ex. 17:14, 24:4, 34:27 - while in the post-exilic writings the Law or Torah, was often attributed directly to Moses. - Neh. 8:1; 2Chr. 25:4, 35:12 - This tradition was supported by Christ in the New Testament times.
Now about the dead rising again, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are very much mistaken. - Mark 12:26-27; Ex. 3:6 -
Jesus answered, 'One work I did, and you are all surprised by it. Moses ordered you to practice circumcision - not that it began with him, it goes back to the patriarchs - and you circumcise on the Sabbath. Now if a man can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me for making a man whole and complete on a Sabbath? Do not keep judging according to appearances; let your judgment be according to what is right.' - John 7: 21-24 -
The Pentateuch was also called the Law of the Lord - 2Chr. 31:3; Luke 2:22-24 - and the Book of the Law of God. - Neh. 8:18 - The word book should not be understand in its modern sense, for several different writing materials were used by Old Testament Scribes, including papyrus and leather scrolls or sheets, pieces of broken pottery, clay tablets and stone. The word book has two important usages in connection with the Law. First, it indicates that the material referred to was in written form at an early period. Second, it shows the combination of divine authorship and human transmission that gave the Law its supreme authority and made it The Book for the ancient Hebrews.
The Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch was accepted without question for centuries by both Jews and Christians. Occasionally, the account of Moses' death was questioned - Deut. 34:5-8 - but in the Jewish Talmud, a collection of rabbinical laws and interpretations of the Torah, the section was said to have been written by Joshua. In the Middle Ages Jewish and Christian scholars began to point to supposed contradictions and insertions in the Law, some of the latter being credited to Ezra.
In spite of these objections, most people believed unquestioningly in Moses as the author. However, in the 19th century the Book of Deuteronomy began to be regarded as the Law Scroll found in the time of Joshua and written about that period. - 2Kin. 22:3-10 - The view of the compilation of the Pentateuch has had its critics at every stage. The Ebla Tablet discoveries show that a sophisticated language was in use in the ancient world about 2500 B.C. And it is now known that all priestly pronouncements dealing with social organization in the ancient world are always early rather than late, because priests were originally responsible for such matters. Furthermore, exhaustive comparative studies have shown that no other composition of the ancient Near East was assembled in the manner that liberal scholars claimed was the case with the Pentateuch. Archaeological and linguistic studies have confirmed many old customs recorded in the Pentateuch. These discoveries have provided an excellent background against which we can understand the Law of Moses.
To date, no articles that would prove the existence of such persons as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have been recovered. But if the traditions about nature and location of the cave of Machpelah are correct, we know the actual burial place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Jacob. Studies in Genesis have shown that the book was compiled from genuine literary sources. But these are vastly different from those imagined by liberal scholarship. Generally speaking, the liberal view has failed to take account of ancient methods of compiling and transmitting information. Liberal scholars have supposed that Western editorial methods can be applied equally well to Near Eastern compositions which is simply not true.
Whereas the 19th century critics relied heavily upon the handing down of material by word of mouth [oral and written tradition] subsequent studies have shown that anything of importance in the ancient world was written down when it happened or shortly afterward. Furthermore, this record was quite independent of any verbal accounts passed on to later generations. Not all written or spoken material survived, of course; but it is enough to provide us with the Pentateuch, as well as other Sacred Scriptures.
Finally, any suggestion that the five books of Moses are basically fraudulent in nature, not actually having been compiled or written by Moses, is contrary to Jewish tradition, as well as the nature of God as revealed in the Torah. The five books of the Pentateuch can be described as follow: Genesis -
Page 1
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
No comments:
Post a Comment