The Pentateauch

Pentateauch means 5 (penta) scroll cases (teuchos) and is the Latin term for the first 5 books of the Bible. The Hebrew term is Torah, meaning instruction or law. These are not words found in scripture, but words used by students and teachers of scripture to define a category of scriptural writings. Remember our associational tags for the Old Testament: 5 and 12. The Pentateauch is our first group of 5. Moses wrote these books, which record the creation of all things, the beginnings and fall of the human race, and God’s earliest dealings with His people in the earth.

Genesis: book of beginnings. Genesis means beginnings, or origin, of anything. In the first book of the Bible, it tells of the beginning of EVERYTHING. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” No explanation, no speculation. This is what happened. This is Who did it. Genesis also tells us of the first water, plants, animals, and God’s crowning creation: the first man. Then came the first sin, the first murder, and in chapter 3, the first promise of a Savior; to be born of woman, the first sinner.

Many momentous events occurred in the early centuries of human history, which have affected the lives of all of us since that time. In Genesis we find Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, the great flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Lot, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the births of Ismael and Isaac, the Mt. Moriah experience, where God provided for Himself a Lamb. Isaac’s sons Jacob and Esau had a lifelong blood-feud. When Jacob encountered Jesus Christ up close and personal, and knew Him as Lord, his name was changed to Israel. Israel means Soldier of God. Israel and his sons spent 400 years in Egypt, first as guests of Pharaoh, then as his slaves.

In the final few verses of Genesis 50, Israel’s favorite son Joseph, who had been responsible for the protective care of his family in Egypt for many years, realized he was dying. He made his brothers promise not to bury him in Egypt, but to keep his body above ground. Genesis 50:25-26 “And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.”

That was an important agreement, for as we move into the book of Exodus, we see the political climate in Egypt change against the Children of Israel. The Pharaoh became extremely bigoted against this people, because he saw them as a rapidly multiplying threat to his kingdom.

Exodus: book of departure. Exodus means “going out, marching out (in droves, as we modern Americans would say). This didn’t happen immediately after Joseph died, but the ruler of Egypt gradually turned against the Hebrews and made life as hard for them as possible. He even commanded the slaughter of all Israelite boy babies. That’s why Moses’ parents hid him in the bulrushes, where Pharaoh’s daughter found the infant and took him for her own. As Moses grew up, however, he identified with his Hebrew brethren to the point of killing an Egyptian who was abusing a Jew, and he fled into the desert to avoid Pharaoh’s punishment. Having grown up a member of that royal family, this was a drastic turn in Moses’ life. The whole book of Exodus deals with this story of Moses, his encounter with God at the burning bush, his commission from God to go back to Egypt and “bring forth my people the Children of Israel out of Egypt” Exodus 3:10. “Who are You, Lord?” They will demand to know your name. “I AM THAT I AM.”  Perfect, absolute existence. The source of all creation.

Moses’ task was not easy, but he followed through, and after a long, difficult conflict with Pharaoh as well as the Children of Israel (they were always obstinate), the plagues took their toll and Pharaoh ordered them to leave. They left, but their struggles and rebellions were by no means over. When they arrived at Sinai (Exodus 19-20), God called Moses up into the mountain and gave him the ten commandments also called the Decalogue, which would be the basis for the intricate laws God would give to His people as they began to build a nation and learn His standards.

Exodus ends with Moses and the Children of Israel following God’s instruction to set up a tabernacle for worship in the wilderness, make an ark to contain the symbols of God’s covenant and man’s failure, establishing the Aaronic priesthood, and the pillar of fire/smoke leading them through the desert in their journey toward the Promised Land. They also had the bones of Joseph with them on that journey. Those bones had represented their hope of redemption for generations. Now their redemption from Egypt was a reality, and where they went, Joseph's bones would also go. They did not yet have a written Bible, so Joseph's bones, as well as the Ark of the Covenant and its contents served as teaching tools for the generations as they journeyed through the unfamiliar desert to the land of promise.

Leviticus: book of the Levites is the part of the Pentateuch dealing with the function of the priests who were of the tribe of Levi (a portion of the tribe acted as assistants to the priests in the temple-worship). The Hebrew title is Torath Kohanim, literally "the law of the priests." 27 chapters on law and regulations for civilized life as the People of God. This is the portion of scripture that unbelievers seem to be most rebellious against, when they choose to spew their contempt for God and His Word and His people. God’s people were coming out of demonic paganism and had no idea how to order their lives or establish a nation. These laws spell out God’s expectations, provisions and protection of His people. This is important history for us to learn. Since the propitiation of Jesus Christ, we are not under the Law of Moses, but the principles of right and wrong as a way of life do not change. Principles do not change, but grace covers.  “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” Matthew 5:17.

Numbers: book of the census of Israel. The tribes were numbered and given their assignments in the nation. 36 chapters of regulation and training to respect God’s authority as well as the delegated authority of His spokesman, Moses. Rejection of authority brought swift justice on the usurpers, including Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ own siblings and fellow leaders of Israel.

Deuteronomy: second law. The book is a repetition, with comments, of the Decalogue and most of the laws of Exodus. It also records the death of Moses in chapter 34: 5-7,10  "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated...And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face..." It isn't likely that Moses wrote of his own death, so scholars believe Joshua probably wrote this part of Deuteronomy.

So there we have the first 5 books of the Bible; the Pentateauch, or the 5 scroll cases, of Moses. We have identifying numbers, names and historical events to associate with these books. As we study them in more detail, we’ll amass even more fascinating facts about them.

Now, isn’t this fun?