Did Moshe write the 5 books of Moses

Are the liberal ‘scholars right that Moses did not write his books?

Liberal academics argued for a later authorship of the various documents and that the Pentateuch was finally compiled by an editor living 800 years after Moses, during the time of Israel’s exile in Babylon. This is often called the higher critical view.

Also called the JEDP. J tradition (use of the name YHWH) was written c. 850; the E tradition, c. 750; D tradition (Deuteronomy), c. 621 B.C.; and P, a priestly invention, c. 500 B.C. That a unknown redactor (i.e. editor) supposedly combined these four independently written texts to form the what we have as the Pentateuch. God told Moses to write them down. The fact that Israel were to obey all the commands given from Moses, this would be impossible if they were not written down.

Josh 22:9 after Moses’ death, “according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses”

In fact the Bible says 2 Chron. 33:8 “the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses,” same in 2 Chron. 35:6. Not only do we find these words but it tells us Moses himself wrote them, or the Bible is bearing false witness.

Dr. Gleason Archer is professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He holds degrees from Harvard College, Princeton Theological Seminary, Suffolk University Law School, and received his Ph.D. from Harvard Graduate School…. Dr. Archer is fluent in Hebrew, Aramaic and German and has a working knowledge of well over a dozen more ancient and modern languages. (Posted on https://jashow.org/articles/what-evidence-proves-moses-wrote-the-first-five-books-of-the-bible/ )

DR. Gleason Archer makes it clear, “the Pentateuch itself testifies to Moses as having composed it. The first clear indication of this is in Exodus 17 at verse 14: “And Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Write this for a memorial in a book. Exodus 24:4 we read that Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh… and in verse 7 of Exodus 24 he took the book of the covenant and read it in the audience of the people. Now, obviously it would have been difficult for him to read something that wasn’t written. But back in those earlier days of higher critical speculation, it was reasoned that Moses is presented as the leader of a band of slaves and therefore the chances are he wasn’t even literate; he couldn’t read or write. And it was too early for that kind of thing to have been a possibility for the Hebrews. And so this, of course, has been later exploded as utterly unsound because we now have evidences of literacy that extend even to the slave miners who worked at Serabit el Khadim, or ancient Dophkah down in the Sinai Peninsula.

Deuteronomy 31:9…“Moses wrote this Law, this Torah, and delivered it unto the priests.” In other words, one of the last things that Moses did before he was taken from the earthly scene was to complete the writing out of the Pentateuch and this, then, was laid up before the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle.

This is the kind of analysis that began to spring up during the latter part of the 18th century and the 19th century and by the time that Hegel came along with his dialectic that historical processes go according to initial thesis, and then there’s an antithesis and thirdly, there’s a synthesis, you should look for these movements in tracing the history of Israel’s religion and so on. Well, I won’t go into that in great detail but, of course, you see the assumption is that there was never any communication from a personal God to a prophet like Moses; this was simply the invention of a much later period centuries after the death of Moses himself.” (WHAT EVIDENCE PROVES MOSES WROTE THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE?)

Those who deny the Scriptural evidence of Moses’ authorship must say the Bible is inaccurate and is lying to us.

Genesis is a book of origins. Geneseos (beginnings) is the Greek translation for the Hebrew word toldoth which means generations. It follows 11 families, and has numerous first mentions. The toldot is followed by a name, focusing on what became of the one named. these are the generations…Genesis 5 is the accurate record of the successive lineage of Adam’s firstborn male descendants from creation to the flood, and then beginning again with Noah and his family. Genesis 5:1 says that, “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” The Hebrew word for book is 'sefer.' It literally means, “inscription, writing, document, or scroll.” Moses is writing the Book of Genesis, which was either collected from another “scroll” or is writing it from what he learned from the Lord being on the mount 40 days (Ex.24:18). Moses passed on to the people what God approved, he did not write inaccurate statements of mankind's record.

Deut. 28:58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book” (28:61; 20; 20-21;29:27)

Deut. 30:10 “keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law.”

Here we have a book of the law but it does not tell us who wrote it until a few verses further…

Deut. 31:24-26 “ So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying: "Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you.”

As we read in Moses’ earlier book written Moses was instructed to write. Ex 24:4 “And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD.” Ex 34:27 the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words.” If it is not written then, the Bible is bearing false witness.

Moses and the Law of Moses in the New Testament

The New Testament identifies Moses as the author (Mark 12:19; Luke 2:22; 20:28; John 1:17, 45; 8:5; 9:29; Acts 3:22; 6:14;13:39; 15:1, 21; 26:22; 28:23; Rom. 10:5; 1 Cor. 9:9; 2 Corinthians 3:15; Heb. 9:19; Rv. 15:3). Jesus Himself confirmed this as well (Mark 7:10; 10:3-5; 12:26; Luke 5:14; 16:29-31; 24:27, 44; John 5:45-47; 7:19, 23)

John 1:17 “For the law was given through Moses” John 7:19 “Did not Moses give you the law,”

The law began by God writing 10 commandments and handing it to Moses and then 603 other commands God spoke that Moses wrote for the people to obey.

Luke 20:28 "Teacher, Moses wrote to us” Jesus spoke truth an always corrected the people words if they were wrong did Jesus correct them? No, he did not. Because Jesu knew Moses wrote the books, he says so.

Luke 20:37-38 “Now even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' "For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him." Jesus elsewhere states in Mark 12:26 “But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses , in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?

Luke 24:27 “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Jesus is referring to the writings of Scripture attributing a portion to Moses authorship. As he later confirms “that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” (Luke 24:44)

John 5:46-47 “For if you believed Moses , you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

John 7:23 “the law of Moses should not be broken”

John 8:5 Now Moses, in the law”

When it says Moses said or referring to Moses in the law, it all means the same thing, he is the writer and communicator of it.

Acts 28:23 “persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.”

Rom 10:5 “For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law”

1 Cor. 9:9 “For it is written in the law of Moses”

2 Cor. 3:15 “But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.”

Again when was this written; when Moses was alive.

Heb. 8:5 ‘as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle.” And these instructions are all written down in great detail. It would not make sense for scribes to add to the word this information (that was not available to them) 6-800 years later when the Tabernacle was long gone and the Temple replaced it.

Heb. 9:19 “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law”

And this law was written down by him for the people to remember and obey.

Matt. 23:1-23:1 “Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses ' seat.”

What is meant - that they substituted their authority for Moses writings.

That is what liberal academics are doing today.

If you can’t believe Moses’ eyewitness account then you can’t believe the apostles either. Which means you do not believe any of them received revelation from God. Which means that you are biased, and do not come to any of this with an open mind or heart.