INTRODUCTION TO THE
PENTATEUCH
The Birth of God’s People
What is the Pentateuch?
The term “Pentateuch” refers to the first five
books of the Bible.
We see probable references to the Pentateuch in
phrases such as the “Book of the Law of Moses”
(2 Kings 14:6) or the “Book of the Law.” (Joshua
1:8)
The New Testament refers to these books as
“Law” as in the expression “the Law and the
Prophets.” (Luke 16:16)
What is the Pentateuch? (cont’d)
The Pentateuch spans history from the
beginning of time down to, but not including,
Israel’s conquest of the promise land.
Excluding Genesis 1-11, the story is basically one
of a family that grew into God’s people.
Genesis-Deuteronomy is a self-contained story
with a clearly defined beginning, an intricate
plot with many important subplots, and a
decided ending.
What is the Pentateuch? (cont’d)
 The Jewish designation for these books is the Hebrew
word “Torah.”
 Usually translated “law,” it means much more than that.
 The root word means “to teach,” and therefore, it is
better understood as “instruction.”
 Thus, the “Torah” contains instructions for life.
 Together, these five books establish the theological
foundations for the rest of the Bible, and they also
teach us how to live faithfully.
Creation
Glimpses of God in Genesis 1 & 2
7
Genesis 1:1-2
• 1In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth. 2Now the earth was without
shape and empty, and darkness was over the
surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of
God was moving over the surface of the water.
[NET]
Genesis 1
• Does Genesis 1 support creatio ex nihilo?
• No
because the waters are there
• Yes
because God “creates”
– Bara’ – “to create” – v. 1, 26, 27, only God
– ‘Asa – “to make.”
Genesis 1:3-5
• 3God said, "Let there be light." And there
was light! 4God saw that the light was
good, so God separated the light from
the darkness. 5God called the light "day"
and the darkness "night." There was
evening, and there was morning,
marking the first day. [NET]
Genesis 1
• Six days with symmetrical structure
– And God said, “Let there be . . .”
– And it was so . . .
– God saw that it was good . . .
– And there was evening and there was
morning . . .
Genesis 1
• Day 1
• Day 4
– Light
– Sun, Moon, & Stars
• Day 2
• Day 5
– Heavens & Waters
• Day 3
– Air & Water Animals
• Day 6
– Land & Vegetation
– Land animals (including
humans)
Day 7 – God rested.
Genesis 1
• Focuses on who, not how
• Creation doesn’t get God's hands
dirty
• Picture of God is a royal one
• Poetic expression of the
transcendence of God.
Genesis 1
• No details on the “how God created”
• Purposely not interested in “how,” interested
“THAT God created”
• Knowing “how” would diminish God’s
transcendence.
Genesis 1:26-27
•
26
Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our
image, after our likeness, so they may rule
over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over all the creatures that move on the earth."
27 God created mankind in his own image, in
the image of God he created them, male and
female he created them. [NET]
Humankind in Genesis 1
• Why is God plural?
• Both male and female created on Day 6
– Both the woman and the man are in the image of
God, Neither is more the image than the other
• What does it mean to be made in God’s
image?
• What is meant by “dominion?”
Summary of Genesis 1
• Humankind was not an afterthought—
created to serve the gods whims
• Genesis 1 describes the activity of one,
sovereign God, who creates something
"good."
Genesis 2:4-5, 7
• 4This is the account of the heavens and the
earth when they were created--when the
LORD God made the earth and heavens. 5
Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on
the earth. . . for the LORD God had not caused
it to rain on the earth . . . 7The LORD God
formed the man from the soil of the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life, and the man became a living being. [NET]
The Creation of Man (Gen. 2:7)
• God breathed and man became a
living soul.
• For the Hebrews, man did not have a
soul, he was a soul.
Features of Genesis 2
• Different name for God used
–Genesis 1 : Elohim = "God“
–Genesis 2 : YHWH Elohim = "The
LORD God.”
Genesis 2:8-9
•
8
The LORD God planted an orchard in the east,
in Eden; and there he placed the man he had
formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees
grow from the soil, every tree that was
pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now
the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil were in the middle of the
orchard.) [NET]
Genesis 2:15-17
•
15
The LORD God took the man and placed him
in the orchard in Eden to care for and maintain
it. 16 Then the LORD God commanded the man,
"You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the
orchard, 17 but you must not eat from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, for when
you eat from it you will surely die." [NET]
Genesis 2
• Paradise is not doing whatever you
want
–There are rules in paradise
–There is work to do in paradise.
Genesis 2:18-19
•
18
The LORD God said, "It is not good for the
man to be alone. I will make a companion for
him who corresponds to him." 19 The LORD God
formed out of the ground every living animal
of the field and every bird of the air. He
brought them to the man to see what he
would name them, and whatever the man
called each living creature, that was its name.
[NET]
Genesis 2:20
•
20
So the man named all the animals,
the birds of the air, and the living
creatures of the field, but for Adam
no companion who corresponded to
him was found. [NET]
Genesis 2:21-23a
•
21
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into
a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took
part of the man's side and closed up the place
with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a
woman from the part he had taken out of the
man, and he brought her to the man. 23 Then
the man said, "This one at last is bone of my
bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be
called 'woman,' for she was taken out of
man." [NET]
Humankind in Genesis 2
• "Companion who corresponded" or
“Helper” in reference to the woman
doesn’t mean subordinate
• This is a picture of completion, NOT
subordination.
Order of Creation
• Genesis 1
– Water, water
everywhere
– Light
– Heavens & Waters
– Land & Vegetation
– Sun, Moon, & Stars
– Air & Water Animals
– Land animals
• Genesis 2
– Earth’s original state was
waterless
– Man formed from dust
– the garden is planted
– the trees
– animals
– woman, created out of
man.
Genesis 2
• God gets his hands dirty
– forms man from dirt
– plants a garden
– places man in the garden
– forms living creatures
– performs surgery
• Immanent picture of God.
Genesis
• In Gen. 1, God is
removed from his
creation
– Transcendent
• In Gen. 2, God is
molding, breathing, and
planting, etc.
– Immanent
GOD IS BOTH!
THE FALL
Genesis 3:1-5
• Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild
animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the
woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in
the garden”?’ 2The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may
eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3but God said,
“You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the
middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall
die.” ’ 4But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not
die; 5for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes
will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
and evil.’
Genesis 3
• Verse 6 - So when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was a
delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to
be desired to make one wise, she took of its
fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her
husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7Then
the eyes of both were opened, and they knew
that they were naked; and they sewed fig
leaves together and made loincloths for
themselves.
The Fall
• Certainly this fall came with some outside
help. But, in the end Adam and Eve had a
choice to make.
• What does God command Adam regarding the
tree?
• What does Eve report that they should do
regarding the tree?
• Adam has added restrictions to the commands
of God.
The Fall
• They thought the fruit was:
– good for food
– pleasing to the eyes
– desirable to make one wise
• So, Eve takes from the fruit eats it, doesn’t die
as God said they would. So, Adam eats from it
as well.
The Fall
• Who is more to blame?
• The first thing they do with their new
knowledge is:
–Make clothes from leaves
–Hide.
The Fall
• The Punishment
– The Man – increased difficulty in his labor
– The Woman – increased difficulty in her
labor
– The serpent and the ground are cursed.
• They are banished from Eden, and it is closed
to reentry.
• Their sin has alienated them from God.
GENESIS CONTINUED
The first eleven chapters describe the beginnings
of the universe, humanity, sin, and punishment.
Genesis 1-11 presents a problem: God created a
universe that he evaluated as “good,” but
humanity ruined what he accomplished.
After humankind resisted other attempts to
stem the tide of evil, God chose a single man
(Noah) and his family as the solution to this
problem.
Genesis 12-50 is the story of Abraham, his
family, and their journey of faith.
The point of Genesis 12-50 is that these
people believed God, and he used their
faith as the solution to the sin problem in
the world, or at least the beginning of the
solution.
Exodus
The book of Exodus opens with a problem.
God’s people are suffering under Egyptian bondage,
and his plan to use them as the solution to sin seems
impossible.
God chooses to deal with the problem by calling a
faithful few individuals to serve him unconditionally.
Exodus relates the preparation and call of Moses and
his role in leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
The miraculous deliverance of God’s people out of
Egypt is the formative event in Israelite history.
Leviticus
 Leviticus is indispensable to the total message of the
Pentateuch.
 It calls God’s people to ritual and moral purity.
 In Exodus, God liberated captive Israel and
established a unique relationship with her.
 Leviticus focuses on how the people can maintain
that relationship.
 This book is devoted to preserving Israel’s holy moral
character as an aid to worship and enjoyment of the
Lord and his blessings.
Numbers
The book continues the story of Israel’s
journey to the promised land.
After describing the elaborate preparations for
leaving Mt. Sinai, the book describes a series
of events in which the people choose to
disobey God.
The disobedient people are denied entrance
into the promised land, and are forced to
wander in the wilderness for forty years.
Deuteronomy
This book contains a series of Moses’
farewell speeches.
Moses addresses the people and
prepares them for the future.
He restates the law of the covenant, and
warns them against turning from God to
worship other deities.
The Pentateuch: In Summary
1. Genesis is a book or origins. It describes the
beginnings of the universe and the origins of
God’s people.
2. Exodus traces the salvation of God’s people
who are helpless to save themselves.
3. Leviticus calls for holiness as the only natural
lifestyle for the Israelites and as the only
possible response to God’s grace.
4. Numbers is a book of wanderings in
which God’s people suffer the
consequences of their unbelief.
5. Ending with a positive note,
Deuteronomy presents a program for
renewal.