Coming to Life: Books of the Law

Welcome to Coming to Life, a one-year journey through God's Word. My name is Katie Haack. Today we are going to talk about the first section of the Bible, which contains five books. The first five books are known as the books of the law. These are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. All of these books were written by Moses, with the exception of the very ending as it documents Moses' death, so this section would have been written by Joshua. Now there is a theory that a group of four writers actually wrote these instead of Moses, but that is not something we're going to get into today. However, feel free to study it to see what you think. We do not know the exact date each book was written, but most scholars believe Moses lived sometime between 1600 and 1200 BC, so it would have been in that time frame. These books contain the stories of the creation of the world, man's fall into sin, the flood that covered the earth, the patriarchs who were Adam, Isaac, and Jacob, the exodus from Egypt, and the story of how the Israelites headed towards the promised land, the receiving of the Ten Commandments, a list of laws and festivals for the Jewish people, and explicit details on how to build the tabernacle. There is a lot of information and history in these books. Before I talk more about that, I want to tell you some of the other names for these books, as anytime you do a study of the Old Testament, you will see them. First you have the Torah. The Hebrew Bible, which is called the Tanakh, consists only of what we Christians call the Old Testament, and is divided into just three sections. Torah is the first section, which contains these five books written by Moses. The name Torah means teachings, and these verses are the basis of all Jewish law and practice. Another word you might hear is Pentateuch. Penta means five in Greek, and teuch comes from the word meaning scroll, so that is simply the Greek word for the first five books in the Bible.

And sometimes these books are simply called the Books of Moses. Regardless of which term is used, they all tell the same story. It is a story that explains history, but also sets the stage for Jesus Christ to bring redemption. It starts with Genesis, which details creation, the fall of man, and the establishment of many nations and tribes. Then comes Exodus, a beautiful book about God's redemption as he frees his chosen people from oppression and slavery. Next is Leviticus. This book is named for the Levite tribe, who were the priests that cared for the tabernacle, and it pertains mostly to ceremonial law, but shares how to worship and commune with God. Then comes Numbers. It is the story of the Israelites moving from Mount Sinai to Canaan, the land God promised to bless them with, and it is the story of those twelve tribes and how they get divided. Last is Deuteronomy, which is a recap of the law given to the people before they enter the promised land. We will get more into detail of each of those books in future videos, but for now I want you to understand how these five books fit together with the rest of Scripture and why they are important. These books show us God's nature, his love, grace, mercy, patience, and forgiveness. These books explain why we need a Savior. God is perfect and holy. Man is broken and full of sin. God desires to be in our presence, but we are not holy enough. If we could keep all of the laws written in these books, we could be holy enough, but with our sin nature, it is impossible. One tiny sin ruins us. I like to use this analogy. Imagine there is a perfect, clear, pure glass of water sitting on the counter. This water represents our holiness.

But if I put one tiny drop of poison in it, is the water still good? Or is that one drop of poison enough to ruin it? That poison is our sin. We may think that we live a good life, but we are not clean enough to come before our Almighty Creator. God gave us the laws so that we could realize this truth and recognize our desperate need for a Savior. He shows us that the only way to become clean is through the blood sacrifice of a pure animal. But even that is temporary, because the moment the sacrifice is over and we sin, we are unclean again. God wants us to see that we need an eternal sacrifice, and He provides that for us when Jesus Christ dies on the cross. These five books describe the old covenant, or agreement, and we need to understand that covenant so that we can appreciate that we now live under a new covenant. These books often cause people to see God as strict and full of judgment, but that is not the case at all. They show that our relationship with God was broken because of our sin, and he desperately wants to restore it. If you look deeply, you will see that these books speak of his immense love. They speak of his promises of abundant blessings. They show us how God wants us to live, but speak of his incredible grace and mercy. And best of all, they prepare us for the ultimate fulfillment of his promises, which come in Jesus Christ. I urge you to look for these amazing attributes of God

as you read these first five books, the books of the law. I believe that as you start to recognize how deeply he desires a relationship with you, you will open your heart to becoming closer and more intimate with him. I hope the information shared today helps you grasp how interesting the Bible is so that you develop a passion for reading it. I pray that as you dig into scripture and go through your workbook, God speaks to you in exciting new ways and your spirit begins coming to life. God bless. God bless.