What Books Of The Bible Did Moses Write?

Which books of the Bible did Moses write? How can we know for sure?

The Pentateuch

The Pentateuch is known as the first five books of the Bible and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The word “Pentateuch” comes from the compound word “penta” for five and “teuchos” meaning scrolls or volumes. Sometimes it is referred to as the Torah or The Law, and sometimes it is referred to as “The Law of Moses” which is what Jesus often called it. The majority of Bible scholars believe that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible and as is all of the Bible, it is inspired by the Spirit of God (2nd Tim 3:16).

Jesus Refers to Moses’ Writings

Since we can believe Jesus, we must take His words as fully truthful and He said “And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’” (Mark 12:26)? Jesus, after healing a leper, told the man “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them” (Matt 8:4) indicating that Jesus believed in the authorship of Moses’ writing the law. In speaking about His being the Bread of Life Jesus referred to Moses and the experience of the manna from heaven in the wilderness where Israel received life-sustaining bread from above “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32).

New Testament Character’s Reference Moses

In John 1:17 John the Baptist quotes the law of Moses where he says “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” This cannot be any clearer! John’s testimony was that it was through Moses that the law came but it was through Jesus Christ that grace and truth came. Next came Philip who said to Nathaniel said “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Here Philip shows that Moses as well as the prophets all wrote about Jesus, indicating that Moses was the author of the law or the Pentateuch. Even those who were persecuting believers referred to the writings of Moses as fact (Acts 6:14). The Sadducees also acknowledge Moses as the author of the law when they came to Jesus and said “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother” (Mark 12:19). So too does the author of Hebrews write about Moses, saying “For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself” (Heb 3:3). Luke also acknowledged the law of Moses relating to Jesus’ early life in writing “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22). If Luke said it was the Law of Moses, he is saying that the author of that law was Moses. Again, Jesus refers to Moses in speaking about the coming resurrection, “And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’” (Mark 12:26).

Moses’ Prophecy of Christ

We have read earlier that the prophets and Moses wrote about Jesus but where does it say that Moses wrote about Jesus? It is in Deuteronomy 18:18-19 where it is actually the Lord speaking to Moses “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.” Moses recorded this in Deuteronomy but it was the Lord Who spoke this prophecy. Moses only wrote it down and it was fulfilled in the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Jesus may have been thinking of this same prophecy when He said “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). Of course the prophets like Isaiah wrote about Christ (Isaiah 53, among others) and so did the psalmist (Psalm 22 -24, among others) but Moses did too.

The Transfiguration

We read about the transfiguration in Mark 9 where it says “after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them” (Mark 9:2-3). Jesus had just mentioned the kingdom of God and now the transfiguration is seen as a representation of this coming kingdom. In the transfiguration “there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus” (Mark 9:4) which represents the law (in Moses) and the prophets (in Elijah). Moses’ appearance with Jesus and Elijah gives us strong evidence of Moses involvement in the coming kingdom and also acknowledges the authorship of the law being from Moses. Peter had no problem recognizing Moses as he said “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” (Mark 9:5).

Conclusion

If Moses hadn’t written the first five books of the Bible, known as the law, then Jesus was wrong, John the Baptist was wrong, the scribes and the Pharisees were wrong, Peter was wrong, and Mark, Luke, and Matthew were all wrong. Since it is impossible for all of these to be wrong, especially Jesus Who was perfect, then we can know with certainty that Moses was the author of the law and thus wrote the first five books of the Bible.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.