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THE
TESTIMONY OF THE BIBLE
CONCERNING THE
Assumptions of Destructive Criticism
BY
S.E. WISHARD, D.D.
LOS ANGELES, CAL.
JOHNSON & HANEY
BIBLE INSTITUTE PRESS
1909
Copyright, 1909
By S.E. WISHARD, D.D.
Presentation Copy
* * * * *
"In the defence and confirmation of the truth"
--_Phil 1:7_
BIBLE INSTITUTE
Los Angeles, Calif.
FOREWORD.
_This booklet is sent out
To all Sabbath-school teachers,
To the young people of the Christian churches,
And to all believers in the living Word_.
* * * * *
The work of the destructive critics has been widely disseminated in
current literature. Magazines, secular newspapers, and some religious
papers are giving currency to these critical attacks on the Word of God.
The young people of our churches are exposed to the insidious poison of
this skepticism. It comes to them under the guise of a broader and more
liberal scholarship. They have neither the time nor the equipment to
enter the field of criticism, nor is this work demanded of them.
While abler pens are meeting and answering the questions raised by
destructive critics, something may be said that will clear away the fog
produced by them and enable young Christians to come directly to the
truth.
Hence this booklet is an attempt to "give God a chance" to have his say.
The testimony presented is on the divine plan of giving, "Precept upon
precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line," "lest we
forget."
There has been no attempt to cover the whole ground of destructive
criticism in the brief compass of this booklet. It will be enough to
permit God to answer; hence, in the following pages he speaks for
himself. We are content that his voice shall be heard.
S.E. WISHARD.
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD DESTRUCTIVE CRITICISM 9
II. SHOULD REPLY BE MADE? 17
III. WAS MOSES A LITERARY FICTION? 25
IV. WERE CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES MISTAKEN? 39
V. THE ATTACK ON THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS 59
VI. ASSUMPTIONS CONCERNING THE BOOK OF ISAIAH 73
VII. GOD'S REPLY TO THESE ASSUMPTIONS. 87
VIII. THE HISTORICITY OF THE BOOK OF JONAH 101
IX. RADICAL EXPOSITION 111
X. GOD HIS OWN INTERPRETER 119
I. OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD DESTRUCTIVE CRITICISM.
_"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love,
as Christ also hath loved us." Eph. v. 1, 2._
_"Be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any
man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to
all men." 1 Thess. v. 14, 15._
_"He that believeth shall not make haste." Isa. xxviii. 16._
_"The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments
are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and
uprightness." Psa. cxi. 7, 8._
_"My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Isa, xlvi.
10._
The attitude which God's people should assume toward destructive
criticism has been questioned. It should certainly be a position of calm
patience, that can deliberately weigh valid testimony, and abide by the
decision of intelligent judgment. The history and life of the Church for
nearly two thousand years should go for something. They are not to be
swept away by the bluff, the egoism of what claims to be the only
"Expert Scholarship."
There is no occasion for a panic. Truth that has been, and has builded
noble, goodly life, is truth still, and ever will be. It is not a time
for denunciation. The assumptions of the destructive critics are so
enormous, so radically revolutionary, so directly aimed at vital truth,
that one's heart is stirred. There is danger of yielding to the heat of
a righteous indignation. It is not well to lose one's intellectual and
moral poise, even in a contest involving the honor of God and the
welfare of immortal souls. But "he that believeth shall not make haste."
The lovers of the Book that has safely passed through every storm of
antagonism that the Prince of Darkness could evoke, need not now be
moved to hasty utterance. The eternal foundations of truth, like him who
laid them, are "the same, yesterday, to-day and forever." The Book, with
all its precious doctrines, is here to stay. It can not be destroyed.
Fire has not burned it, water has not quenched it, the edicts of tyrants
and popes have not been able to break its power. The Church of God can
calmly rest on "the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." (1
Peter i. 23.) Hence we may calmly move on undisturbed in our work.
Further, our attitude should be marked by an intelligent understanding
of the question involved. It is not a question of fair, honest
criticism, for the purpose of a deeper knowledge of God and his truth.
All reverent and helpful study of the Word of God is critical, and is
the kind of criticism that the Book challenges. Our Lord invites it, and
urges us to "search the Scriptures," which testify of him.
It is assumed by the rationalistic critics that we have entered a new
era, that the Bible has never been studied until within recent years.
This is an assumption unworthy of scientific scholarship. Critics who
have not sought to destroy the Word of God, but, by thorough
investigation, to determine its claims, have been at work on the
Scriptures in all the past, seeking to know the mind of the Spirit.
There is, and ever has been a legitimate study of the Bible. Hence,
there are absolutely no grounds for the assumption of the rationalists.
The Church of Christ is not opposed to the application of the best
methods and best scholarship in the investigation of revealed truth.
Indeed, the Protestant Church has ever been the mother of the highest
education, and has had an open ear to the call of God--"Come, let us
reason together."
It is well to understand that the poorly-concealed purpose of the school
of higher critics is not to press the just and holy claims of God's Word
on the human conscience, but to eliminate the supernatural from it. The
Christian Church should understand this. If atheistic scientists can
construct a universe without God, by evolutionary processes, and the
critics can construct a Bible without the supernatural, "the wisdom of
this world" will have pretty thoroughly disposed of God.
In the attitude of the Church toward destructive criticism, sometimes
called historical, or constructive, we must not fail to discover its
bearing on the character of Christ. For the final conflict of all
skepticism of every grade and quality is in reference to the person and
work of Christ. The elimination of the supernatural from the Bible would
be an invalidation of Christ's claims and testimony. It would place him
before the world as a false teacher, a fraud, a charlatan. Loyalty to
the Word, and to the Incarnate Word, demands, therefore, that we should
clearly understand the end to which this rationalism is drifting. For
Christ's testimony concerning the Old Testament Scriptures, which will
be presented later in this discussion, is so thoroughly in conflict with
the modern critical assumptions that it must be disposed of by those
claiming expert scholarship. In the attempt to accomplish that feat,
they put our Lord under such limitations as would rob him of his
character as Teacher and Redeemer.
The "experts" are logically driven to one of two conclusions: either
that Christ did not know the facts of the Old Testament Scriptures,
which he believed and was sent to teach, or, knowing the facts, he
deemed it not important to teach them.
The first assumption puts our Savior on the basis of a fallible human
teacher, and nothing more. The second assumption contradicts all the
professions of the critics. For they affirm to-day that the professed
discoveries of the mistaken views of the Bible are of the utmost
importance, and as honest men they are in conscience obliged to make
them known, while claiming that Christ did not make them known.
Shall we assume that these views, which they deem so important to-day,
were of no importance when the Church of Christ first took form? We may
ask, what estimate should we have of Christ, who, knowing his people
were in error as to the authorship and origin of the Scriptures, would
leave them in darkness for more than eighteen hundred years? Is it to be
assumed that he would wait through the long centuries for the coming of
critics to enlighten his people? That is what we are logically asked to
accept at their hands. It is thus made clear that the issue of this
conflict, as in all the past, is narrowed down to the person and
character of our Savior. It is well to face the issue calmly, and with a
clear understanding of what is pending. Did Christ know truth? Was he
honest? Hence, the attitude of the Church should be taken in view of the
trend of modern critical discussion.
II. SHOULD REPLY BE MADE?
_"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Psa. xi.
3._
_"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thess. v. 21._
_"Buy the truth and sell it not." Prov. xxiii. 23._
_"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that
you should earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered unto
the saints." Jude 3._
_"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have
been taught, whether by word or our epistle." 2 Thess. ii. 15._
_"I am set for the defense of the gospel." Paul, Phil. i. 17._
It is a question among earnest Christian men, who are busily engaged in
the work of the Master, as to whether we should turn aside long enough
to make reply to the destructive critics. It is affirmed that, as the
Word of God has already passed through all the attacks that have been
made upon it, it will defend itself in the future as in the past--that
our duty is to preach the gospel. Certainly the victories of the gospel
are a noble defense of its truth and power to save. There should be no
respite from this work. But there are vast multitudes of people that
permit the critics to do their thinking for them. They are not well
informed concerning the Scriptures, and consequently are not prepared to
repel the attacks of skepticism, nor to reply to the specious arguments
or positive assumptions of the critics. These multitudes are in danger
of casting aside the Word of God, and missing the offer of eternal life.
The fact of the increased activity of the enemies of the truth must be
known to Christian people. Their organized and persistent use of the
press has gained for them a wide hearing. Shall the Christian people
deny themselves this instrumentality of getting a hearing for God and
his truth before the world? Would not silence be construed by the world
as meaning that the cause dear to the heart of God's people is
indefensible?
It should be known to all lovers of the truth that the skepticism widely
sown by the destructive critics has entered the Protestant Church and
many of our institutions of learning.
"Read the utterances of representative men and teachers in her
communion, who deny the Incarnation, repudiate vicarious sacrifice, make
light of the story of the resurrection, and refine the risen Son of God
into nothing more than the spirit and essence of truth; or, at most, the
disembodied ghost of a man who called himself a Messiah, mistaken in his
claims, but authoritative in his morals." (Rev. I.M. Holdeman.)
The author of this statement refers also to the fact that there are
"modern professors of theology who convict the very prophets whom they
hold up as exemplars of righteousness, of absolute literary fraud, and
deliberate piracy." They "demonstrate with cool precision that the
higher critics of to-day are better informed concerning the mistakes of
Moses than was he who claimed that Moses wrote of him, and prove to
their own satisfaction and the belief of many followers that Jesus
Christ, our Lord, was limited in intelligence, and would, if he were
here to-day, deny some of the statements he once so unqualifiedly made."
We may not shut our eyes to the fact that many of our colleges are more
or less infected with this rationalistic criticism. Some of our
theological professors have substituted the theory of evolution for the
Scriptural doctrine of creation by the Word of God. Our young men
preparing for the work of the ministry are under the influence and
instruction of some of these teachers here in our own country.
It is a matter for thanksgiving that we have literary and theological
institutions into which the destructive critics have never
entered--institutions that stand for the Word of God as given by the
Holy Spirit, and believed in by God's servants in the past and to-day.
We do well to recognize the further fact concerning the effort to
eliminate the supernatural from the Bible, that the work of the
rationalists has permeated the literature of the day. In this age of
reading fiction, that form of literature has become a convenient vehicle
for taking everything out of the hands of Providence. It has become easy
to leave God out of his universe and supplant him with the heroic in
man. Hence, the literary appetite, ever craving the human instead of the
divine, turns away from the truth that confronts the conscience of the
reader with God and his claims.
For the defense of truth we have the example of prophets, apostles, and
Christ himself. Much of the work of the prophets of the Old Testament
was devoted to the exposure of the "New Thought" of their times. Moses
dealt thoroughly with the new theology that asserted: "These be thy
gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." The
heresy was ended as suddenly as it was introduced.
The Epistle to the Galatians was Paul's reply to the Judiazing teachers
who would substitute ceremonials for the doctrine of justification by
faith. His Epistle to the Ephesians was a constructive work, in answer
to Jewish prejudice and teaching, in which he set forth the unity of
Jews and Gentiles in one Church, which is the body of Christ. In his
Epistle to the Corinthians he answered their false views of marriage. He
shamed their partisan spirit, in which some claimed to be of Paul, some
of Apollos, some of Christ. He labored most earnestly to convince them
of their false views concerning the resurrection, and dealt faithfully
with the errorists concerning the inquiry that was coming to the Church
through their magnifying and perverting the use of the gift of tongues.
He showed them a more excellent way.
There should be no turning aside from preaching a full and free gospel,
nor should there be any halting in its defense, or against the effort to
eliminate the supernatural from the Word of God. The critical work that
logically leaves us a Savior ignorant of the Scriptures, or, if knowing
them, afraid to meet Jewish prejudice by correcting their mistakes,
should be kindly, candidly, and manfully met by those to whom the truth
has given life.
III. WAS MOSES "A LITERARY FICTION"?
_"God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses,
Moses. And he said, Here am I.... Come now, therefore, and I will send
thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children
of Israel, out of Egypt!' Exod. iii. 4, 10._
_"And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the
Lord God of Israel, Let my people go." Exod. v. 1._
_"Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw
out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the
passover.... And the children of Israel did according to the word of
Moses.... And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth,
about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, besides children"
Exod. xii. 21, 35, 37._
_"And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the
tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel."
Exod. xxxiv. 27._
_"And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words
of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded
the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
Take this book of the law and put it in the side of the ark of the
covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness
against thee" Deut. xxxi. 24-26._
We turn now to the assumption that Moses was not the author, under God,
of the Pentateuch. The destructive critics do not agree among themselves
as to the origin of the Pentateuch. Dates and authors are variously
adjusted among those claiming to be experts. There is, however,
agreement on one point, that Moses did not write the Pentateuch. It is
affirmed that his name has been attached to it to give it authority,
because many of the events recorded and much of the history took place
during the period of Moses' life and in connection with his influence.
But the critics place the _record_ of those events almost altogether
after the exile, between nine hundred and a thousand years after the
time of Moses.
It was once affirmed that writing was not used in the days of Moses, and
therefore he could not have written the five books that claim him as
their author. But the fact now brought to light, and conceded by the
critics and all well-informed scholars, that writing antedated Moses by
many centuries, has swept out of existence that objection. But the
question is still raised as to the Mosiac authorship of the Pentateuch.
It is said in reply:
_First_--The Holy Spirit declares by the mouth of Stephen that "Moses
was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words
and deeds." Acts vii. 22.
Writing was long known to and practiced by the Egyptians, hence the man
trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians _was competent_ to write the
Pentateuch.
_Second_--The Pentateuch very definitely claims Moses as its author, not
once or twice, but many times, all through these writings.
"The Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and
rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." Exod. xvii. 14. This was not
the law, parts of which even some of the critics concede that Moses
wrote. It was God's judgment against Amalek. But it was written in a
book. What book? The inspired Scriptures say it was written here in
Exodus xvii. 14. And again it was repeated in Deut. xxv. 19, and that
Moses wrote it.
In the twenty-fourth chapter of Exodus Moses has given an account of
God's call to him, to Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders, to
come up to Horeb. Moses was called into the immediate presence of God,
while the others remained at a distance. After his interview with
Jehovah it is written: "Moses came and told the people all the words of
the Lord.... And _Moses wrote all the words of the Lord_." Exod. xxiv,
3, 4.
In the thirty-fourth chapter of Exodus God is represented as giving
definite instructions to Moses concerning worship, at the conclusion of
which "the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words, for after the
tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel."
Exod. xxxiv. 27.
We turn to the positive statement in Deuteronomy xxxi. 9. The chapter
opens with the declaration that "Moses spake these words unto all
Israel," giving an extended account of what the words were. In the ninth
verse it is stated: ... "_And Moses wrote this law_ and delivered it
unto the priests and unto all the elders of Israel." What became of that
writing of Moses? Was it lost? Or is the statement false? And did some
later writer forge the statement, attributing the writing to Moses, to
give weight and authority to the forgery? To ask the question is to
answer it. "Moses wrote all the words of the Lord."
In the twenty-fourth verse in this same chapter in Deuteronomy it is
stated that "Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a
book." Yet the critics teach that this book, Deuteronomy, was not
written until after the exile, almost a thousand years after the events
narrated. Does not critical credulity make larger demands than are laid
on faith?
The summing up of the book of Numbers, of what had been said and written
in the book, is stated in the last chapter and last verse, namely, that
"these are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded
_by the hand of Moses_ unto the children of Israel." Again and again it
is affirmed in the Pentateuch that God commanded Moses to write, and
that he did write, but the critics affirm that the hand of Moses had
nothing to do with producing the books of the Pentateuch--that they were
written after the exile!
Not only does the Pentateuch distinctly teach the Mosaic authorship of
the five books of Moses, appropriately so called, but all the Old
Testament saints entertained the opinion which the Jewish people and the
Christian Church hold to-day, that God spake to Moses, and that _Moses
committed to writing_ the messages that God gave him and commanded him
to write, embracing the story of God's miracles, his instruction and
dealing with them in the wilderness.
We find the critics contradicted in the Scriptures from Joshua to
Malachi. To Joshua God said: "As I was with Moses, so will I be with
thee." (Joshua i. 5.) Eight times in the first chapter of the book of
Joshua God accredits Moses with having received and having given the law
to Joshua and the people.
The Pentateuch is the book which God, speaking to Joshua, calls "the law
which my servant Moses commanded thee" (Joshua i. 7), and it was so
accepted by Joshua. Was he mistaken? or the critics? He had long enjoyed
most intimate relations with Moses, and knew what Moses had written by
the command of God.
David affirms that God had "made known his ways unto Moses, and his acts
unto the children of Israel" (Psa. ciii. 7). We have seen that the man
Moses was competent to write, and did write, what God had made known to
him (Deut xxxi. 24). The Psalms are illuminated and set aflame with the
faith of Israel, that Moses said and wrote what is ascribed to him in
the Pentateuch.
Ezra, Nehemiah, and the prophets down to Malachi reiterated the same
belief, sung and taught it to their children. Were they mistaken?
The finding of the Pentateuch during Josiah's reign, which had been lost
in the rubbish of the temple during the wicked reign of Manasseh and
Ammon, is evidently referred to in 2 Chron. xxxiv. 14, 15; "Hilkiah the
priest found the book of the law of Jehovah by the hand of Moses.
(Margin, R.V.) And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan, I have found
The Book of the law of the house of the Lord." Four times within seven
verses it is called "_The Book_." It was read before the King, who
humbled himself, and prepared himself and the people to observe the
Passover as it had been prescribed in "the law of Moses." Josiah
commanded them to "kill the Passover, and sanctify yourselves and
prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the
Lord _by the hand of Moses_" (2 Chron. xxxv. 6). This took place long
before the exile, which the critics insist was the beginning of Israel's
literature, and after which they say the Pentateuch was written.
Ezra testifies to the existence of the Mosaic law before his time. His
testimony establishes the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. Ezra vii.
6: "This Ezra ... was a ready scribe _in the law of Moses_."
After the return from captivity Ezra describes the building of the altar
in these definite terms: "Then stood up Joshua, the son of Jozadak, and
his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his
brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt
offerings thereon, _as it is written in the law of Moses_, the man of
God" (Ezra iii. 2). Was Ezra deceiving the people?
There are several things to be noted here:
1. _There was a written law of Moses_, the man of God, then in
existence. It was not a written law of Ezra which the priests palmed off
as the written law of Moses.
2. _There was a priestly order_, according to the written law of Moses
the man of God, not according to the invention of the exiles returning
from captivity, under the pretense that Moses wrote it.
3. The altar was built according to the written law of Moses the man of
God. These records by Ezra effectually bar the door against the critical
conjecture that the Pentateuch, in which the written law of Moses the
man of God is found, was fabricated after the exile.
The definite law for the place of building the altar, by which the
priests proceeded in the days of Ezra, is recorded by "Moses the man of
God," in Deut. xii. 5-7: "Unto the place which the Lord your God shall
choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his
habitation shall ye seek, and thither shalt thou come; and thither shall
ye bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices and your tithes and
heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill
offerings, and the firstlings of your herds, and your flocks; and there
ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that
ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God
hath blessed thee."
It is Ezra, not the critics, who informs us that this was "written in
the law of Moses the man of God." We will be pardoned for accepting the
testimony of Ezra. He does not mean to forsake his faith in the Mosaic
authorship of the Pentateuch, for he writes in chapter vi. 18: "They set
the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for
the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; _as it is written in the book
of Moses_."
In the eighth chapter of the book of Nehemiah, that great servant of God
affirms his faith in the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, which was
also the faith of all the people of his time. In the first verse in this
chapter he informs us that "all the people gathered themselves together,
as one man, into the street that is before the water gate, and they
spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring _the book of the law of Moses_,
which the Lord had commanded to Israel." Ezra was not to make a book and
call it the book of Moses, as some of the critics teach, but to "bring
the book of the law of Moses," a book in their possession already made,
and with which they were already familiar--"_The Book of the Law of
Moses_."
"The Book of the Law of Moses" was the Jewish title given to the
Pentateuch at that time, and is so recognized again and again. Nehemiah
viii. 14 affirms again: "They found written in the law, which the Lord
had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in
booths in the feast of the seventh month." Nehemiah quotes this "command
of the Lord by Moses" from Lev. xxiii. 39-42, which was a fraud on the
part of Nehemiah, if Moses was not the author of the book. Again he says
in the thirteenth chapter of Nehemiah and first verse: "On that day they
read in the book of Moses, in the audience of the people"; but it was
not the book of Moses if he had not written it, but the book of another
one of the "unknown" so frequently found (?) in Scripture by our
critics.
The book of Moses in which this last reference from Nehemiah is written
is the command that the "Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into
the congregation of God for ever," and is recorded in Deut. xxiii. 3, 4.
But our critical friends inform us that Deuteronomy was not written
until after the captivity. Hence, the logic of their position is, that
Nehemiah attributes to Moses what he did not write, and proves himself
to be either ignorant of the truth or practicing a fraud upon the
people. We prefer the testimony of Nehemiah to that of the latter-day
critics.
It should be repeated that the prophets and inspired writers down to
Malachi reiterated their confidence in the Mosaic authorship of the
Pentateuch. And he, the last messenger of the Old Testament to Israel,
gave them this message from God: "Remember ye _the law of Moses_ my
servant, which I commanded unto him" (Mal. iv. 4). Indeed, the entire
testimony of the Old Testament is in harmony with the positive
statements made in the Pentateuch, that Moses was commanded to write,
and that he actually and positively "wrote all the words of the Lord"
(Exod. xxiv. 4). There is not a word, syllable, hint, or shadow of a
hint assigning these five books of Moses to a later date or author.
The presumption, or guess, of the critics carries no weight in the face
of the testimony of the entire Old Testament that God commanded Moses to
write, and that he did write, the five books attributed to him.
IV. WERE CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES MISTAKEN?
_Christ said to his apostles:_
_"Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea,
and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Acts i. 8._
_"I speak the truth in Christ and lie not." Paul in 1 Tim. ii. 7._
_"Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of
the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth." The Apostle John in
Rev. i. 5._
_"We know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these
miracles that thou doest, except God be with him," Nicodemus, in John
iii. 2._
_"If I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?" Christ, in John viii.
46._
_"I am the way, the truth and the life." Christ, in John xiv. 6._
The opinions and testimony of the apostles are certainly worth
something. They had three years of instruction under our Lord, and the
promise from him that the Holy Spirit should guide them into all truth.
(John xvi. 13.)
A study of the writers of the New Testament proves that they are in
absolute harmony with the writers of the Old Testament as to the Mosaic
authorship of the five books of the Pentateuch. Luke ii. 22 informs us
that the mother of Jesus, "when the days of her purification were
accomplished according to the _law of Moses_," brought the child "to
present him to the Lord." This was done, according to Leviticus xii.
2-6, and accredits that book to Moses, and not to some imaginary author.
The Apostle John informs us that "the law was given by Moses, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John i, 17). If he has misled us in
reference to Moses and the law, can we trust him in reference to grace
and truth by Jesus Christ?
When Peter made his address to the people who were surprised at the
healing of the cripple, he said: "_Moses truly said_ unto the fathers, A
prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren,"
(See Acts iii. 22.)
This saying of Moses is recorded in Deut xviii. 15, the contents of
which book are introduced to us in these words; "These be the words
which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness,
in the plain over against the Red Sea" (Deut. i. 1), referring to the
whole books spoken by Moses, the learned man, mighty in words and deeds,
but not recorded, the critics say, until after the exile, about a
thousand years! This you are asked to believe on the basis of the
professed or assumed acumen of the critics!
Further, in his great speech before the Sanhedrim at his martyrdom,
Stephen quotes Moses as having received full and complete directions
from God concerning the tabernacle. (Acts vii. 44.) In the twenty-fifth
chapter of Exodus, the book in which Moses was commanded to write and
did write, these directions are recorded. We accept Stephen's testimony,
added to that of Exod. xxv., rather than the testimony of the critics.
When Paul was writing to the Corinthians of the blindness of the Jews (2
Cor. iii. 15) he said: "Even unto _this day, when Moses is read_, the
veil is upon their hearts."
Moses must have written something if he was read. What has become of his
writings? Is it not the Pentateuch which the Scriptures everywhere call
the writings of Moses? Undoubtedly, yes.
In Paul's missionary sermon at Antioch in Pisidia, he declared to his
audience that through Christ "all that believe are justified from all
things, from which ye could not be justified _by the law of Moses_"
(Acts xiii. 39).
Why does Paul refer to the ceremonial of the Jewish ritual as the law of
Moses? It must be answered that Paul was a Jew. He was familiar with the
Jewish scriptures. He had read the following passages and believed them,
and was grounded in the truth which they declare, that "by the hand of
Moses" they were given to the people.
To satisfy the reader that they were "given by the hand of Moses" the
following Scriptures are furnished:
1. "Aaron and his sons did all things which were commanded _by the hand
of Moses_." (Lev. viii. 36.)
2. "That ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the
Lord hath spoken unto them _by the hand of Moses_." (Lev. x. 11.)
3. "These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the Lord made
between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai, _by the hand of
Moses_." (Lev. xxvi. 46.)
4. "These were they that were numbered of the families of the
Kohathites, all that might do service in the tabernacle of the
congregation, which Moses and Aaron did number, according to the
commandment of the Lord _by the hand of Moses_." (Num. iv. 37.)
5. "These ... whom Moses and Aaron numbered, according to the word of
the Lord _by the hand of Moses_." (Num. iv. 45.)
6. "According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered _by the
hand of Moses_." (Num. iv. 49.)
7. "They kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord,
_by the hand of Moses._" (Num. ix. 23.)
8. "And they first took their journey according to the commandment of
the Lord _by the hand of Moses_." (Num. x. 13.)
9. "Even all that the Lord hath commanded you _by the hand of Moses_,
from the day that the Lord commanded Moses." (Num. xv. 23.)
10. "That no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to
offer incense before the Lord, that he be not as Kora and his company,
as the Lord said to him _by the hand of Moses_." (Num. xvi. 40.)
11. "And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lord
commanded _by the hand of Moses_." (Num. xxvii. 23.)
12. "These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord
commanded _by the hand of Moses_." (Num. xxxvi. 13.)
13. "By lot was their inheritance, as the Lord commanded _by the hand of
Moses_." (Joshua xiv. 2.)
14. "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you
cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you _by the hand of Moses_."
(Joshua xx. 2.)
15. "The Lord commanded _by the hand of Moses_ to give us cities to
dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle." (Joshua xxi. 2.)
16. "And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these
cities with their suburbs, as the Lord commanded _by the hand of
Moses_." (Joshua xxi. 8.)
17. "And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half
tribe of Manasseh returned, ... according to the word of the Lord _by
the hand of Moses_." (Joshua xxii. 9.)
18. "And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would
hearken unto the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their
fathers _by the hand of Moses_." (Judges iii. 4.)
19. "Thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to
be thine inheritance, as thou spakest _by the hand of Moses, thy
servant_." (1 Kings viii. 53.)
20. "There hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he
promised _by the hand of Moses his servant_." (1 Kings viii. 56.)
21. "So that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them,
according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances _by the
hand of Moses_." (2 Chron. xxxiii. 8.)
22. "To kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your
brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord, _by the
hand of Moses_." (2 Chron. xxxv. 6.)
23. "Thou ... madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst
unto them precepts, statutes and laws, _by the hand of Moses thy
servant_." (Neh. ix. 14.)
24. "Thou leddest thy people like a flock _by the hand of Moses and
Aaron_." (Psa. lxxvii. 20.)
Paul was familiar with these statements of the Jewish Scriptures. He
believed them. (2 Cor. iv. 13.) He believed that God gave "the whole law
and the statutes and the ordinances _by the hand of Moses_" (2 Chron.
xxxiii. 8), who was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was
mighty in words and deeds. (Acts vii. 22.) Hence he called the
Scriptures "The Law of Moses."
Some of the critics will concede that many things were done by Moses,
but not recorded until after the exile. Think of it! The laws, statutes,
and ordinances which were vital to the life of the Jewish nation, which
had been given at Sinai, and were announced with the sanctions of life
or death, were not recorded by God's appointed leader, whom he had
trained in all the learning of the times, but were left for almost a
thousand years to uncertain tradition!
Paul had not forgotten the above statements concerning Moses' personal
connection with the giving of the law. Before Felix he was arraigned,
and testified "what the prophets and Moses did say." (Acts xxvi. 22.)
To the Jews at Rome "he expounded and testified the kingdom of God,
persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the laws of Moses and out
of the prophets." (Acts xxviii. 23.)
In his Epistle to the Roman Christians he says (quoting from Lev. xviii.
5): "For Moses writeth that the man that doeth the righteousness which
is of the law shall live thereby." (Rom. x. 5, R.V.)
To the Corinthian Christians he says: "It is written in the _law of
Moses_. Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox when he treadeth out
the corn." (1 Cor. ix. 9.) Here again he quotes from Deut. xxv. 4, and
repeats the quotation in 1 Tim. v. 18. But the critics deny that it was
written until after the exile, at least nine hundred or one thousand
years later.
The Apostle James adds his testimony to that of Paul, while addressing
the assembly of the apostles at Jerusalem, saying: "For Moses of old
time hath in every city them that preach him, _being read_ in the
synagogues every Sabbath." (Acts xv. 21.)
We have learned in these quotations from Matthew, Luke, John, Stephen,
Peter, and Paul, their repeated testimony, their unvarying faith that
_Moses both spoke and wrote_ the scriptures contained in the Pentateuch.
We have seen that their faith was founded on twenty-four inspired
declarations that these five books were given "_by the hand of Moses_."
These statements are found in the books themselves, from Leviticus to
the Psalms. If inspired testimony is worth anything, the case is closed,
and the critics' case goes out of court, more than disproved.
WAS CHRIST MISTAKEN?
The reader will be interested to know what Christ has to say of the
critics' denial of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. For he who
"spake as never man spake," he of whom the Father said, "This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, _hear ye him_," this same Jesus
had some very positive opinions on the subject before us. He has spoken
clearly and definitely. We may not turn away from his testimony.
1. After healing the leper, our Lord said to him: "Go thy way, show
thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that _Moses commanded_ for a
testimony unto them." (See Matt. viii. 4, Mark i. 44, Luke v. 14.)
Our Savior here quotes from Lev. xiv. 2-8. Moses had been commanded to
write the words that God had given him. (Exod. xxxiv. 27.) "And Moses
wrote all the words of the Lord" (Exod. xxiv. 4), hence our Lord quotes
the passage in Leviticus _from Moses_.
2. The Pharisees, always captious and controversial, sought to entangle
the Savior in a discussion on the subject of divorce. Replying, "He
saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered
you to put away your wives." (Matt. xix. 8.) Our Lord here quotes from
the Mosaic law (Deut. xxiv. I-4), recognizing Moses as the author of the
same.
3. He rebuked the scribes and Pharisees also for turning from the word
of God to the traditions of men. "For Moses said, Honor thy father and
thy mother." (Mark vii. 10.) This quotation is from Exod. xx. 12, and
Deut. v. 16. They had made the command of Moses of no effect, had
violated the law which Christ taught had been given by Moses.
4. The Sadducees came to him with their controversy concerning the
resurrection. They presented to him an unanswerable argument, as they
supposed, against the doctrine, questioning as to whose wife she should
be in the resurrection, who has had seven husbands in this life. Christ
replied (Mark xii. 26, 27): "As touching the dead, that they rise; have
ye not read in the _book of Moses_ how in the bush God spake unto him,
saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living."
This quotation by our Lord is from Exod. iii. 6, and he calls the book
from which it is made "the book of Moses." Did Christ know whether it
was the book of Moses or of some unknown author who had so artfully
palmed it off under false colors as to deceive the entire Jewish nation?
Or, as certain of the critics teach, did Christ know that the pretense
that it was the book of Moses was a fraud, but, in view of public
opinion, was unwilling to expose the deception? To ask these questions
is to uncover the animus of the critical assumptions which logically
attack the character of Christ himself.
Christ knew who was the author of the book, and knowing, he affirmed
that it was "_The Book of Moses_."
5. In our Lord's parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Dives is
represented as pleading that some one be sent from the dead to warn his
brothers, lest they also come into this place of torment. The reply to
his request was: "They have Moses and the prophets.... If they hear not
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose
from the dead." (Luke xvi. 29, 30.) "Moses and the prophets" was the
name for the Jewish Bible. If Moses did not write the Pentateuch, the
name of their Bible was false, and the Savior indorsed a falsehood. We
believe "the faithful and true Witness," and reject the critics who
dishonor his character.
6. After Christ's resurrection he walked and communed with the two
disciples on the way to Emmaus. He instructed them concerning the
Messiah's death, and, "beginning at Moses" (Luke xxiv. 27), informed
them that it was God's plan, foretold in the Old Testament. He appeared
to his apostles and declared to them that "all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the law of Moses and the prophets." (Luke xxiv.
44.) The critics deny Moses' authorship, but Christ affirms it, using
the language that means the Pentateuch. _We believe him_.
7. In our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus he recognizes Moses in
connection with the book of Numbers. He refers to the historical
incident, if our critical friends will leave us any Biblical history, in
Numbers xxi. 8, 9. He says: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up," (John iii. 14.)
Recurring to the passage in Numbers, we learn that, in the dire distress
of the people for their sins, God commanded Moses to make a brazen
serpent, and lift it up before the people, that they might look and
live.
Certain of the critical school consent that Moses, was connected with
the event, but did not record it. Indeed! And what proof that he failed
to make the record? It was personal to himself. It was symbolically
prophetic of the crucifixion of Christ, as our Savior used it, an event
toward which all prophecy moved. And we have already learned that nine
times it has been stated in the book of Numbers that the acts, precepts,
and statutes of this book were done and given by "_the hand of Moses_."
8. To the Jews, seeking to murder their Messiah, he said; "Do not think
that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses ye would have
believed me, _for he wrote of me_." (See John v. 45, 46.)
When and where did he write of Christ? He wrote of him in the five books
which are ascribed to Moses by all the Old Testament Scriptures, and by
Christ and his apostles. He wrote of him in Gen. iii. 15, when God
promised that "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head."
He wrote of Christ in Gen. xii. 3, when God promised Abraham: "In thee
shall all families of the earth be blessed." He wrote of the Messiah
when he recorded Jacob's prophecy in Gen. xlix. 10: "The scepter shall
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come." Moses wrote of Christ, when under divine direction he instituted
the passover, as recorded in the twelfth chapter of Exodus.
He wrote of Christ in the Levitical ritual, when under God's instruction
he set up the system of types, for the tabernacle and the temple
service, which taught the fundamentals of the New Testament
gospel--_redemption by the blood_.
The whole tabernacle and its furniture was necessary to complete the
symbolism that should represent the Messiah. The altar, the laver, the
shew bread, the golden candlestick, the mercy seat, and the officiating
high priest. For "Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make
the tabernacle," and received positive direction as to how he should
construct it, that redemption should echo from every part of the
service. Beautiful and glorious was the service that proclaimed "Christ
and him crucified." Christ's testimony here is twofold: That "Moses
wrote," and that he "wrote of me," of Christ, the witness of these
things.
9. It was at the feast of tabernacles, in the year 29 A.D., that the
Jews attacked the Savior in a fierce controversy, because he healed on
the Sabbath day. He was teaching in the temple when they charged him
with violating the Sabbath.
To that charge he replied: "_Did not Moses give you the law_? Yet none
of you keepeth the law." (See John vii. 19.) He affirms in most positive
terms, that can not be twisted into the shadow of a negation, that Moses
gave them the law. The interrogative form of his statement is
rhetorically the strongest possible affirmation.
10. Once more, in the twenty-third verse of the same chapter, Christ
refers to the fact that their children received circumcision on the
Sabbath day, that "the law of Moses be not broken."
The sum of Christ's testimony to the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch
is before us. Ten times our Lord asserts in the passages quoted that the
law given in the Pentateuch was the "law of Moses." He affirms that in
that law "he wrote of me." From Genesis to Revelation there is continued
affirmation by prophets, apostles, and by Christ, who can not lie, that
the five books of the Pentateuch are the books of Moses, under the
guiding hand of the Spirit of God.
A recent writer, who has gone over the testimony of the Bible itself
against the critics, says: "We find in them (the writers of the Old
Testament) more than eight hundred quotations from, or references to,
the first five books of the Bible, and not a hint is given that Moses is
not their author," but he is everywhere recognized as the author, under
God.
Witnesses multiply with every restudy of the book, proving the Mosaic
authorship of the first five books of _The Book_. "What shall we say,
then, to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"
V. THE ATTACK ON THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS.
_"The Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle
of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel and say
unto them, If any man of you bring an offering, ye shall bring your
offering of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock." Lev. i. I,
2._
_"And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering
shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil upon it, and put
frankincense thereon." Lev. ii. 2._
_"And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, ... he shall lay
his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and Aaron's sons the priests shall
sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about," Lev. iii. 1, 2._
_"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the
commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done,
... let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock
without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering." Lev. iv. 1, 2, 3._
_"His truth endureth to all generations." Psa. c. 5._