We turn to Psalm 119:11;

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

At that time the Israelites had the word of God through the prophets. In the writing of this Psalm, the people of Israelites didn’t have the Old Testament, but only certain words spoken to them through the prophets. At least, they had the 5 Books of Moses with them. Many of the prophets have not spoken yet. But yet, the psalmist says,

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

Today we are so blessed. Not only do we have the entire Old Testament, but we also have the New Testament. The Old Testament speaks a lot about mysteries - the mystery of salvation, the mystery of Jesus Christ and the mystery of how the whole world will come into the kingdom of God. All these are mysteries kept from the world but when the Old Testament records of such things, it’s so encrypted that when people read the Old Testament they wouldn’t understand.

Jesus says that He is the bright and morning star. He brings light into the scripture and explains the Old Testament in a way people would understand and be filled with motivation. They’d be so interesting and motivating, people want to join Him. So multitudes flocked to listen to Him.

Today the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles are connected in the New Testament. The New Testament allows us to understand the Old Testament. Jews only understand the Old Testament partially but when Jesus came into the world, they realised this is what they were hoping for, “We didn’t know God was going to fulfill His promises in this way. Now we know what the prophets are talking about. We’ve been worshipping God through the rituals. Now we understand what this is all about!” Because Jesus came to explain and Jesus came to fulfil. When He went up to the right hand of God in the heavens, He sent down the Holy Spirit. Then the disciples start to understand all things and all these are written in the New Testament.

So you see how blessed we are - we hold the Old Testament in our hands and we can understand it because the New Testament helps us. Today the Jews reject the Old Testament and the Bible says that this is because they are still blind. They read the Old Testament with a veil on their face but Paul says in Christ this veil is taken away. So Praise the Lord, that you and I are in Christ. This veil is taken away and the light of the Bible shines on our faces and we look very bright and intelligent because we understand the Bible.

The 66 books in the Bible are very organised and are not just a loose collection. The Old Testament was given first, full of mystery. The New Testament is given later to explain these mysteries. The New Testament is built on the Old Testament. Today we read commentaries and these commentaries sometimes contain the views and understanding of men. But if we realise that the New Testament is a commentary of the Old Testament, and is divinely inspired commentary (Jesus Himself explains the Old Testament) then we know that the Bible is complete. The correct understanding of how the books relate to each other will make us enjoy the Bible more. So the New Testament is built on the foundation of the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament itself, there are the 5 Books of Moses forming the core. When the Psalmist says “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”, it’s sure he only had 5 Books of Moses. The 5 Books of Moses is the core of the Old Testament and the Old Testament is the foundation of theNew Testament. So we can say the 5 Books of Moses is the core of the Bible.

The speaker shares this because we have now embarked on the book of Genesis. The speaker hopes that at least some of us are following the Closer Day by Day schedule because when you have a group of people reading the same thing you can share your insights with one another and that’s fellowship in the word of God. We can know the role of Genesis in the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These 5 books are known to be authored by Moses. The Jews call it the Torah. What is the meaning of Torah? Torah is the translated law of the New Testament. But it’s more than law.

If you read the 5 books you’ll see many stories - Cain and Abel, Noah, we read about how Abraham sacrificed Isaac, how Moses through the power of God parted the Red Sea, how the people were saved from Egypt and journeyed into the wilderness, how they erected the tabernacle and how they finally entered Canaan. The 5 Books of Moses is more than law.

So what does Torah mean? Torah can be interpreted as instruction or guidance so it’s a collection of God’s instructional guide for us to walk on the path He wants us to take. It’s to tell us God’s will - God’s will always be done because no one can stop Him. So in the Torah, we can see God’s salvation. In the 5 Books of Moses, He already tells us He will send Jesus Christ to save the world and His plan for humanity. The Torah tells us about God’s will in this aspect.

But why do people translate Torah as law? Because the 5 Books of Moses also tell us the will of God must also be obeyed by us. God’s will contains what He wants to do and also what He wants us to do. What He wants to do, no one can stop but what He wants us to do depends on us. If we perform His will, the Torah tells us about blessings that will come about us. If we disobey, the Torah tells us of the punishments. Therefore the Torah tells us God’s will and is translated as God’s law.

The rest of the Old Testament stems from the core of the Torah. We talk about the prophets. They expand from what Moses has written, expand on it and apply it to the people of God. When the people of God were placed with difficulties, the prophets tell them, “It’s already in the Torah”. When the people of God were faced with calamities, the prophets tell them, “The Torah already tell you you’ve sinned. Obey the word in the Torah and He will bless you. If not, the punishments in the Torah are on you.”

In the historical books record what God did to the people according to what He has said in the Torah. Whatever has planned is now being fulfiled in history. And then we come to the wisdom books (Psalms), what does the Psalm say? Psalm 1:1;

‘Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;’

The hymn we sang talks about the Torah in the hearts of men. So no matter the prophetic, historical or wisdom books, they all stem from the 5 Books of Moses. That’s why the 5 Books of Moses is sometimes used to represent the Old Testament. Let’s look at what Jesus said. Look at John 10, that was when the Jewish debated with Jesus. These people knew the word of God very well; they knew the entire Old Testament very well. The Jewish rabbi today go through very strict training just like the Pharisees and scribes in Jesus’ time. They can memorise quote scriptures very easily, but they don’t understand what they say. So when Jesus tried to explain, they opposed. These people who opposed Jesus, they took stones to throw Him. Jesus used the word of God to explain to them.

Let’s read John 10:34;

‘Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’ ? ‘

Jesus said, “Isn’t it written in your Torah?”. “You are gods” is a quote from Psalm 82. Jesus says, “isn’t it written in your Torah?” but is talking about the Psalm. So even in the Jewish and Jesus’ mind, the entire Old Testament can be called Torah because the Torah is the core of the Old Testament. Christians had the same understanding. When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, in 2 Corinthians 3 is where he said the Jews are blind. Paul says even today when the Old Testament is read (when the Jews read the Old Testament), their minds are blinded and there’s a veil upon their face. When he repeats this, he says “when Moses is read”. So ‘Moses’ and ‘Old Testament’ are used interchangeably. Moses represents the Old Testament not because he wrote the whole Old Testament but because the 5 Books of Moses formed the law.

Let’s read Genesis 18:19;

‘For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord , to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” ‘

This tells us the will of God for Abraham. The will of God for humanity started with Abraham. He chose Abraham and He wants Abraham to be a chosen nation and so Abraham is to do His will. When the will of the Lord is obeyed by Abraham and his children, then God will fulfil upon Abraham and his children what He has intended for them.

Let’s turn to Deuteronomy 4. Here God tells them that the promised people will have a promised land and when you go into the promised land, you must keep His words. This can be seen from v5-14;

5 ‘“Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess.
6 Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’
7 “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?
8 And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?
9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
10 especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’
11 “Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
12 And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.
13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.’

God has made them special and a special law to keep. Then, they’ll forever be God’s special people in God’s promised land. We can see God’s will be fulfilled by His people. So later when they entered the promised land, the history recorded in the history books all happened in what God had said in Deuteronomy just like what God said in Genesis 18. When the people obeyed, the nation thrived.

In the time of David and Solomon, they conquered the minor tribes around Israel and they had to do a tribute to them. When they disobeyed, from Solomon onwards, the country split and got taken to captivity. All these are according to what God had willed in the Torah.

When we read the Old Testament stories, we realise that everything is already in the 5 Books of Moses. There’re many more we can say and many more of these warnings and prophecies we can see in the Bible. Like Leviticus says, “if you obey, I’ll send you rain.” Even the necessities were dependent on their obedience to God. Deuteronomy says, “when you have a king (because God’s will is for them to have a strong kingdom), he must copy for himself a copy of the Torah so that he will obey God’s will in the Torah and the nation will progress.” So you see the importance of the 5 Books of Moses to the people of Israel.

What has that got to do with us? The will of God for humanity starts with Abraham. Let’s read Genesis 12:1-3;

1 ‘Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”’

God fulfilled His will for humanity through Abraham (this can be read in v3). Through him, all families on the earth will be blessed. So we are part and parcel of those who live on the earth. How many of us come from Mars or Venus? If you’re a Martian, then the 5 Books of Moses have nothing to do with you. However we are earthlings, and so the Torah definitely has got to do with us. God gave the 5 Books of Moses to them, and it’s as good as giving it to us because today through the Lord Jesus Christ, we all become children of Abraham. Paul makes it very clear to the Galatians. When we are baptised, we put on Christ and because of that, we become Abraham’s children. That means we become heirs according to the promise. Therefore whatever is promised to Abraham is given to us and it HAS to do with us. Whatever the people of God in the Old Testament went through, it’s all according to what is written in the 5 Books of Moses, and it is recorded in the entire Old Testament. Today the 5 Books of Moses becomes our textbook.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 10:6,

‘Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. ‘

11;

‘Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.’

This is especially about what is written in the 5 Books of Moses. Chapter 10 begins about how they crossed the Red Sea, then to how they were stranded in the wilderness, to how they ate manna that fell from the sky, to how they drank from the rock. It’s all written in the Torah. How they disobeyed God become negative examples to us. These are written to us for our warning.

Likewise, good things that happened to them are written for us. Hence, the entire Old Testament particularly the Torah, becomes our textbook. Let’s read Romans 15:4;

‘For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. ‘

We receive hope and comfort from the dealings of God with His people. Let us read the Old Testament with the utmost respect. Especially now that we’re in the New Testament time, we have the 66 books laid before us and we can see the 5 Books of Moses in great clarity. Read the Torah and reference with other parts of the scriptures. Then, we’ll see very clearly, especially when we experience all the New Testament blessings in the church. Then you’ll realise, “Ah! It’s there in the Torah thousands of years ago. What a great mystery and the great love of God to will this from the beginning of time!” Then, you’ll have a lot of faith for what God wants to do with us. Then you’ll see God’s will, and what God wants US to do. So when we pray the Lord’s prayer (“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”) there’ll be additional meaning because we have read the 5 Books of Moses and understand it.

The 5 Books of Moses is the core of the Old Testament, not just because of the content but because of how it became. We mentioned earlier it’s called this because it came from Moses. But how did Moses get all these? For example the 6 days of creation, the Sabbath day, how did Moses get all these things? Did he see it in a vision? Did God tell him in his ears? Or through dreams? Let’s turn to Numbers 12:6-8;

6 ‘Then He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I , the Lord , make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream.
7 Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house.
8 I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the Lord . Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?”’

God differentiated Moses from the other prophets. The first man said to be a prophet was Abraham. God told Abimelech that Abraham is a prophet but the things Abraham understood from God came either in a dream or in a vision. However, this was not the case with Moses. God said that He spoke to Moses mouth to mouth. Even Isaiah, Daniel, etcetera, all these things came in a dream or vision. For Abraham when he saw a vision, it was in a dream. God made it very clear here - Moses was the only one He spoke mouth to mouth with, unless He appeared in human (like in the form of the three angels) or unless He spoke to other prophets in a dream.

Moses is different, he could go to God anytime and speak to Him face to face. We read this in Exodus. When the pharaoh bullied his people, he went to God and complained. He spoke to God face to face. This was when Aaron and Miriam spoke against him. So God says “Eh, Moses speaks to Me face to face. Who are you?”

How did Moses know about creation? God told him face to face. At the end of his life, in the last book of the Pentateuch in Deuteronomy 34:10;

‘But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, ‘

We read that after Moses, no one like him spoke to God face to face. So Moses is unique and therefore the 5 Books of Moses are unique. They are the result of face to face revelation of God to Moses. It’s not that the prophetic books are less important, but that we must know the difference between the 5 Books of Moses and the others because it was face to face interaction of God with Moses. Moses wrote down what God had told him. Even in the New Testament, the Torah is referred to as the book of Moses. Jesus Himself and the New Testament writers used this terminology to tell us that the Torah was face to face revelation from God. When you read the Torah, look at the first book. The first book starts very beautifully - God created the world, God called it good and during the 7th time, God calls it “very good!” It tells us of the beautiful relationship God has with humanity.

Adam is the son of God, and God’s image is on him. But later on, Adam rebelled, Cain rebelled, the whole world rebelled. Then God sent a flood to destroy the whole world. Did they learn their lesson? No. When Noah was still alive, his descendant started to build the Tower of Babel (the Tower of Babel is a symbol of global rebellion - they wanted the height to reach the heavens and at the top the signboard it would be ‘humanity triumph’, perhaps), they wanted to put a name for themselves. But God didn’t allow it so He confounded their project. That was the beginning of nations.

The word ‘gentile’ is only in the English and Chinese languages. It’s not in the Hebrew or Greek language. There’s no word for ‘gentile’ in Hebrew. Why is it in the Chinese and English language then? That word ‘gentile’ actually means ‘nations’. Hence today we have nations. To us, it’s a neutral word but in the Bible, ‘nations’ is a bad word to describe people rebelling against God. Nations represent the whole world and rebellion against God, and so Israel is not reckoned among the nations. They’re God’s special people. That’s why in the book of Genesis, it didn’t end well.

Usually, the nations have one chief nation. The first was Egypt. Later on, we read about Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Today we also have our superpower (speaks loudest in the United Nations).

In Genesis 11 tells us it’s the united nations against God. Unfortunately, the beginning of nations is against God. How did Genesis 50 end? The last word in the Hebrew Bible is ‘coffin’. Joseph was buried in Egypt in the coffin. So the first book of the Bible ends with Coffin. From the viewpoint of humanity, at the end of Genesis, you see a group of sinners whose end is death.

Then we move on to the second book of the Pentateuch - Exodus. What is it about? God sent them out of the chief nation. Genesis ended with the Egyptian coffin. In Exodus, God saved His people out of Egypt. At the end of Exodus, you see these groups of no longer sinners but saved people. Then God takes them out of the wilderness. When God took them out of Egypt, their first destination was Mount Sinai and all the contents of Leviticus were given to them.

The book of Leviticus talks about God’s holiness and so His people have to be holy. He has the holy law, priesthood, feast, and sacrifices and therefore God’s people must be holy. At the end of Leviticus, you see an image of a holy people. From sinners to saved, and from saved to saints.

Then it’s Numbers and there was fierce training in the wilderness to be conquerors because they’re supposed to go into the land of Canaan and conquer the cities there. Look at their first battle, Jericho. It was so hard to conquer and they had to fight. But they weren’t just trained for physical warfare, they were trained to be God’s soldiers. So the end of Numbers, you see a group of soldiers. Sinners -> saved -> saints -> soldiers.

Today we follow the same thing. God saved us from sinners, sanctified us, and we are now the soldiers of Christ. The book of Deuteronomy is a summary of all things. It looks forward to Canaan land and brings us into the New Testament. It looks as far as into the New Testament. We end with 2 quotations from Deuteronomy to show how the 5 Books of Moses links to the New Testament.

We read Deuteronomy 18:15;

‘“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, ‘

We read that there’s no prophet like Moses who speaks to God face to face but one day there will be. V18;

‘I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
So whatever the prophet speaks are God’s word and if they don’t listen to Him, He would require of them. That’s Jesus. So when Jesus joined John the prophet, they asked, “Are you the prophet?” That refers to the prophet here.

John 1:1 tells us;

‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ‘

Jesus is that word of God. He speaks to God face to face and proceeds from the bosom of God. So Deuteronomy looks at Jesus. At the end of Deuteronomy in Deuteronomy 30:11-14;

11 ‘“For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.’

Here summarises the law of Torah, that the word He has given us is not so mysterious. It’s not so high up in the heavens that you have to go up to get it, and it’s not so deep in the seas that you have to dig it up. Paul quoted this in Romans 10.

The mystery of Jesus can be seen in the 5 Books of Moses. Enjoy your 5 Books of Moses. May the Lord and the Holy Spirit guide you.