One of the great messages of the Bible is that God desires to bless people through a relationship with Himself. The message of the Pentateuch is that people can experience this blessing through trust and obedience. Each of the five books of Moses reveals important truth concerning God, humankind, and the relationship of people and God.
Genesis reveals that man is a finite creature made in the image of God but fallen in sin. He is therefore unable on his own to enjoy the relationship with God that God created him to experience. Moses presented God in Genesis as trustworthy. The outstanding characteristic of God in this book is His faithfulness. God proved in this book that people can rely on His word. In order for people to have a relationship with God we must exercise faith. We must trust in God who is trustworthy.
Exodus shows that human sin leads to enslavement. To be free to enjoy liberty and the relationship with God that God intends human beings to experience we must undergo redemption by God. Moses presented God in Exodus as being sovereign. This is His outstanding characteristic in the second book of Moses. Because God is sovereign He can redeem man who is a slave because of sin. He can bring man into an intimate relationship with Himself as His first-born son. Redemption is the provision of the sovereign God.
Leviticus reveals more fully that man is a sinner and that as such he is different from and separate from God. God is holy. This is the outstanding revelation of God in this book. Man cannot have the relationship with God that God desires, even as a redeemed person, because of sin. God provided atonement so God and redeemed sinners could have fellowship. Our response to God's provision should be worship.
Numbers shows redeemed sinners enjoying the benefits of atonement but failing to trust and obey God. The outstanding characteristic of God in Numbers is His graciousness toward sinful human beings. He disciplines His own to teach them to obey Him because only then can they experience all the blessings that He wants them to enjoy.
Deuteronomy pictures redeemed man as a vassal or servant and God as a suzerain, lord, or master. This relationship exists by virtue of who God is (i.e., Creator and Redeemer) and who man is (i.e., creature and sinner). Deuteronomy reveals that God loves people, and we should love God. The relationship is not a formal, impersonal one but one that love motivates and sustains.
God manifested His love for Israel in the laws He gave her. Israel was to demonstrate love for God in her obedience to His laws. These laws were in the Mosaic Covenant, and God designed them to bring Israel into as close a relationship to Himself as possible.
The Pentateuch contains all the instruction necessary for the Israelites to enjoy an intimate relationship with God. In the historical books that follow we see how the principles revealed in the Pentateuch worked out or did not work out for Israel in her history. The Israelites' trust and obedience determined this. God intended this example to be instructive for us (1 Cor. 10:1-13; Rom. 15:1-6; Heb. 11). The same principles apply today though the economy and laws under which we live are different from those under which Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses lived.368
Whereas Deuteronomy is the last of the five books of Moses, critical scholars now tend to group it with the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings more than with Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. They refer to this body of books as the Deuteronomistic History.369This is due to the foundational nature of Deuteronomy as reflected in the presentation of the later history of Israel that these books present. Conservative scholars usually tie Deuteronomy in with Genesis through Numbers because of authorship and historical sequence. Many of them, however, also recognize that Deuteronomy provides the basis for the evaluation of the nation that Joshua through Kings presents.
