An Overview of the Pentateuch in Preparation for Studying Deuteronomy

Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch, presents the stories of Creation (Gen 1:1-2:25), the Fall (Gen 3:1-24), and the beginning of God's plan of redemption through Abraham (Gen 12:1ff), his son Isaac (Gen 24:1ff), and Isaac's son Jacob (Gen 27:1ff), who is also called Israel. In the later chapters of Genesis, Jacob's son Joseph is taken down to Egypt (Gen 37:1ff), eventually to be followed by his brothers and father.

Exodus, which is next, records the greatest redemption event in the Bible prior to Christ's incarnation. The first chapter summarizes four hundred years in the life and slavery of the children of Israel in Egypt (Ex 1:1-22). The first eighty years of Moses' life follow in the second chapter (Ex 2:1-25). Then, the story line from Exodus 3 on through Leviticus and up to the middle of Numbers covers the span of only one year. It is a great year, for the Lord calls Moses as an eighty-year-old man to return to Egypt and lead the children of Israel out of slavery. Having redeemed his people, God guides them through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where God gives the peo­ple his law (Ex 20:1-17), and instructs them in his ways, even though they sin repeatedly. This is always the order of the Bible: redemption first, then response; grace then law.

Leviticus provides more laws and instruction for the Lord's people, particularly regarding their sin and their need for atone­ment. The Law was given to the Israelites after God redeemed them (Exodus 20-24), not before (Exodus 1-19). It helps them know how to live as a "kingdom of priests and holy nation" (Ex 19:5-6), and how to live in relationship with God, with one another, and the world. They were to follow these laws not to earn salvation, but as the appropriate response to God's grace.

Numbers has yet more instruction, and then describes/narrates the arduous wilderness journey of Israel, fraught with trials and failures every step of the way, on the way to the Promised Land. In Numbers 13 and 14, however, the greatest tragedy since the Fall occurs: the people rebel against God's plan for them by turning away from the land he has promised. So he sends them back the way they came, toward the Red Sea. The rest of Numbers tells the story of the people wandering around Kadesh for almost forty years, suffering the fruits of their disobedience. Yet God perseveres with the people. Once the original generation entirely dies out, the people begin moving again in the last part of Numbers toward the Promised Land. Numbers may be analogous to the Christian life being like a wilderness journey of unpredictable transition and testing on the way to our final destination.

This brief overview brings us to the last book in the Pentateuch: Deuteronomy (Outline/Overview).

Reference:

Mark Dever's introduction to his sermon on The Message of Deuteronomy: "The Past is Prologue."