Who came first in the Bible, Abraham or Moses?

And Abraham lived 400 years before Moses was born. Modernists do not like to be reminded of how dogmatic they were in their statement that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch because writing, they said, was then not known. Now we know differently.

Moses came upon the scene more than two centuries after Abraham's death, and if writing was in vogue before Abraham's day, it was not difficult for Moses to have written the books attributed to him.

The third period, like the preceding one, was roughly four hundred years, and extends from the Call of Abram to Moses the Lawgiver. Man is here placed upon a new ground, namely, that of Promise (Gen. 12; Gal. 3:16; Rom. 11); and Abram becomes the root of GOD's testimony on earth. This period therefore may properly be called the Age of Promise and Testimony.

There follows a period of similar duration from ABRAM to MOSES marked by the Promises that ABRAM'S posterity should inherit the land of CANAAN, and that he should be the father of a heavenly race to "plant the heavens," and of an earthly race through which all nations should be blessed.

The typical men of this period are quite obviously ABRAM and MOSES; the two most significant events the exoduses from UR and EGYPT, at the beginning and ending of this age.

From the Call of ABRAM to MOSES at Sinai was some four hundred and thirty years, an age of Promise and Testimony. (Ex. 12:40-41.)

In the development of the divine ways Abraham comes next. He stands as a landmark at the beginning of a new departure in the testimony and such is the intimacy that he was called into that he is named the friend of God. Isaac, Jacob and Joseph each in their generation followed; men whose histories exhibit not only the ordinary exercise of supplication on the principle of faith but also divine communications both by visions and dreams. These three are, so to speak, the links of connection between Abraham and Moses the mediator, of whom it is said "The Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend." He is a witness of how a man may be drawn beyond the day and dispensation in which he lives in such a way that the glory of God shone in his face, and in holy confidence he could say "Show me Thy glory." The book of Job, belonging to these same days, indicates the apprehension of a good man and his friends which God had given to men at that time. Living in the full light of revelation we can see "the end of the Lord" as the blessed solution of all the Patriarch's distress. The three friends said many true things but they failed by limiting God. Elihu shows advance beyond Job himself and by his words prepares him for the manifestation of Him whose intervention brought all to an issue.

Abraham gives occasion to a large and varied scope of faith, and stands at the head of those who illustrate its patience, rather than its energy which wrought in Moses and those that follow. And this is the true moral order: first, waiting on God who had promised; secondly, overcoming difficulties and dangers in His power.

*"It may be said that Moses was not a witness of the facts which he relates between the birth or the call of Abraham (when the history of the Hebrews may be properly said to commence) and his own time. But there were so few steps between Abraham and Moses that, though not a witness, he was an authentic reporter of evidence. In the following history, from the exode to the rebuilding of the temple, all the writers were, strictly speaking, witnesses."

"It may be said that Moses was not a witness of the facts which he relates between the birth or the call of Abraham (when the history of the Hebrews may be properly said to commence) and his own time. But there were so few steps between Abraham and Moses that, though not a witness, he was an authentic reporter of evidence. In the following history, from the exodus to the rebuilding of the temple, all the writers were, strictly speaking, witnesses."

Long before Socrates was born Abraham had the vision of the God of glory and became the father of the faithful for all time. Things were shaping in him and his descendants, in the ways of God, for the revelation of His holy word. Six centuries roll by, and we see Moses writing the inspired words that in time produced the Pentateuch. David wrote many psalms, prophets added their part. The Israelites were blessed with the presence of God in their midst and the knowledge of the Most High.

The principal events stand thus: B.C. 4004 Adam created. 2948 Noah born. 2348 The Flood. 1996 Abraham born. 1921 Call of Abraham. 1896 Isaac born. 1836 Jacob born. 1706 The Israelites enter Egypt. 1491 The Exodus. The law given. 1451 The Israelites cross the Jordan. 1444 The division of the land. (See JUDGES.) 1095 Saul anointed king: the kingdom begins. 1055 David, king. 1015 Solomon, king. 1005 Dedication of the Temple. 975 Division of the kingdom. (See KINGS.) (776 Era of the Olympiads begins.) (753 Rome built: era of A.U.C. begins.) 740 Captivity of the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan. 721 End of the kingdom of Israel. 658 Manasseh carried to Babylon. 606 Jerusalem taken: first captivity of Judah. 605 Nebuchadnezzar reigns alone. Time of the Gentiles begins in the first great empire — Babylon. 599 Jerusalem re-taken: the great captivity. 588 Jerusalem re-taken and destroyed. 538 Belshazzar slain: the second great empire commences. The Medes and Persians. 536 Cyrus reigns alone. The 70 years of Jer. 25:11-12 end. The Jews return. Ezra 1, 2: (See PERSIA.) 475 Artaxerxes succeeds Xerxes. 455 Artaxerxes commissions Nehemiah to build Jerusalem. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel begin. 336 Alexander the Great, head of the third great empire — The Greek. 323 Death of Alexander the Great: his four Generals divide the kingdom, but it mainly merged into two kingdoms: Egypt, 'kings of the South,' and Syria, 'kings of the north.' (See ANTIOCHUS.) 191 All Asia Minor on the west of Mount Taurus delivered to Rome. 166 to about 65 The times of the Maccabees. In 166 Jerusalem was recovered and the temple re-dedicated. 65 Rome, the fourth great empire, rapidly gains ascendancy. Syria becomes a Roman province. In 63 Judaea is subjected to Rome. In 30 Egypt becomes a Roman province. 40 Herod is appointed by Rome king of Judaea. 20 Herod begins to rebuild the temple 6 Birth of John the Baptist. 5 Birth of Christ. (See NEW TESTAMENT.)