who came first moses or abraham

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

*"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."

Jehovah had made a covenant with them, not with their fathers, the patriarchs. The law covenant was made 430 years after Abraham. Moses then speaks in their hearing the words of the Decalogue. The words differ somewhat from the twentieth chapter in Exodus, showing again that Deuteronomy is not a mechanical repetition of previous history. Higher criticism with its confused and confusing theories has made the best of this difference. Upon this difference critics claim that Moses could not have been the author of both. Says a critic: "Indeed he could not have written either in its present form, because that in Exodus is Jehovistic, and older than the record in Deuteronomy" (Dr. Davidson). Such an assertion simply shows the blindness of these men of supposed learning and scholarship. Anyone can see that the records in Exodus and Deuteronomy differ. We do not need scholarship for that. The mysterious person, whom the critics call "Deuteronomist" certainly possessed the record in Exodus and could have easily copied the exact words. But why is there a difference? Exodus gives the history; Deuteronomy does not repeat that history, but in restating the Decalogue, Moses makes such comments which are in perfect keeping with the object of Deuteronomy. If Deuteronomy claimed to be a literal repetition of the history recorded in Exodus and Numbers, then one might speak of discrepancy.

A question not easily answered is, How long were the Israelites in Egypt? In Gen. 15:13; Acts 7:6, the period seems to be stated as four hundred years. Ex. 12:40 says "the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years;" and Gal. 3:17 declares that the law was given four hundred and thirty years after the promise to Abraham. The promise to Abraham was long before Israel went into Egypt, and the law was given after they came out; so that according to this passage their sojourning in Egypt must have been much less than four hundred years. A much shorter period is implied in Gen. 15:16, which says of Israel in Egypt that "in the fourth generation they shall come hither again;" and if we turn to Ex. 6:16-20 we find exactly four generations, thus: Jacob's son Levi. Levi's son Kohath. Kohath's son Amram. Amram's son Moses.

From this point, the call of Abraham, the divine plan unfolded with greater rapidity. There sprang up from his descendants Israel, the chosen people, who were constituted a nation when delivered from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, the apostle of the law-system. They were to be entirely separated from the surrounding nations sunken in idolatry, in order that they might be God's witness-bearers in the earth.

It is marvellous what ignorance prevails on this truth. I asked a christian brother the other day, if he could give me any reason whatever, from Scripture, for the opinion he held — that we in England and all men were under the law? Well, said he, “I should say because we are all the children of Moses.” I was somewhat startled, I confess, by this reason, but I do not know that I ever heard a better. “What do you mean,” said I, “by our all being the children of Moses?” “Well,” he replied, “I mean that we are all of the religion of Moses.” I felt there was sadly too much truth in this last sentence. I endeavoured to show him that the Scripture teaches, distinctly, that we who believe are of the same religion as Abraham. But he seemed to have never read that the law was not given to Abraham at all; no, not even until 430 years after him. Look carefully at Gal. 3:16-17, and see if this was not the case. Then if the law were not given to Abraham, or to any of the nations in his days, or during the 2,000 years before him, or to the nations for 500 years after him; how can it be shown that it was given to all nations? Surely, my reader, there must be great ignorance of Scripture on this subject.