D31-7: The Five Books Of Moses Were Originally An ‘ORAL LAW’ That Was Later Written Onto Scrolls

“Then Moshe wrote down this Torah and gave it to the cohanim, the descendants of Levi who carried the ark with the covenant of Adonai, and to all the leaders of Israel.”-Deuteronomy 31:9

From verse 9 of Deuteronomy Chapter 31, the Torah itself is addressed as a HOLY document.

We’re told Moses wrote down the Torah and then handed it over to the Levitical priests.

There’s a couple of points I need to clarify here.

First, the phrase “this Torah” is NOT referring to the whole Torah.

It is ONLY referring to the Book of Deuteronomy.

The earlier books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers were handed down by word of mouth.

I’m well aware the sages will tell us it was the finger of God who carved the 10 Words (Commandments) on stone but the truth is the bulk of all the Torah laws, commands and instructions were memorized and transmitted orally.

That’s right.

The five books of Moses were originally an “Oral Law” that was only later written onto scrolls.

I know what I just said is going to cause some people to lose their minds, but it’s true.

In fact, the oral transmission of God’s Torah was not only the norm for this era, it actually had some advantages.

It was the responsibility of the tribal elders to maintain the integrity of the traditions they would pass on to the next generation who would in turn pass them on to the following generation and so on and so forth.

The point is if the next generation tried to change something, the elders were able to step up and refute it.

Here’s another thing you should know.

It is only in our so-called modern age that the knowledge and wisdom (and respect) for the elderly has become lost.

The system of checks and balances provided by the oral traditions actually works very well.

One disadvantage of our modern age is that due to over-reliance on written documentation, the power of memorization and the retelling of stories has become a lost art and medium.

We now consider books and written records to be the only valid sources of information.

The only problem is books can be corrupted and destroyed.

Evil governments have always understood this.

Whenever men want to destroy a society, the first move they make is to systematically destroy all the records and literature (especially religious literature) of the previous generation.

Because they know if they can accomplish this they will break the link and foundation of all previous generations before…

…and thus be able to remold the society into their own godless image.

Why do you think communist societies have always been so against the Bible?

Unfortunately, in our day and age, the system of oral tradition is now gone (at least in the Western world).

However, we have no need to fear for our God has promised us that His Words shall never disappear.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
-Isaiah 40:8