The Torah is the first 5 books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Torah comes from a Hebrew word meaning instruction or teaching. They are also sometimes called the Pentateuch, which comes from a Greek word meaning five books.
The origins of the books that make up the Torah are lost in the past. We aren't sure when the stories in Genesis and Exodus were first told or when the laws that we read in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy were first complied. We do know that these books were composed by multiple authors and that they were edited over time. The books are made up of prose, poetry and law. The stories in the Torah range from primeval history to events approximately two thousand years before the birth of Christ.
The books of the Torah were compiled and edited over a long period of time. The first collection of the books was in about the 11th century before the birth of Christ. The final form of the Torah was set in the 5th century (or about 600 years) before the birth of Christ.
There are six major parts in the Torah:
1. The primeval history - which is Genesis chapters 1 to 11
2. The patriarchs - which is Genesis chapters 12 to 50
3. The liberation from Egypt - which is Exodus chapters 1 to 16
4. The say at Siani which is Exodus chapters 17 - 40 and the book of Leviticus
5. The journey which is the book of Numbers
6. Moses' farewell which is the book of Deuteronomy
There are a couple of themes that we see in the Torah:
1. These are the foundational stories of the relationship between God and humanity. We see over the course of the Old Testament a movement from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being the most powerful God among many to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being the only God. Note that the first commandment says "...you will have no other gods before me..." not that you won't have other gods.
2. The creation is, at its basis, good. That is the theme of the creation narrative, that creation is good and that human beings are made in the image of God.
3. The rules that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob give to the community of Israel are, for their time, radically just, compassionate and merciful. We read statements like, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" as harsh and judgmental, but for their time, when an injury was addressed by wiping out an entire clan, they were radical in their moderation.
4. Over the course of the Torah we see the relationship between God and humanity move from a Covenant between God and Abraham to a Covenant between God and the family of Jacob aka Israel to a Covenant between God and the nation of Israel.
Have fun exploring the Torah - here are the challenge reading schedule (if you are behind you can catch up by reading all seven days a week, instead of the six days a week in the challenge.
September 10 – 16 – Genesis
Day 1 – Chapters 1-4 Day 2 –
Chapters 5–8
Day 3 – Chapters 9-12 Day 4 –
Chapters 12-16
Day 5- Chapters 17-20 Day 6 –
Chapters 21-24
September 17-23 – Genesis
Day 1 – Chapters 25-28
Day 2 – Chapters 29-32
Day 3 – Chapters 33-37
Day 4 – Chapters 38-42
Day 5 – Chapters 43-46
Day 6 – Chapters 47-50
September 24-30 – Exodus
Day 1 – Chapters 1-4 Day 2 –
Chapters 5-8
Day 3 – Chapters 9-12 Day 4 –
Chapters 13-16
Day 5 – Chapters 17-20 Day
6 – Chapters 20-24
October 1 - 7 – Exodus & Leviticus
Day 1- Chapters 25-28 Day 2-
Chapters 29-32
Day 3 – Chapters 33-36 Day
4 – Chapters 36-40
Begin Leviticus
Day 5 – Chapters 1-4 Day 6 –
Chapters 5-9
October 8 – 14 – Leviticus & Numbers
Day 1 – Chapters 10-13 Day
2 – Chapters 14-17
Day 3 – Chapters 18-22 Day
4 – Chapters 23-27
Begin Numbers
Day 5 – Chapters 1-4 Day 6 –
Chapters5-7
October 15-21 – Numbers
Day 1 – Chapters 8-12 Day 2 –
Chapters 13-16
Day 3 – Chapters 17-20 Day
4- Chapters 21-24
Day 5- Chapters 25-28 Day 6 –
Chapters 29-32
October 22-28 – Numbers & Deuteronomy
Day 1- Chapters 33-36 Begin
Deuteronomy
Day 2 – Chapters 1-4 Day 3-
Chapters 5-8
Day 4- Chapters 9-12 Day 5 –
Chapters 13-16
Day 6 – Chapters 17-20
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