“Blogging the Institutes” is my on-going attempt to paraphrase John Calvin’s work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. You can find out more about the series in the Introduction. For all the posts in this series, check out the Master List.
Moses is a Credible Messenger from God
Some people argue that the Egyptians had a religion about 6,000 years before the world was created. Such an assertion is nonsense. Josephus, in his work against Appion, quotes passages from the Law of Moses to show that these Laws were celebrated throughout the ancient world, although it was not read from the Hebrew Scriptures or known perfectly. God provided evidence for the truth of the books of Moses. For example, Moses records Jacob criticizing his own sons: “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords.Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen” (Genesis 49:5-6). Moses could have let such a comment pass into history unknown by anyone, yet he chose to record this comment saying that some of the founding members of his people were declared detestable! Can you doubt the truthfulness of what Moses wrote when he would willingly record such a comment? Furthermore, when he records the wicked complaining of Aaron and his sister Miriam, did he speak from his own personal feelings or the Holy Spirit (Numbers 12:1)? Moses had supreme authority as the ruler in Israel. Even though he held such honor, he did not give his own sons positions of preeminence. He didn’t make them the High Priests. He gave them the lowest positions. Therefore, it should be beyond dispute that Moses’ credibility is established.