P is for PENTATEUCH

[This is the MILLERWRITES contribution to the 2012 Blogging A to Z April Challenge  Here is my INTRODUCTION to this particular series, and an opportunity for you to influence which alphabetically aligned weird words I will comment on this month.  THANK YOU for stopping by!]

"P is for WHAT?"  Well I hope it's a strange word to you.  Otherwise, PENTATEUCH would not fit into my list of 'weird words'!  While PENTATEUCH is not found anywhere in the Bible, THE PENTATEUCH may be said to be the foundation of the Bible.  Penta, as in pentagram, pentagon, etc., means five, and teuch means book, or volume so The PENTATEUCH is the collection of the first five books of the Bible.

But why are the first five so collected?  These books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy have always been referred to, in other historical Bible books, as "The book of the law of Moses."  For several reasons, it is understood that these five books which give us the prehistory of man, the beginnings of...everything (!) and the early history of "God's chosen people" (including the very choosing), were written by Moses himself.

Interestingly, these books range in the mind of the average Christian Bible student, from the most fascinating dramatic stories, to the most mundane and boring list of facts and figures.  Can you imagine sitting down in your favorite chair, with your most comforting beverage set at your side, to read a book called NUMBERS?  (Even the modern TV show became a repetitive bore!)

But GENESIS, first telling us (most unscientifically, but historically) about the main events in the creation of the universe, the oh-so-relevant 'fall' and the earth-shattering flood, then goes on to inform us about the early famous and foiblesome.  Did you know where the first 'orchestra' came from?  And who the first 'blacksmith' was?  (From the step-brothers, Jubal and Tubal, if you must know; Genesis 5:21,22).  And who was the first 'drunk'?  Noah! Genesis 9

The heroes of Israel were people like you.  Imperfect.  Ok, so they were people like you...AND me.  But do you know which famous historical figure never had a weakness pointed out in the Bible?  Even though his amazing story fills the final 14 chapters of Genesis (!), his record is unblemished by the typical unfaithful decisions the rest of the patriarchs, and most of us, did make.

Maybe it's intimidating to think about reading the whole Bible, and maybe the whole PENTATEUCH is hard to wade through, but if you haven't read GENESIS, or it's been a while, let me recommend you read it today!  Here is a great resource to help you do just that.







BY THE WAY......
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