God is the foundation and focus of the entire Bible.

While God’s revelation discloses

insights involving all matters of life, the focus of the Bible remains upon the main character:

God. Thus, while narratives within the Pentateuch are substantially anthropological, they are

especially theological. The Pentateuch lays the foundation for who God is and who man is in the

light of his Creator. God, the self-existent One of eternity past, existed without the existence of

man; however, the existence of mankind outside of God would not be possible. The theology

revealed in the Pentateuch is the revelational foundation for the Christology of the entire Bible.

Accordingly, the story of the Pentateuch is a story focused upon this triune, Creator, and it

magnifies his holy and gracious character. The Pentateuch is primarily composed of narrative

passages that flow together as the beginning point for understanding redemptive history in light

of God’s holiness and grace. Therefore, this article will reveal the ways in which the Pentateuch

magnifies the attributes of God, specifically focussing upon his holiness and his graciousness as

revealed in each of the five books of the Pentateuch.

“​In the beginning, God​…” are the first words of the Pentateuch (Gen. 1:1)1. These words

reveal that God is altogether different than the rest of his creation as he is set apart from all

creation. Creator and creature are distinct, and his holiness is revealed in that there is no one like

him in heaven or on earth. God created Adam and Eve to worship him in the sanctuary of the

garden of Eden where his holy presence would dwell among them; however, after they rebelled

against him, God’s holiness demanded their exile from his presence (Gen. 3:24). Though

mankind was sentenced to death because of Adam’s rebellion, God demonstrated his grace upon

1
Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this article are to the English Standard
Version, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011)​.

1
mankind through exile for they would not have survived in the presence of his holiness. Adam’s

sin prevented mankind from the ability to fulfill the ultimate purpose of his creation as those who

worship in the presence of God.

As the narrative of Genesis continues, the holiness and grace of God are further evident

through the great flood. “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and

that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Because

corruption increased, in his holy indignation, God blotted out mankind through the flood. “But

Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen. 6:8). Though man defiantly rejected God,

grace was extended to a man, and his family was preserved by the gracious hand of God.

God’s grace is exceedingly evident in his relationship with Abraham. After Adam’s fall

and Noah’s preservation, it is through the Abraham narrative that one is able to see the third

phase in salvation history as God institutes the patriarchs’ theological significance.2 Whereas

Adam was exiled because he disobeyed God’s command of covenant obedience, and whereas

God’s covenant with Noah allowed the preservation of mankind in the natural progression of life

would continue interrupted by another great flood, God’s covenant with Abraham promised

reconciliation between God and mankind through the birth of a nation and a promise of blessing

to all the families of the earth, eventuating in the second Adam, Jesus Christ (Gen. 12:1-3). The

Pentateuch is filled with covenantal blessings and curses prescribed by God. Evident is God’s

holiness through these blessings and curses because a nation that calls upon the holy God must

too be set apart in holiness from nations who call upon other gods. Throughout the rest of

Genesis, in the narrative of Abraham’s descendants and the birth of the nation of Israel, God

Paul R. Williamson, “Abraham,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. Edited

2

by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 16.

2
graciously preserves the nation by his sovereign providence as he reminds them of his covenant

with their forefather Abraham.

God’s holiness is evident through this promise to set his chosen nation apart as holy. Not

only were the people of God to be set apart in their individual conduct, so also God planned for

Israel to be set apart nationally. Genesis concludes with God’s people left in Egypt in prosperity;

however, God swore to Abraham the promised land of Canaan. The book of Exodus opens with a

new king who did not know Joseph or Abraham’s descendants, and he enslaved God’s people,

severely afflicting them for fear of their overtaking Egypt as their own land (Ex. 1:8-14). Again,

God raised up a leader with whom he would communicate as a representative of his people.

The relationship between God and Moses reveals much about the holiness and grace of

God. First, God follows a pattern by which he delivers his people. It is typical for God to look at

a man with favor and set him apart for God’s purpose. Because of his grace, God’s purpose

throughout the Bible is to bring his people to salvation in a way by which he is glorified. God

initiates covenants with a federal head to bring about his purpose for his people.3 This pattern

may be easier to see in Mosaic covenant than in other covenants in the Pentateuch. In the

narrative of Exodus, God extends his grace to Israel as Moses leads the people to deliverance

through the Red Sea and out from the bondage of Pharaoh. God reveals that it is his pattern to

use a man to lead the way to deliverance for a multitude of people which he has set apart as his

own.

There is a second way that God’s holiness and grace are clearly perceived in his

relationship with Moses: when God’s people rebel against him and worship idols, God allows a

Samuel Renihan, The Mystery of Christ: His Covenant & His Kingdom (Cape Coral:
3

Founders Press, 2019), 50.

3
federal head to stand in the place of the people and intercede with God to relent wrath from

them. Because of his holy character and his faithfulness to his word, God will remember his

covenant with a man and extend grace. Through the mediation of God’s representative, God’s

wrath is relented, and God’s people will receive his grace (Ex. 32:11-14).

God’s holiness and grace are revealed as his holy law is given to Moses in the

Pentateuch. The laws God gives to Israel characterize a great portion of the Pentateuch, for these

laws reveal that Yahweh is altogether different than the so-called gods of surrounding nations

and his expectations for his people are altogether different as well. For example, the majority of

the book of Deuteronomy is composed of God’s laws for his people, and God promises blessings

for the people’s obedience, and curses for their disobedience (Deut. 27-28). While the laws of

Deuteronomy are given as commands of obedience for Israel, they also reveal theological truths

to Israel. Their God who commands obedience through his law is himself holy and just in every

way. Because of their covenant relationship with God, the behavior of the people of God must

represent the character of the One to whom they belong. Israel’s purity and character must be a

sign of exclusive loyalty to God.4

The book of Leviticus focuses upon God’s laws for purifying Israel, for their God’s

character is radiantly pure.5 The impurity of God’s people would result in his holy name being

profaned. The thesis of Exodus 20 through Leviticus could accurately be identified in Leviticus

4
J. N. Oswalt, “Theology of the Pentateuch,” Dictionary of the Old Testament:
Pentateuch. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker (Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 2003), 850.

Eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, eds., The World and The
5

Word (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2011), 230.

4
22:31-33 as God said, “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD. And

you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am

the LORD who sanctifies you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am

the LORD.” Through the Levitical law, God graciously provided a holy standard by which his

people were to live, and he provided a holy way by which his people could worship him. This

law was not a way by which the people entered into a covenant relationship with God, but

obedience to it was to be the joyful response to God’s grace in his deliverance from bondage.6

The law God gave would demand comprehensive holiness of conduct in every area of life, from

one’s sexuality to his landlines.7

The gracious provision of God in giving his law prescribed the way by which his people

could worship him and experience cleansing. While the people were not able to worship God

face-to-face in the way Adam worshipped before his rebellion, God instituted a system by which

his people could worship through sacrifices. Though protected, God graciously allowed his

presence to fill the holy of holies within the tabernacle, and he traveled with his people as they

worshipped him through sacrifice. Because his holiness must not be profaned among his people,

the people were to fear and obey God as disobedience could result in immediate death as

demonstrated with Nadab and Abihu as they worshipped God in a way not prescribed in the law

6
J. N. Oswalt, “Theology of the Pentateuch,” Dictionary of the Old Testament:
Pentateuch. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker (Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 2003), 858.

Eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, eds., The World and The
7

Word (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2011), 222.

5
(Lev. 10: 1-2). Through this sacrificial system, God’s people worshipped him as an expression of

faith in God and his gracious, covenant commitment to them.8

In the book of Numbers, Israel traveled through the wilderness, and God’s presence

traveled with them in the tabernacle. Though the majority of the people committed great acts of

rebellion against God, he graciously remained with Israel to lead his people into the land he

promised. The camp was led by the cloud of the Lord over the tabernacle showing the protection

and grace of God for his people as he protected them from the scorching sun of the wilderness.9

This wilderness experience served as a place of trial and maturity for Israel as they would

be prepared to enter the promised land.10 However, the primary way Israel experienced this

preparation was through purification as thousands of their own would die in the wilderness. After

the false report from ten of the twelve men who were sent into the land of Canaan to spy out the

land God was giving to Israel, God’s holy indignation burned against Israel, and he pronounced

the judgment: from all the people who crossed the Red Sea and were delivered from the

Egyptians, only Caleb and Joshua would enter into the land of promise (Nm. 14:20-24). From

God’s decree of judgment, there are many calamities and fatalities throughout the rest of the

book of Numbers which serve to show God’s holy judgment to prepare his people for the land he

promised. The book of Numbers begins and ends with genealogies revealing that God is wholly

committed to his word to fulfill the promises of his grace to Abraham and his descendants, and

Eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, eds., The World and The
8

Word (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2011), 223.

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Peabody:
9

Hendrickson Publishers, 2008), 863

10
Dennis T. Olson, “Book of Numbers,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch.
Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,
2003), 618.

6
God will accomplish his promises through his possession of a holy people who proclaim his

holiness to the watching nations. The first genealogy is a consensus of God’s people who were

delivered from Egypt but who fell in the wilderness for their unbelief and rebellion, and the

second genealogy is a consensus of a new generation through whom God accomplished the

conquest of the promised land. Through these trials, God, in gracious preservation, sustained

Israel through a period of maturity so that his sovereign purpose would be fulfilled among and

through them.

In conclusion, the Pentateuchal narrative flows together with each book revealing the

holy character of God, and how he has graciously engaged his creation. Specifically, the

Pentateuch offers its reader a theological understanding of God, and it provides the beginning

point of the way by which he has accomplished reconciliation for those who are called to be his

own possession. Through these five books, the attributes of God’s holiness and graciousness

shine brightly as the reader is able to perceive the true personality of the self-existent God who

has created the world and a people who were created to dwell with him. Understanding these

theological truths of the Pentateuch are extremely important and helpful as one seeks to know

who God is and what he has accomplished in the world he created.

7
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christain Religion. Translated by Henry Beveridge. Peabody:
Hendrickson Publishers, 2008.

Merrill, Eugene, Mark F. Rooker, Michael A. Grisanti, eds. The World and The Word.
Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2011.

Olson, Dennis T. “Book of Numbers,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. Edited by
T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
611-619.

Oswalt, John. “Theology of the Pentateuch,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch.
Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker. Downers Grove: InterVarsity
Press, 2003. 845-859.

Renihan, Samuel. The Mystery of Christ: His Covenant & His Kingdom. Cape Coral: Founders
Press, 2019.

Williamson, Paul., “Abraham,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. Edited by T.

Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
8-17.