If Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible why didn’t he write about the pyramids since he knew the Pharaohs who would have been buried there especially Joseph who lived hundreds of years before?
First, in my studies and understanding, Moses did write the first five books of the Bible. Through the life and times of Joseph, the Israelite nation moved from the area of Canaan to Egypt. They were a blessed people by the Egyptians until a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph (Exodus 1:8).
Every Israelite from Jacob, who lived there until his death, to Joseph to Moses knew the Egyptians. They were forced to make brick and used as slave labor. However, the Bible is not clear on what they built or what the bricks were for.
We know from other sources of archaeology and history that the Egyptians used slave labor to build the pyramids. There are some pretty good ideas from scholars on how they built them. But the Bible doesn’t tell us anything about the pyramids.
One reason for this may be that Moses only needed to write about the slavery and trials of the Israelites while in Egypt. Perhaps he did not want the Israelites to dwell on the specifics of their time in Egypt.
The best reason I can tell you to explain why Moses didn’t write exhaustively on the Israelites’ hard times in Egypt is that the Bible was not written as an archaeological or historical book. It contains archaeological and historical facts. But that is not the focus of the Bible.
Much more important in the Bible is the story of how God rescues and saves humanity. In the case of Egypt, Moses focused on the slavery of the Israelites, God’s deliverance through plagues, and is making of a nation through giving his law and guiding them through the wilderness to the Promised Land.
Specifically for Egypt, Moses focuses on Pharaoh’s hardened heart that kept him from listening to God’s voice and heaving his demand for his people to worship him in the wilderness. Pharaoh’s rebellion and refusal to listen to God brought ten plagues upon Egypt.
The last plague focused on the Destroyer (what many call the Death Angel) who went through the land, spared the Israelites, and killed all the firstborn sons of Egypt. The Bible focuses on these events because they bring about the deliverance of Israel from the Egyptians hands.
From the Destroyer “passing over” the Israelites who placed the blood of slain Passover lambs on their door posts in obedience to God, he spared their firstborn sons and flocks. Passover, the celebration of their deliverance from Egypt, is celebrated every year in Israel to commemorate and remember God’s deliverance.
It is this final plague that broke the hearts of the Egyptians to finally allow the Israelites to go into the wilderness. God used this to bring about their salvation. If the Israelites worked on the pyramids, it is not part of God’s redemptive plan to mention it.
Many scholars and Christians would love to know more about the things surrounding the events the Bible shows us, but only what God knows is important to the whole story of his redemption is included. Everything written in the Bible connects to God’s plan in some way.
Sometimes things are mentioned as a way of showing God is telling the truth about what he did for his people throughout the Bible. There is much historical evidence given surrounding Jesus’ birth, the Messiah coming into the world. There’s also a lot of evidence surrounding his ministry, crucifixion, death, and resurrection.
All of these are extremely important, the very kernel of God’s salvation for those who believe in Jesus. For instance, when we take the Passover and apply it to the New Testament, we find that Jesus died on the Passover, that Good Friday.
He is called the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” by John the Baptist (John 1:29). And Paul calls him our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). When Jesus was crucified his blood was placed upon the wooden posts of the cross, much like the blood of the Passover lamb’s was placed on the door posts of Israelite homes in Exodus.
And Jesus is our Passover Lamb because through his death, as through the deaths of the Passover lambs in the Old Testament, he brings salvation, deliverance from death, which is the result of sins. God has purposefully made connections from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
This is the ultimate reason why the details surrounding the original Passover are included in the book of Exodus. They look forward to the finished work of Jesus on the cross, the ultimate redemptive purpose in God’s plan to save those who trust in him.
The great thing about the details the Bible includes is that we can find out more about them from other books, archaeology, and other sources. God concentrated through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on the parts of the gospel message of his redemption on the essential parts of his message. But he has also given wisdom and understanding about other things included in the Bible that we can find out more information from other sources.
