(4.)             From the time of Joshua down to the time of Ezra there is, in theintermediate historical books, a constant reference to the Pentateuch as the “Book of the Law of Moses.” This is a point of much importance, inasmuch as the critics deny that there is any such reference; and hence they deny the historical character of the Pentateuch. As regards the Passover, e.g., we find it frequently spoken of or alluded to in the historical books following the Pentateuch, showing that the “Law of Moses” was then certainly known. It was celebrated in the time of Joshua (Joshua 5:10, cf. 4:19), Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30), Josiah (2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 35), and Zerubbabel (Ezra 6:19-22), and is referred to in such passages as 2 Kings 23:22; 2 Chronicles 35:18; 1 Kings 9:25 (“three times in a year”); 2 Chronicles 8:13. Similarly we might show frequent references to the Feast of Tabernacles and other Jewish institutions, although we do not admit that any valid argument can be drawn from the silence of Scripture in such a case. An examination of the following texts, 1 Kings 2:9; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chronicles 23:18; 25:4; 34:14; Ezra 3:2; 7:6; Daniel 9:11, 13, will also plainly show that the “Law of Moses” was known during all these centuries.