The Myth of National Revelation

Introduction
I can't believe that I never picked up on this before.

None of the first four books of the Pentateuch give us any indication that the whole nation of Israel received direct revelation from God. Indeed, the story in Exodus indicates that Moses went up the mountain and received his direct revelation alone.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” (Exodus 19:9-15)

Others do go up the mountain, but do not receive revelation.

Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. (Exodus 24:9-11)

Read the first four books of the Pentateuch, and you will realize that there is no indication of any sort of national revelation. God revealed the Torah to Moses in private, and spoke to Moses and to small groups. Moses then relays the information to the people of Israel.

In the Wilderness
The book of Numbers has two different events where Moses takes a census of the people of Israel.

The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. (Numbers 1:1-3)

This is the census taken at Sinai. In it, there is an important passage.

These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers' houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were 603,550. But the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Numbers 2:32-33)

The Levites are exempted from this census. However, it does not mean that Moses failed to take their numbers into account.

 

And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, “List the sons of Levi, by fathers' houses and by clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall list.” So Moses listed them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded. (Numbers 3:14-16)

All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the LORD, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000. (Numbers 3:39)

They were not counted, but they were listed.

Rebellion of the Spies
Moses sent spies out to check out the Promised Land. Only Caleb and Joshua gave a positive report. The other spies said that the land could not be taken, and the people agreed.

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:1-4)

Not just the Levites but the whole congregation of Israel rebelled against God. One might think that the Levites were exempt, but it was common in those days to kill off the men by the sword and to take the women and children as booty.

God initially threatened to punish the whole of Israel by killing them.

And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” (Numbers 14:11-12)

Notice that God held everyone responsible, not just the men of military age. God threatened to wipe out everyone, not just the men. Moses interceded, and God changed the punishment.

But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. (Numbers 14:21-24)

No distinction is made between the Levites and the rest of Israel. With two exceptions, nobody who saw the signs that God did in the wilderness would see the Promised Land.

Dovid Gottlieb has replied that the people under 20, the Levites, and the women did not die. There is nothing in the text to say that the Levites did not die. In fact, the entire congregation of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron (Numbers 14:1-2). Gottlieb's conclusion that a considerable majority of the people who left Egypt were still alive is implausible given the life expectancy at that time. The average lifespan for Ancient Egyptians was 20-30, and the average lifespan for someone who made it to adulthood was 30-40. Even if the women were spared the curse, and everyone under 20 was spared the curse, it follows that everyone from that generation would have been over 40. Since children under 5 would not have possessed reliable memories of the event, this means everyone in that group would have been in the over 45 category and female.

This is less than 5% of the population, and that assumes that there were no major wars, famines, or plagues, which there were. Even if the Levites were exempt, they were a small tribe of only 23,000. If we include them, then the number jumps to 8% of the population. Hardly a majority of the people.

But that's not all. Remember that women and children at this time in history were not considered valid witnesses. Even in Second Temple Judaism, the testimony of a woman was considered so worthless as to be inadmissible in court. It follows that even if we grant that women and children were not part of that curse, it still follows that none of the people who were considered valid witnesses were around for the speeches in Deuteronomy. The people of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Moses then took another census.

After the plague, the LORD said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all in Israel who are able to go to war.” And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, “Take a census of the people, from twenty years old and upward,” as the LORD commanded Moses. (Numbers 26:1-4) 

 These were those listed by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who listed the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the LORD had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. (Numbers 26:63-65)

And all the witnesses who were alive at the time of the Sinai revelation (except Joshua, Caleb, and Moses) were now dead. Only when Moses is about to die does he give his final word to the people of Israel. In this address, we see the passages that kiruv rabbis use in order to sell the idea of national revelation.

And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess. (Deuteronomy 4:11-14)

The LORD Alone Is God “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. (Deuteronomy 4:32-36)

The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: (Deuteronomy 5:2-5)

“These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’ (Deuteronomy 5:22-27)
 

Conclusion
It's hard to see what Moses means by saying that the people of Israel had heard a voice speaking out of the fire. All who would have been considered valid witnesses to that event were now dead. One rabbinic interpretation that I heard was that all Jewish souls were present at Sinai, so even though nobody remembered hearing the voice of God, their souls did.

This is a fine explanation, but it shows that the national revelation is indeed unverifiable, killing the main thrust of the Kuzari Principle argument.