Before we answer this question, let’s look at some verses that confirm the truth that Moses was indeed the writer of the book of Genesis. In Joshua 8:31 we read, “As Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the BOOK OF THE LAW OF MOSES” (NKJV). The expression, “the Book of the Law of Moses” refers to the “first 5 books of the Bible,” commonly referred to as the “Pentateuch” (which means “five books”). This has been the commonly held view by both Jews and Christians throughout the history of the Holy Scriptures. The Lord Jesus Himself referred to the “book of Moses” many times. Here is a reference that specifically calls attention to the BOOK OF MOSES:

“But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the BOOK OF MOSES, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” (Mark 12:26).

There are many other passages we could cite where the Lord Jesus and others attribute the writing of the Pentateuch to Moses (see Luke 16:29; 24:27, 44: Acts 3:22; 15:1; 28:23; Romans 10:5; 1st Corinthians 9:9). This establishes the fact that Moses WAS the writer of Genesis, but it still doesn’t answer the question, “How could he have written it since he writes of persons and events before he was born?” There have been various reasons given for this. One of the more popular reasons is “The historical events of Genesis were passed down through generations by eye witnesses and Moses simply compiled these events and wrote them down.” Even IF (and that’s a big IF) this were true, it wouldn’t explain how Moses could have written the very first chapter of Genesis (the CREATION account), for NO ONE WAS THERE when “God created the heaven and the earth.” This leaves us with only one option, which every Bible-believing Christian fully embraces. Moses wrote the book of Genesis by DIRECT REVELATION FROM GOD! In other words, God revealed the events of Genesis, including the account of Creation, the Fall of Man, the Flood in Noah’s day, and every other historical event directly to Moses.

We have two clear references which speak of God giving man direct revelations so that they could write the Bible. The first one is found in 2nd Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” The second one is in 2nd Peter 1:21, “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” If we take God at His word in these passages, we should have no trouble whatsoever believing that Moses wrote the book of Genesis. He did NOT have to be there as an eyewitness, for God WAS THERE and He inspired Moses to write it! (296.7) (DO)