- Jan 27, 2013
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Did the Exodus really happen? That is a question that has been asked by many. Let's go into some detail about the story.
Supposedly 600,000 Hebrew MEN left Egypt (Exodus 12:37-38). It does not say how many children, and it says nothing about women leaving at all. There were also X amount of people described as "a multitude." Combined, that would be over 1 million people realistically. Keep that number in mind.
They supposedly go by way of the Red Sea, but the proper interpretation is the Sea of Reeds. Interestingly enough, the Sea of Reeds is a marshland, and although passable by foot, it is not passable by chariot (they would bog down). Moses parting the "Red Sea" is most likely folklore. There has been absolutely no evidence that any ancient Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea. To date, every "discovery" claiming to have found evidence in the Red Sea, has been bogus, and/or a hoax.
This group of ~1 million people wander the desert for 40 years. If they only walked 2 miles per day (I can do that in ~30 minutes), they could have covered 29,200 miles during that 40 year period. The earth's circumference is only 24,901 miles. They managed to have food, water and shelter for 1 million people for 40 years, not counting deaths/births? Seriously? I don't buy it.
Now let's take a step back and look at something...
By day, they were led by a pillar of clouds. By night, they were led by a pillar of fire. As Moses was getting ready to go up on Mt. Sinai, there was thunder, and the flashing of light within a cloud around the mountain. The Lord descended upon the mountain," and there was fire, and smoke as from a furnace, and the ground quaked violently. IT WAS A FREAKING ACTIVE VOLCANO! Ancient man had no clue what all that meant, so it MUST have been God, right? Nope, just mother nature doing her thing.
Christians are very quick to adopt the TEN COMMANDMENTS, but what about the rest of them? Some people interpret the Bible literally, so should they not act accordingly? Here are some laws from the Book of Exodus:
1. He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
2. He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
3. You shall not allow a sorceress to live. (Is magic real?)
4. You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.
Do you realize that there is not a single shred of archaeological evidence that supports the Exodus? There is nothing in Egypt that could be linked to Hebrew enslavement. There is not a single Egyptian hieroglyph that represents that enslavement, that exodus, or anything even remotely similar. Nothing in the desert, where ONE MILLION PEOPLE supposedly traveled, has ever been found. At best, the story is a fictional account; folklore if you will, mythology at most.
However, there is evidence that the Hebrews might have been the Hyksos, and they ruled lower Egypt until they were driven out by Pharaoh Ahmose.
There is evidence that the Hebrews originated in Canaan, and the exodus story was a fabrication; to what end we don't know.
IMHO, the OT of the Bible was written by the Hebrews, for the Hebrews, and is a re-telling of "Hebrew" mythology/folklore. Sorry literalists...
Supposedly 600,000 Hebrew MEN left Egypt (Exodus 12:37-38). It does not say how many children, and it says nothing about women leaving at all. There were also X amount of people described as "a multitude." Combined, that would be over 1 million people realistically. Keep that number in mind.
They supposedly go by way of the Red Sea, but the proper interpretation is the Sea of Reeds. Interestingly enough, the Sea of Reeds is a marshland, and although passable by foot, it is not passable by chariot (they would bog down). Moses parting the "Red Sea" is most likely folklore. There has been absolutely no evidence that any ancient Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea. To date, every "discovery" claiming to have found evidence in the Red Sea, has been bogus, and/or a hoax.
This group of ~1 million people wander the desert for 40 years. If they only walked 2 miles per day (I can do that in ~30 minutes), they could have covered 29,200 miles during that 40 year period. The earth's circumference is only 24,901 miles. They managed to have food, water and shelter for 1 million people for 40 years, not counting deaths/births? Seriously? I don't buy it.
Now let's take a step back and look at something...
By day, they were led by a pillar of clouds. By night, they were led by a pillar of fire. As Moses was getting ready to go up on Mt. Sinai, there was thunder, and the flashing of light within a cloud around the mountain. The Lord descended upon the mountain," and there was fire, and smoke as from a furnace, and the ground quaked violently. IT WAS A FREAKING ACTIVE VOLCANO! Ancient man had no clue what all that meant, so it MUST have been God, right? Nope, just mother nature doing her thing.
Christians are very quick to adopt the TEN COMMANDMENTS, but what about the rest of them? Some people interpret the Bible literally, so should they not act accordingly? Here are some laws from the Book of Exodus:
1. He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
2. He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
3. You shall not allow a sorceress to live. (Is magic real?)
4. You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.
Do you realize that there is not a single shred of archaeological evidence that supports the Exodus? There is nothing in Egypt that could be linked to Hebrew enslavement. There is not a single Egyptian hieroglyph that represents that enslavement, that exodus, or anything even remotely similar. Nothing in the desert, where ONE MILLION PEOPLE supposedly traveled, has ever been found. At best, the story is a fictional account; folklore if you will, mythology at most.
However, there is evidence that the Hebrews might have been the Hyksos, and they ruled lower Egypt until they were driven out by Pharaoh Ahmose.
There is evidence that the Hebrews originated in Canaan, and the exodus story was a fabrication; to what end we don't know.
IMHO, the OT of the Bible was written by the Hebrews, for the Hebrews, and is a re-telling of "Hebrew" mythology/folklore. Sorry literalists...
