The Big Bang vs. Moses and the Hebrew Slaves

It’s the way of the whole earth.  King David was on his deathbed and made this sobering statement to his son, Solomon, in I Kings 2:2:

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man;

This vapor called life is so very temporary, but it is during this life where eternal decisions are made.  God puts before us life and death.  Deuteronomy 30:19:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

The door of life is revealed to man in John 14:5-6:

5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Will today be the day you choose abundant, even eternal, life?  This is the place called born-again, the place where repentance of dead sins and faith in Christ Jesus and His shed blood opens the door of God’s marvelous revelation.  Do it this very minute.  The door of opportunity is open wide.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the marvelous Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT. 

GOD SAID, Exodus 14:21-30:

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh''s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

GOD SAID, Exodus 12:29-30:

29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

MAN SAID: Moses and the bondage of the Hebrews in ancient Egypt is a fictional account.  Anyone with academic credentials knows it. 

Now THE RECORD: Welcome to GodSaidManSaid feature article 792 that will once again prove beyond any reasonable doubt the supernatural accuracy of God’s Holy Bible.  All of these glorious features are archived here in text and streaming audio for the edification of the blood-bought and as ammunition in the battle that rages on this earth for the souls of men.  Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one.  May God’s face shine upon you and your house with Light and Truth.  Thank you for coming. 

So beautiful: God’s Word found in the majority-text is just so beautiful.  Everything we need to know about how to navigate this life is clearly written for all who choose to know.  Since the beginning of time, Satan and his minions have challenged and maligned the legitimacy of this Holy Book with the overarching purpose to keep the spiritually stillborn sons of Adam blind and bound.  Today’s feature will once again demonstrate the vacuous foolishness of Satan’s labor. 

Was there a real-life Moses?  Did the Hebrew children escape the cruel slavery of Egypt through the Red Sea?  Yes, of course—and more!  Several GodSaidManSaid features will be cited, then on to the latest addition. 

▶GodSaidManSaid, “Pharaoh, Moses, and the Red Sea:”

Why didn’t someone tell the Egyptian professor that Jews never really served under the cruel bondage of the Pharaohs? 

The following report is found in The International Jerusalem Post, November 28, 2003, p. 31:

The recent publicity garnered by the Egyptian professor who intends to file a lawsuit against the Jewish people and the State of Israel for the return of the gold, silver, and clothing taken by the Israelites when they left Egyptian bondage over three millennia ago caused me to think how ancient scores are never really settled—at least when they involve the Jews.  The academic who claims to be filing this class-action suit is perhaps unaware that this tactic was attempted before—in fact, it was employed over 23 centuries ago, when Alexander the Great ruled both Egypt and the Land of Israel. 

The Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin relates that Egyptian representatives appeared before Alexander and asked that he demand from the Jews the return of all of the wealth taken by them when they left Egyptian slavery a millennium earlier.  Alexander sent a notice to the Jewish elders in Jerusalem asking for a representative to present the Jewish side of the dispute. 

The rabbis sent a man by the name of Gavha, who was small in stature but very clever.  His defense was that if one were to start down the slippery road of adjudicating ancient claims, then the Egyptians still owed the Jews for centuries of slave labor.  Alexander, no fool himself, realized the morass that he had placed himself in by agreeing to judge the case, and decided to dismiss the matter altogether. 

We have addressed the issue of fluid dynamics and the parting of the Red Sea on this site before.  Now the latest research, published September 21, 2010 by Yahoo! News, under the banner, “Parting of Red Sea Jibes With Natural Laws,” again shouts YES to God—absolutely YES! The article reads:

Mother Earth could have parted the Red Sea, hatching the great escape described in the Biblical book of Exodus, a new study finds. 

A strong east wind, blowing overnight, could have swept water off a bend where an ancient river is believed to have merged with a coastal lagoon along the Mediterranean Sea, said study team member Carl Drews of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.  While archaeologists and Egyptologists have found little evidence that any events described in Exodus actually happened, the study outlines a perfect storm that could have led to the 3,000-year-old escape.

“People have always been fascinated by this Exodus story, wondering if it comes from historical facts,” Drews said.  “What this study shows is that the description of the waters parting indeed has a basis in physical laws.”

Drew and his colleagues used models that showed that a wind of 63 mph (101 kph), lasting for 12 hours, would have pushed back waters estimated to be 6 feet (1.8 meters) deep.  This would have exposed mud flats for four hours, creating a dry passage about 2 to 2.5 miles (3.2 to 4 kilometers) long and 3 miles (4.8 km) wide. 

To match the account in the Bible, the water would have to be pushed back into both the lake and the channel of the river, creating barriers of water on both sides of newly exposed mud flats, which is exactly what the models show could have happened.

As soon as the winds stopped, the waters would come rushing back.  Anyone still on the mud flats would be at risk of drowning. 

As the Bible story goes, Moses and the fleeing Israelites were trapped between the Pharaoh’s advancing chariots and a body of water that has been variously translated as the Red Sea. … In a divine miracle, a mighty east wind blew all night, splitting the waters and leaving a passage of dry land with walls of water on both sides.  The Israelites were able to flee to the other shore.  But when the Pharaoh’s army attempted to pursue them in the morning, the waters rushed back and drowned the soldiers. 

“The simulations match fairly closely with the account in Exodus,” Drews said.  “The parting of the waters can be understood through fluid dynamics.  The wind moves the water in a way that’s in accordance with physical laws, creating a safe passage with water on two sides and then abruptly allowing the water to rush back in.”

The subject headline in Grant Jeffrey’s 336-page book, titled The Signature of God, reads, “Merneptah—the Pharaoh Who Drowned.”  The following excerpts are from Mr. Jeffrey:

Egyptian archaeologists discovered the mummified body of Pharaoh Merneptah more than a century ago but didn’t complete a medical examination until 1975.  His body had been removed from its burial chamber thousands of years earlier following a grave robbery.  The priests repaired the damage and reburied Merneptah’s mummy in a small room in the new royal tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep II in approximately 1000 BC.  Fortunately, the priests included Merneptah’s name in the outermost wrappings of the repaired mummy.  The mummified body was first discovered, but not identified, by French archaeologist Victor Loret in 1898.

A detailed medical examination of Merneptah’s body was completed in 1974-75 with the aid of x-rays and modern forensic techniques.  Professor Michel Durigon of the Paris Police Forensic Laboratory examined the pharaoh’s tissue under a microscope and discovered the body had been in water for a short time.  Dr. Maurice Bucaille, the former chief of the surgical clinic at the University of Paris, participated in the examination and included the following statement in his book The Hebrews in Egypt:

[The] conservation of the transversal striations of muscular fibrillae gave evidence of the impossibility for the body to have remained more than a short time in the water, for, otherwise, these striations would not have appeared in the microscopic examination.

Although the internal organs had been removed during the initial mummification process, scientists were amazed to discover that massive injuries had been inflicted on this body.  The pharaoh’s body had suffered extreme violence from external blows that caused massive loss of tissue and bone in three areas: the abdomen, the thorax, and the cranium (skull).  The back also was severely damaged from a massive blow.  The remarkable violence inflicted on the pharaoh’s body was unusual because most Egyptian pharaohs died peacefully or by poison.  Yet the forensic evidence proved that this particular pharaoh had died during an incredibly violent incident, probably in water.

This raises the obvious question: what could account for these injuries?  If Pharaoh Merneptah died in an onrushing of seawater, and he had been trampled by panicking horses or crushed by overturned chariots, that could account for the injuries.  As the Egyptian army pursued the escaping Hebrew slaves between walls of water in the Red Sea, the horses would have panicked as the sea suddenly rushed together again.  Certainly, the soldiers and Pharaoh would have sustained terrible injuries as they drowned. 

The book of Exodus records that the pharaoh led his army to pursue the departing Jews and was killed with his army and their horses in the onrushing waters: “And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.” (Exodus 14:8) In Psalms, we read of the death of Pharaoh and his army: “To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: and made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever: but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.” (136:13-15)

Sir Flinders Petrie, one of the greatest Egyptologists, concluded that Pharaoh Merneptah was the pharaoh of the Exodus.  Professor Karl-Richard Lepsius also identified Merneptah with the Exodus account.  Professor Gaston Maspero cited an Alexandrian legend that names Merneptah as the pharaoh of the Exodus “who is said to have perished in the Red Sea.” [End of quotes]

▶GodSaidManSaid, “Miraculous Plagues:”

Concerning the tenth and ultimate plague, the following excerpt is from a GodSaidManSaid feature article titled, "Moses Challenged:"

In Halley’s Bible Handbook, the following is noted under the heading, "Archaeological Note:"

Death of Pharaoh’s First-Born. Inscriptions have been found indicating that Thothmes IV, successor of Amenhotep II, was not his first-born nor heir-apparent.

Also that Mernaptah’s first-born met death in peculiar circumstances, and his successor was not his first-born nor heir-apparent.

So, whichever the Pharaoh, the Biblical statement is confirmed. [End of quote]

The ultimate devastation—the slaying of the first-born of all of Egypt, the destruction of the first fruits of life itself—broke Pharaoh’s grasp. Pharaoh himself was viewed as a deity and known as the "Ka" or "life force." The Egyptian claim was that he would rule for eternity in the afterworld. He and the gods of Egypt were brought to their knees before the God of the Hebrews. [End of quotes]

▶GodSaidManSaid, “Nehushtan:”

Were there really fiery serpents sent by God in the wilderness journey of Israel because of their sin?  Did a man named Moses receive a remedy from God which entailed a staff and a brazen serpent?  Is this Biblical account reliable history?

The following paragraphs are from the book The Bible As History:

Surprisingly enough quite recently we have had archaeological confirmation of two occurrences in the Biblical account of the journey through the desert which nobody would have expected in this connection.  In spite of all the planning and systematic work, chance nevertheless has its part to play in archaeology and chance does not always pay any attention to what the scholars expect!  In this case it enabled the Israeli archaeologist Benno Rothenberg to discover a “serpent of brass” and a tabernacle in the copper mine area of Timna (Wadi Arabah). 

The “serpent of brass” is a serpent idol to which magical powers were attributed (Num. 21:9).  It is reported that there was a similar idol in the temple at Jerusalem which was not removed until it was broken in pieces by King Hiskia (Hezekiah) of Judah, who reigned around 700 B.C. (2 Kings 18:4).  The serpent idol naturally reminds us of the Sumerian serpent staff on a vase dedicated to the god of life Ningizidda.  It reminds us, too, of the Aesculapius’s staff of a later phase of Classical Antiquity as well as of the numerous serpents of Ancient Egypt.  Already at the beginning of this century a German scholar, H. Gressmann, had asserted that the “brazen serpent” in the Bible must have been taken over from the Midianites with whom the Israelites were in contact during the journey through the desert.

According to the Bible, the Midianites were descended from Abraham’s wife Keturah (Gen. 25:2-6) and Reuel (or Jethro), a priest of the Midianites, who was the father-in-law, adviser and co-celebrant “before the Lord” (Ex. 2:16, 3:1, 18:1) of Moses.  The Israelites are supposed to owe the strange cult of the brazen serpent to Reuel.  It is not without a touch of dramatic effect that we note that it was at an archaeological site showing signs of Midianite occupation that Benno Rothenberg’s found an idol in the form of a brazen serpent five inches in length and partly decorated with gold.  As though this sensational confirmation of an important part of the Biblical accounts of the journey through the desert, which have been the object of so much discussion, were not enough, this small bronze serpent was found in the Holy of Holies of a tabernacle!  [End of quote]

Moses?  The brazen serpent?  Archaeology says yes. [End of quotes]

▶GodSaidManSaid, “The Minimalists Attacking Moses are Minimalized:”

The first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch, or by Jewish canons as the Torah, were authored by God and written by Moses. Moses did not record hand-me-down accounts of creation, the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and the fall, or hand-me-down accounts of Noah and the flood, or Joseph with his coat of many colors. He recorded the firsthand, eyewitness account of the Creator Himself. It should be no surprise that Satan began his attack in Genesis 1:1.

In 1983, a book was written by Pastor Robert Boyd, which I believe is now out of print, but is available in the Library of Congress (catalog card number 82083782). The following excerpt concerns the book of Genesis:

Since it is difficult for them to disprove what they don’t believe, a good example of their subtle attack is to say that the accepted writers of the Bible did not write the portions attributed to them and they have concluded that the first Book of the Bible (Genesis) is the work of more than one author, basing their conclusion on what they said were many repetitious statements as well as certain contradictions in the text. One "contradiction" cited is found in what they say are two different accounts of creation in chapters one and two. One "inconsistency" they cite is the use of two different words for Supreme Deity—Jahweh and Elohim. From these names, these "scholars" called two of the authors of Genesis "J" and "E" and also attributed remaining sections of this Book to a "priestly" writer designated "P". The theory of multiple authorship is widely taught in liberal seminaries and has been labeled the "Documentary Hypothesis."

A bit of scientific news came to light in 1982. A team of researchers in Israel’s Institute of Technology has concluded, after feeding the over 20,000-word Book of Genesis into a computer for analysis, that there were not several authors, but a single author! The team said it found the "J" and "E" narratives difficult to distinguish linguistically. They found no evidence that there were separate authors. It was also found that the two separate accounts of creation (Genesis 1 and 2) were linguistically identical. Interesting, isn’t it, to find that in our computer/scientific age that such a device goes along with the fundamentalists in their belief that Genesis has but one author, whom we believe was none other than Moses, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit! [End of quote]

The headline in the May-June 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review reads, “Exodus Evidence.  An Egyptologist Looks at Biblical History.”  A few excerpts follow:

The question of elements of historicity in the Biblical account of the Egyptian enslavement of the Israelites and their subsequent Exodus from Egypt is an extremely complicated matter with many uncertainties.  But a number of aspects of the account can be reliably—that is, historically—traced back to the late 13^th-12^th century BCE, the time when proto-Israelites appear both in Egypt and Canaan and in what would become Israel. 

Another example places the house remains of workers (most probably slaves in the Egyptian temple) who may have been proto-Israelites (or a closely related population) in Egypt in the 12^th century BCE (The time of Ramses IV).  The workers were part of a team in western Thebes tasked with demolishing the temple of earlier kings Aya and Horemheb.  The University of Chicago archaeologists who excavated the site in the 1930s uncovered the remains of a house (and part of a second one) in which the workers lived at the site.  It was not made of bricks or stones—after all, these were workers—but of wattle and daub.  Nevertheless, the plan of the dwellings was unmistakably that of the four-room house, considered characteristic of proto-Israelites emerging in Canaan at this time.  Indeed, the four-room house is widely considered as an ethnic marker for the presence of Israelites. 

In Biblical Sukkot?  Tell el-Maskhuta in the Wadi Tumilat was excavated by a University of Toronto expedition that uncovered archaeological remains from Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, Saite, Persian, Ptolemaic, and Roman periods.  Recent excavations by Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities have also recovered remains from the Ramesside period during Egypt’s New Kingdom. 

The Wadi Tumilat region was called Tjeku by the ancient Egyptians.  Many scholars consider this name to be an Egyptian rendering of the Biblical name Sukkot—listed in Exodus 12:37 as one of the stations one the first leg of the Israelite’s Exodus from Egypt where the Israelites baked unleavened bread (matzah).

Still another example: The renowned Egyptologist Sarah I. Groll pointed out that in Papyrus Anastasi IV, Ib:1-2, reference is made to a lake that produced waves.  Therefore, it must have been a lake of considerable size.  It is referred to as g-s-m, which, according to Groll, should be identified as the Biblical Goshen. 

All this could be seen as evidence that the Egyptian borderland had been settled at this time by a Semitic-speaking population. 

The well-known Merneptah Stele (c. 1219 BCE) refers to “Israel” along with three towns—Ashkelon, Gezer, and Yeno’am.  The Egyptian classifier for “town” is attached to each of these three.  The classifier attached to “Israel,” however, is for “people.”  Israel had therefore not yet created settlements in what was to become the land of Israel. 

Thus we have evidence of population groups in Egypt and elsewhere in the late Ramesside period (late 13^th-12^th century BCE) who were culturally and ethnically close to what we know as Israel in the Iron Age (c. 1200-586 BCE).

There is another, more general, reason why I believe the Biblical account incorporates some memories of actual conditions: The storyline of the Exodus, of a people fleeing from a humiliating slavery, suggests elements that are historically credible.  Normally, it is only takes of glory and victory that are preserved in narratives from one generation to the next.  A history of being slaves is likely to bear elements of the truth. [End of quotes]

Why is it so easy for carnal “Adam” to believe there was a big bang and out popped you and the finely-tuned universe, or that your cousin is a banana, or that a dinosaur is a hummingbird—yet the Bible “just can’t be true?”  The answer is in II Thessalonians 2 and it’s called the “deceivableness of unrighteousness.”  Choose God’s Word.  Choose life and live. 

GOD SAID, Exodus 14:21-30:

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh''s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

GOD SAID, Exodus 12:29-30:

29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

MAN SAID: Moses and the bondage of the Hebrews in ancient Egypt is a fictional account.  Anyone with academic credentials knows it. 

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

“Exodus Evidence,” Biblical Archaeology Review, May-June 2016

GodSaidManSaid, “The Minimalists Attacking Moses are Minimalized”

GodSaidManSaid, “Miraculous Plagues”

GodSaidManSaid, “Nehushtan”

GodSaidManSaid, “Pharaoh, Moses, and the Red Sea”

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