Finding the Missing Exodus

By W J Vermeer

One of the pivotal moments in history relating to the Bible is the departure of the children of Israel from the slavery of Egypt to settle on the Promised Land. From this exodus came the Old Testament Law of Moses and the celebration of the feast of the Passover. It was an event that was recounted numerous times throughout the books of the Old Testament as an important salutary message. For Christians, the Passover foreshadowed the redemption associated with the sacrifice of Christ, and the crossing of the Red Sea is seen as a pattern of baptism. The entry into the Promised Land by the Israelites is seen as a pattern to be fulfilled when Christians inherit eternal life.

The problem is that the history of ancient Egypt doesnt appear to support the account of the exodus. There seems to be no sign of Israelites sojourning in Egypt, no sign of a departure of hundreds of thousands of slaves, no devastating plagues decimating Egypt. Quite the reverse seems to be the case. Egypt was prosperous and healthy. The pharaohs built themselves lavish tombs, and their mummified bodies are in museums around the world, not lying at the bottom of the Red Sea. On top of that, the city of Jericho, which was supposed to have been captured by the Israelites when they entered the land, was actually unoccupied ruins at that time.

Does this mean the entire foundation of both Judaism and Christianity is flawed? In this book, the question is examined, and it is shown that the answer to this mystery actually confirms rather than disproves the Bible account.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris NZ
• Release date: Jul 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781499098549

W J Vermeer

W. J. Vermeer holds degrees in mathematics and physics from Auckland University and a PhD in physics from the Australian National University. After working in physics research at Oxford and Manchester Universities, he changed careers to work in software development. In 1983, he became a Spirit-filled Christian and started to study the Bible.

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Copyright © 2016 by W J Vermeer.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016911579

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4990-9856-3

                Softcover        978-1-4990-9855-6

                eBook             978-1-4990-9854-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorised Version), first published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Rev. date: 07/25/2016

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CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Bible Chronology

Chapter 3: Results—How It All Fits Together

Summary and Conclusions

Preface

There is an interesting story here, one that perhaps takes a little time to explain and delves into some apparently obscure facts but has wide implications. The subject has been examined by experts, and many authoritative books have been written. This is not an attempt to criticise or denigrate any of the previous work but instead tries to pull all the pieces together.

How does someone know they should seek out a story they originally knew nothing about? There was no particular reason or motivation for starting off this work and eventually carrying out a comparison of the Bible and the scientific data regarding ancient Egypt. One night some years ago, I stayed up late trying to figure out the somewhat confusing years of the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah as described in the books of the Bible called 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. There was no particular reason for this except that I had some kind of drive or inspiration to do this rather strange thing. I knew that staying up late would have consequences when I would have to get up early to go to work the next day. Despite that, I had a strong compulsion to sort out these numbers. Perhaps it was curiosity, or perhaps it was the inspiration of God that would lead me down a long track of discovery. There certainly was no compelling logical reason for my actions, and there would appear to be nothing to be gained. Who really cares what the numbers are, and haven’t others gone through this exercise many times already?

If I’d known how many books had already been written on the subject, I probably wouldn’t have continued. Getting a correct chronology wouldn’t have any effect on the doctrines or understanding of the Old or New Testament, and no known prophecies would be impacted by these precise numbers. Yet there I was, late one night, trying to sort out the numbers.

It was a puzzle to come up with dates that were completely consistent with all the numbers in the Bible, and it certainly wasn’t solved overnight. This was only a first step, and a necessary step, for delving further back into Old Testament history and eventually finding a solution to a more serious problem that, back then, I didn’t even know existed.

I mention these things partly because today’s society often seems very preoccupied with doing only those things that have some kind of obvious (usually financial) benefit. This is actually a very short-sighted way of thinking that undermines creativity and discovery. Would primitive man, who explored the vast continents and oceans, have ever left his small village if he had thought like that? Would he have discovered fire, writing, metal working? He did things that others before him never tried, things that didn’t necessarily have an immediate reward other than the challenge of exploration and curiosity.

Of course, we only know about the success stories, but it should be a reminder that we can set our sights beyond the mundane and the ordinary. With the wealth of information around these days, it is easy to just accept that others have sorted out all the questions and that there is nothing left for us. Sometimes it can be important to not accept things without question, and there may well be times when you find the unexpected.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

There have been claims, often based on apparently quite sound archaeological evidence, that there was no exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. If this is true, it would seriously undermine the credibility of the Bible and the entire foundation of Judaism and Christianity. In this work, the chronology of the Old Testament is re-examined, and it is shown that the dates for the exodus and the sojourning of the Israelites in Egypt took place about 160 years earlier than most writers previously thought. Although this is a relatively small change, it places the date for the exodus in a very different period in Egyptian history, and rather than excluding the possibility of an exodus, the archaeological evidence is suddenly in remarkable agreement. Using the revised dates, the comparison between secular Egyptian history and the biblical account shows excellent agreement from the time of Joseph through the fall of Jericho.

This book attempts to use the best available secular historical information. There is no attempt to reinterpret the scientific data, and there is no reliance on any controversial or wacky theories. As for the Bible, it is assumed that the King James Version is sufficient for the present purposes, and all quotes come from the King James Version unless otherwise stated. There are one or two places where it is useful to delve into the meanings of the original manuscripts written in Greek and Hebrew, but this is kept to a minimum. In working out a chronology, the fundamental assumption is that there are no significant errors in the Bible. The biblical chronology was worked out before attempting to compare it with secular history, and that should separate the decision-making in determining the chronology from any possible preconceived ideas.

1.1 The Missing Exodus

Included in some of the amazing pictures of outer space that have come out of the Hubble space telescope are images of entire galaxies colliding. It is effectively a view of worlds coming into conflict with the massive gravitational forces that tear galaxies apart and send individual stars flying off in various directions. These events take place so slowly that it is to us as if they are momentarily frozen in time. Sometimes, it can appear that an analogous collision it taking place right now—between the worlds of science and faith. It is easy to get the impression that this—a collision between the irresistible force of science and the immovable object of the Bible—is an inevitable yet slow-motion collision. Is it either imminent or already in progress? Will this tear apart the things that have been believed for millennia? Should science bend to accommodate contemporary interpretations of ancient writings? In some ways, both viewpoints represent the truth; there should in principle be no conflict and no catastrophic collision. However, time and again, challenges are raised by scientific discovery that question the authenticity of the Bible. One of those challenges recently has come from the field of archaeology, and perhaps the impact or seriousness of this particular challenge hasn’t been widely appreciated. If this challenge is correct, the foundation of both Christianity and Judaism is deeply flawed, and consequently, the beliefs built on that foundation are