Changes

From the narrative recorded in [[Genesis]] 15:13-18 it appears that the plan of the [[Exodus]] may have been revealed to [[Abraham]] four generations before [[Moses]].In Genesis 15:13 the narrative records that Abraham's descendants will be a stranger in a land that is not their own. The descendants of Abraham will serve the strangers in that land, and these strangers whom Abraham's descendants serve will "afflict them" for 400 years.<ref>Genesis 15:13</ref> In Genesis 15:14, the narrative records that God will judge the nation holding the descendants of Abraham in [[affliction]], "your seed will leave that nation with material wealth".<ref>Genesis 15:14</ref> Genesis 15:15 records that Abraham will die at an old age, and be buried with his father; but after the 4th generation<ref>Genesis 15:16</ref> the things previously hinted at would occur. In Genesis 15:17 the narrative records that the sun went down, but that Abraham saw a smoking furnace and a burning lamp,picturing the "burning bush" of Moses, or the "burning cloud" which lead the Israelites in the Exodus.<ref>Genesis15:17</ref><ref>Exodus 33:7-11</ref><ref name="middletownbiblechurch.org">http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/oldtesta/ot02.pdf</ref> Finally, Genesis 15:18 records that the borders of the land that the descendants of Abraham will immigrate to after the period of affliction. The land borders are recorded as everything from the [[Nile]] river to the [[Euphrates]].<ref>Genesis 15:18</ref> It should be noted that this verse has been a hotbed, as anti-semitic and anti-Israel bigots note this as a claim to an [[Israel]]i push for living space in the Middle East.<ref name="middletownbiblechurch.org"/>

From the narrative recorded in [[Genesis]] 15:13-18 it appears that the plan of the [[Exodus]] may have been revealed to [[Abraham]] four generations before [[Moses]].In Genesis 15:13 the narrative records that Abraham's descendants will be a stranger in a land that is not their own. The descendants of Abraham will serve the strangers in that land, and these strangers whom Abraham's descendants serve will "afflict them" for 400 years.<ref>Genesis 15:13</ref> In Genesis 15:14, the narrative records that God will judge the nation holding the descendants of Abraham in [[affliction]], "your seed will leave that nation with material wealth".<ref>Genesis 15:14</ref> Genesis 15:15 records that Abraham will die at an old age, and be buried with his father; but after the 4th generation<ref>Genesis 15:16</ref> the things previously hinted at would occur. In Genesis 15:17 the narrative records that the sun went down, but that Abraham saw a smoking furnace and a burning lamp,picturing the "burning bush" of Moses, or the "burning cloud" which lead the Israelites in the Exodus.<ref>Genesis15:17</ref><ref>Exodus 33:7-11</ref><ref name="middletownbiblechurch.org">http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/oldtesta/ot02.pdf</ref> Finally, Genesis 15:18 records that the borders of the land that the descendants of Abraham will immigrate to after the period of affliction. The land borders are recorded as everything from the [[Nile]] river to the [[Euphrates]].<ref>Genesis 15:18</ref> It should be noted that this verse has been a hotbed, as anti-semitic and anti-Israel bigots note this as a claim to an [[Israel]]i push for living space in the Middle East.<ref name="middletownbiblechurch.org"/>

== Physical evidence of the Exodus ==

== Dating of the Exodus ==

In 2003, amateur diver Peter Elmer discovered coral-encrusted chariot wheels and other chariot parts submerged in the Gulf of Aqaba, the eastern offshoot of the great body of water called the Red Sea today.<ref name=Kovacs/> This is not, however, conclusive. The Biblical narrative indicates that the Israelites made their crossing far too soon for them to have successfully crossed the entire [[Sinai desert]] and peninsula to reach the Gulf of Aqaba. More likely, the Israelites crossed the Gulf of Suez—and the destruction of Neferhotep's army was so complete that not a single artifact was left. The Bible does, of course, say that not a single ''man'' was left of that army.

The reign of Solomon lasted between 970 - 930 BC,<ref>http://www.etf.cuni.cz/~prudky/pdf/Kitchen-2001_BAR-How_We_Know.pdf/ How we know when Solomon ruled</ref>, 1 Kings 6:1 thus places the exodus 480 years earlier than the fourth year of Solomon's reign (966 BC), which would bring about a date for the exodus of 1446 BC, during the reign of Amenhotep II. Bryant G. Wood states "Working back from Solomon’s fourth year... brings us to ca. 1446 BC for the date of the exodus."<ref>Wood, Bryant G. "The Rise and Fall of the 13th-Century Exodus-Conquest Theory." JOURNAL-EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 48.3 (2005): 475.</ref>

The revised chronology of David Down and John Ashton<ref name=Timing/> strongly suggests that the beginning of the Intermediate Period is the best time for the Exodus. By this scheme, the Hyksos overran Egypt when conditions could not have been more favorable to invaders: a country first devastated by multiple meteorological, agricultural, and epidemiological disasters is suddenly deprived of its leader and its entire army in a single battle.

Secondly, Judges 11:26 says that the Israelite's entered the promised land 300 years earlier than the Israel's judge Jephthah. Jephthah is thought to have reigned about 1100 BC,<ref>Rowley, H. H. "The Exodus and the Settlement in Canaan." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 85 (1942): 27-31.</ref> which places the entering of the Israelite's into the promised land at about 1400 BC, and going back 40 years (as the Israelite's wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before entering into the promised land; Numbers 32:13, Joshua 5:6) Judges 11:26 reveals a date for the exodus about 1440 BC, which conforms to the specific dating of 1 Kings 6:1 of the exodus to 1446 BC. Thirdly, 1 Chronicles 6:33-37 lists about 18 generations from the generation of the exodus to the generation of the time of King David. Generations last usually about 25 years, and going back 18 sets of generations, each somewhere around 25 years, the exodus date goes somewhere within the 15th century BC. Bryant G. Wood concludes based on these various passages that "The date of the Biblical Exodus-Conquest is clear. 1 Kgs 6:1 and 1 Chr 6:33–37 converge on a date of 1446 BC for the exodus and the Jubilees data and Judges 11:26 independently converge on a date of 1406 BC for the beginning of the conquest."<ref>Wood, Bryant G. "The Biblical date for the exodus is 1446 BC: a response to James Hoffmeier." JOURNAL-EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 50.2 (2007): 249.</ref>

== Chronological Placement of the Exodus ==

== Chronological Placement of the Exodus ==