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→Dating of the Exodus: Re-add deleted info.
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 ==
Egyptian history is of little to no help in substantiating the Exodus, much less dating it. The reason is that, to an Egyptian, history was not an objective inquiry into past events, but rather was a medium of [[propaganda]]. The willful destruction or defacement by succeeding Pharaohs of the monuments, stelae, and other records of his predecessors is a common theme in Egyptology.
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 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.
== Dating of the Exodus ==
== Dating of the Exodus ==