Intro to Exodus (Prepared by Pastor David Anglin) The Hebrew Bible- TANAK (Torah, Nevi’im, Kutu’vim) English Bible- Pentateuch, Hist, Poetry, Prophets The TANAK and English Bible have the same books but they are arranged slightly different, as noted above. The Torah (refers to the Law) and Pentateuch (means 5 law books) are the first 5 books of the OT (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), are traditionally attributed to the Authorship of Moses.

The Bible is vitally important for 2 reasons: 1) It provides a Real History (unbiased) 2) It provides a Redemptive History

Brief Historical Overview of Israel’s History:

Historical Context God’s promises to Abraham and His descendants: Abrahams calling around 2090 B.C. Genesis 12:1-3- ”Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 15:12-16- “12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Jacob arrives in Egypt around 1875 B.C. Genesis 50 ends with the sons of Israel living with wealth, privilege, and influence as Joseph is the all- powerful prime minister of Egypt. Joseph dies, and his people grow in numbers over the next centuries. One Pharaoh’s Dynasty ends and another begins. Nationalism and Xenophobia (fear of people from other countries) takes over and the Pharaoh uses this to his advantage by making this surging minority an endless pool of cheap labor to build his great cities. They experience not just slavery but severe oppression and even the King ordering His servants to murder the new born infant males.

Authorship: Moses John 1:17 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Liberal/Cristical Scholars have attacked Mosaic Authorship seeking to discredit the authenticity and authority of the Bible. The most notable attack is referred to as the theory of Wellhausen, also the JEDP Theory or the Documentary Hypothesis. The JEDP Theory has been thoroughly challenged and discredited but nonetheless has continued to find its way into discussions about the Torah. The reality is there is no other suitable option for denying Mosaic Authorship so the ghost of Wellhausen continues to be used to discredit the Bible. No seriously objective informed academic still uses this theory. Only liberal professor in seminaries, Bible Colleges, and Universities who continue to parrot the arguments without showing how it has been easily been debunked. Below are some of the evidences for Mosaic Authorship.

Evidences of Mosaic Authorship

Evidence for the Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch From Dr. Stephen Miller’s OT Survey Notes 1) The Pentateuch itself claims that Moses wrote it. In Exodus, the text says that God spoke to Moses and gave him the pattern for the tabernacle (Ex. 25:1, 8-9, 40; see also Exod. 20-23; 24:4, 7; 25-31). Leviticus and Numbers are said to have been given by God to Moses. Numerous times in many different ways it is stated in the Pentateuch that the Lord spoke to Moses, In Deuteronomy the text states that the speeches were delivered and written by Moses (e.g., Deut. 31:9, 24-26). 2) Elsewhere in the OT, the claim is made that Moses wrote the Pentateuch (e.g., Josh. 1:7; 8:32, 34; 22:5; Judg. 3:4; 1 Chron. 15:15; 2 Chron. 23:18; Dan. 9:11,13). 3) The NT claims that Moses wrote the Pentateuch: 1) Jesus (cf. Mark 12:26; John 5:46-47; Luke 16:29, 31; John 8:5; Matt 8:4; 19:7, 8; Luke 24:44). 2) Apostles (cf. Acts 15:21; 2 Cor. 3:15). 4) Tradition of the synagogue and church confirms the Mosaic view. Noggin acknowledges, “With very few exceptions, it has always been the view of the synagogue and the church that Moses is the author of the Pentateuch.” (Soggin, IOT, 80). Samples are: Samaritan Pentateuch, Ecclesiasticus 45:5 (2d cent. B.C.); 2 Mac. 7:30; Philo (Life of Moses 3:29), Josephus (Antiquities IV:8, 48); Palestinian and Babylonian talmud. 5) Internal Evidence 1) Portions of the Pentateuch indicate that is was written in the desert (Num 2:1ff.). 2) It was written by an eyewitness who preserved the local color, etc. of the journeys (“twelve springs and seventy palm trees,” Exod. 15:27). Portions of the Pentateuch are written like a diary. 3) It was written by an author who knew Egypt. Names like Moses and Potiphar are Egyptian. Watering with the foot (Deut. 11:10) is a reference to the irrigation practices of Egypt, not Palestine. 4) Archaisms are preserved. Although there is apparent modernization of spelling and place names, many ancient expressions are preserved in the Pentateuch. One of the best examples, the pronoun for “she” appears as hiw” instead of the usual hi” (H.H.Rowley, The Growth of the Old Testament, p 46). 6) Moses had the education and background to have written the Pentateuch. 7) There is no solid external objective evidence to deny the Mosiac tradition. No J document, P document, etc. have ever been found. 8) If the Documentary Hypothesis is true and Moses is not the author than the Pentateuch must be a manufactured history. 9) The documentary hypothesis in its Wellhausenian form denies special revelation and the supernatural. Meaning, the law is not a revelation of God to Moses, the miracles did not occur, and predictive prophecy in not possible. 10) Archaeological discoveries have confirmed the antiquity of the Pentateuch (e.g., Code of Hammurabi, tablets from Nuzi, Mari, Ebla, etc.). 11) Any theory based on an evolutionary development of Israel’s religion must be rejected. Israel’s religion was revealed, not developed by human trial and error.

Dating the Exodus: (2 Schools of Thought) The Late Date: • Exodus occurred during the Pharaoh’s of the 19th Dynasty (1321-1205 B.C.) • Built upon Rameses II (1300-1234 B.C.) Based upon Ex. 1:1 (Store houses of Pithom and Raameses). The Pharaoh having a long reign according to Ex. 2:32, and we know he reigned for around 65 years. What is at Stake? • After Amenhotep III’s reign (1421-1376 B.C.) Egypt goes through a period of decline and loosens its grip on Syria and Palenstine. • Amenhotep IV (1380-1362 B.C.) changes his name to Akhenaten (sun god). Akhenaten received letters from Palestine governors requesting help because of an invasion of a nomadic people known as the Habiru. Known as the Amarna Letters. The Early Date: • Exodus occurred during the Pharaoh’s of the 18th Dynasty (1580-1321 B.C.) • Thutmoses III (1501-1447 B.C.) thus making Amenhotep II (1447-1421 B.C.) • Also Hatshepsut (1501-1479 B.C.) would have likely been the daughter of Pharaoh who had the courage to defy her father and save the Hebrew baby in the basket. • Thutmoses was known to be more cruel than Rameses, hated foreigners, and there are paintings from his reign showing Semites working as slave laborers on his building projects.

The Biblical Dating: Judges 11:26- “ While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time?” • Jepthah judged Israel around 1100 B.C. • 1100 + 300 years + 40 years of wandering = 1440 B.C. 1 Kings 6:1-“In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.” • The Temple is begun in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign, 480 years after the Exodus. • The years was 966 B.C. + 480 = approximately 1446 B.C. • Thutmoses died in 1447 B.C.= leaving the Exodus having taken place between 1447-1445 B.C. Acts 13:20- Ex. 1 - covers 4 centuries (430 years)- the people of God are dwelling in dark times. Ex. 2 - covers 80 years- God is working behind the scenes, sovereignly orchestrating His plan of deliverance. 80 years before Moses is called by God to set His people free God has already been working. Centuries of seemingly unheard prayers and God has not forgotten, God has some been deaf, and God has been Sovereignly working in the midst of darkness to bring forth the miraculous deliverance of His people.

Moses becomes a murderer. In the midst of an injustice, Moses takes justice into his own hands and commits a crime.

He flees to Midian, and ends up living among some descendants of Abraham, marries. It seems like Moses is expecting to retire at 80, living in the desert, preserved from death by God only to find out that God has protected His life for a greater purpose and a more dangerous calling.

Without Exodus, the Bible would lack three early scenes of God’s Story: deliverance, covenant, and worship. Exodus provides the events and narrative, along with the themes and images, foundational for understanding the story of Israel and of Jesus.

Evidence for the Early Date of the Exodus (1446 B.C.) From Dr. Stephen Miller’s OT Survey Notes

The Early Date (1446 B.C.) Evidence for the so-called early date is as follows: 1) 1 Kings 6:1 states that from the date of Solomon’s fourth year of reign back to the Exodus from Egypt was 480 years. Solomon’s fourth year was approximately 966 B.C. making the exodus 1446 B.C. (966 B.C. + 480 years). Late date proponents argue that the numbers are not exact or that twelve generations of forty years are meant (generations changed in length). 2) Judges 11:26 reports that from Jephthah’s time to the invasion of Palestine under Joshua had been about 300 years. Jephthah judged Israel about 1100 B.C. according to the Judges chronology. Therefore, 1100 B.C. + 300 years = 1400 B.C. To this figure must be added Israel’s forty year desert wandering and a few years for Joshua to conquer the land. This would again result in the date of about 1446 B.C. 3) The early date fits well with the length of the judges period. If Israel left Egypt about 1250 B.C., wandered in the wilderness for forty years and spent about ten years conquering the land, the judges period did not start until after 1200 B.C. King Saul began reigning about 1050 B.C. leaving only 150 years for the entire judges period. This figure includes the time of Samuel’s reign which is not recorded in Judges. It is evident that the events of the judges must have lasted approximately 300-350 years, and this cannot be made to fit into a 150 year period, even with overlapping reigns of some of the judges. According to the early date, there would have been ample room for these events. 1446 B.C. less 50 years for Israel’s wandering and conquering the land would come to about 1400 B.C. From this time to King Saul (1400-1050) would give about 350 years. 4) The early date fits Egyptian history much better than the late date. a. The Bible says that Moses fled 40 years from a certain Pharaoh. Therefore, there must have been a Pharaoh who reigned for a time of more than 40 years immediately preceding the exodus. According to the early date there was a Pharaoh who fits this requirement. Thutmose III (Thoth – moon god and god of writing) reigned from 1504-1450 B.C. His death would have been only four years before God sent Moses back to Egypt and the exodus took place in 1446 B.C. These requirements are not met by the late date given as 1250 B.C. or thereabouts. No pharaoh ruled for more than 40 years within a reasonable period before Rameses II (1304-1236) and Rameses’ son could not have been the pharaoh of the exodus because it would be far too late. Moreover, if Rameses II built the city of Rameses in the first year of his reign and Moses was born then (ca. 1290) and if Moses was 80 at the time of the exodus, the exodus must have taken place in 1210 B.C. which is far too late. It seems virtually impossible to accept the biblical chronology and the late date. b. Amenhotep II began reigning in 1450 B.C. (Thutmose III’s son) at the age of 18 years. At the time of the Exodus he would have been 22 years old. Ancient records reveal this Pharaoh was arrogant and proud, a perfect person for God to humble and harden in order to demonstrate His power. c. Another interesting fact is that if the Exodus was 1446 B.C. and Moses was 80 years old then, he would have been born in 1526 B.C. during the reign of Thutmose I (1525-1508) or Amenhotep I (1546-1525). His daughter was the famous Hatshepsut who could possibly have been the princess who found Moses in the basket and raised him. d. If the exodus took place in 1446 B..C., God demonstrated His sovereignty in Egypt at the zenith of Egyptian power. 5) Archaeological evidence supports the early date. a. Recent excavations by Bryant Wood at Jericho indicate a destruction about 1400 B.C. as John Garstang argued decades ago. b. the Amarna letters were correspondence from Palestine to Amenhotep III and Akhenaton (Amenhotep IV) at Amarna (between 1400-1367 B.C.). These tablets were written in Akkadian by Canaanites to the Egyptian court. They mention the Habiru (Apiru) who were invading the land. Although the term Habiru includes peoples other than Hebrews, the Hebrew are probably referred to in these letters. There are no letters from Jericho concerning the Habiru which may indicate the fact that Jericho fell to the Hebrews before they had an opportunity to send to Egypt for help. c. Archaeological evidence given to support the late date may be satisfactorily explained. Much of it accords better with the early date. d. The Merneptah Stele rules out any date past ca. 1234 B.C. for the entrance into Canaan. In A.D. 1896 Flinders Petrie discovered a tablet written in the time of Rameses II’son, Merneptah. It is dated in his fifth year and states that Merneptah had found Israel in Palestine and defeated them in battle. Therefore, by this time Israel had settled into the land. This means that Israel must have left Egypt about 50 years earlier at the very latest. This date may be computed by adding 40 years wandering and about 10 years to conquer the land to 1234 B.C. This results in an approximate cut-off date of 1280 B.C. According to the early date Israel would have been in Palestine for a good many years by 1234 B.C. In conclusion the early date of the exodus seems to be confirmed by the biblical and extra-biblical evidence. There are several compilations of the Egyptian dynasties that have been proposed by leading Archeologists and Egyptologists. Here is a well documented and published timeline presented by Peter Clayton in “Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt”. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994. I will add some notes to show how this corresponds with the Biblical dating.

Dynasty 18 1570-1293 B.C. Ahmose I 1570-1546 Amenhotep I 1551-1524 Tuthmosis I 1524-1518 Tuthmosis II 1518-1504 Tuthmosis III 1504-1450 (likely Pharaoh who ordered Male Hebrews be killed) Queen Hatshepsut 1498-1483 (Daughter of the Pharaoh, likely Moses adopted mom) Amenhotep II 1453-1419 (Exodus in 1446 B.C. - Judges 11:26; 1 Kings 6:1) Tuthmosis IV 1419-1386 Amenhotep III 1386-1349 Amenhotep IV 1350-1334 (Akhenaton Monotheist) Smenkare 1336-1334 Tutankhamun 1334-1325 (King Tut) Ay 1325-1321 Horemheb 1321-1293

Final thoughts: In summary, the critical scholars presuppose that Israel’s religion is man made and there is no God, and supernatural events like the plagues, parting of the Red Sea, and Manna from heaven are impossible because they cannot be recreated in a lab. They refuse to consider or acknowledge any evidence that does not prove the assumption they have already made. They have placed their proverbial heads in the sand and refused to consider the evidence supporting Mosaic authorship and God’s Divine Revelation. If this is God’s work and revelation than they must abandon their secular humanistic worldview.