Biblical archaeology is sometimes an oxymoron, other times utterly fascinating!
I continue to read through my Bible this year. It’s a discipline I recommend every believer undertake. There simply is no other way to get the benefits it affords.
Where am I now? The Exodus.
The Children of Israel have served their time in Egypt and now is the time for them to leave.
But leaving isn’t so simple. I have to say that reading the text in Exodus leaves me scratching my head. They seem to wander about endlessly and end up getting boxed in by the Red Sea as Pharaoh’s army approaches.
It doesn’t look like top notch leadership.
But – and there’s always a but – a while ago I found a fascinating book that shed a TON of light on what might have actually been going on.
The book is entitled Exodus: Myth or History and it’s by David Rohl. He’s an archaeologist. Not a Christian. But he takes a look at the archaeological record and begins to make some big sense out of it.
Let me say, archaeology and the biblical record have a tense relationship. Archaeologists like the well preserved history in the Bible – but they tend not to trust it, preferring to rely on the record in the dirt and stone. This leads to some very interesting conclusions!
But David Rohl seems to use the Bible as a trusted companion and likes to harmonize what the Bible says with what the archaeological record says.
In one part he proposes to have identified the remains of the house of Joseph – along with 12 tombs on the property. We may never know for sure if that represents the final resting place of the 12 sons of Jacob or not. But he makes a case for it!
What I found most interesting was that Rohl talks a lot about the landscape of ancient Egypt. It’s different from today (being 3000+ years ago).
For one, the border between Egypt and the Sinai peninsula was much wetter – and there were lakes and marshlands spotted across the landscape. For another, the Egyptians had dug canals 100 yards wide between these lakes – and populated them with crocodiles. These natural and human made barriers served as a kind of fortification defending the eastern border of Egypt.
What I’m saying is that it wasn’t possible to just walk out of Egypt and go to the Sinai. Either there were lakes and marshes blocking the way or there were big canals filled with water and hungry amphibians.
Actually there were defined crossing points that everyone was funneled to. And at those points, the Egyptians built big military forts. You couldn’t come and go without them knowing or giving permission.
And that’s exactly what Moses and the fleeing Hebrews wouldn’t get.
Their journey into the wilderness avoided all such military outposts. But that was the only way that a group of people could safely get out of Egypt.
Except God had other plans. In addition to destroying the Egyptian army, He had plans to lead them straight through the Egyptian border fortifications!
Oh, how God was displaying His power. Not only did He shame the Egyptian pantheon of gods through the 10 plagues and destroy the military backbone of the Egyptian super state, but He breached the defenses of the nation and led His people out in a way no one had ever done before – straight through the impenetrable wilderness!
Why do I bring this up? Because the Bible is real and true. But sometimes when reading it, one could think it feels kind of “fairy-tale”ish. Not so real. But when I read books like Exodus: Myth or History, all of the little details in the Bible suddenly spring into full color (kind of like when Dorothy lands in Oz and everything is bright colors compared to the black-and-white of Kansas).
I enjoy reading the story of the Exodus so much more because I have a greater understanding of the geography and the challenges that Moses was navigating. I see the Power of God on display so much more clearly because I understand the uniqueness of what He did.
The book itself isn’t trivial. My copy is over 400 pages – but it is loaded with color photos and maps that really enhance the experience. I just looked on Amazon and it seems the book might be out of print, but a kindle copy is available if you might like to gain deeper insight into the Exodus.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P53DM5R/
The beginning of the Bible is fascinating! I love to read it and do research that really brings it to life. I hope that this is giving you a taste of that, and it encourages you to join me in reading regularly.
Until next time,
Dennis
