"Between Migdol and the Sea"

There is a wonderful 2014 book written by a computer modeller Carl Drews called “Between Migdol and the Sea”.  I have done much marine computer modelling and I can clearly see what he has done and I am persuaded by it.  He also published a scientific paper of his analysis which is here.  He notes that the book of Exodus does not seem to be primarily symbolic, or allegorical, though many symbols and allegories are likely present.  In fact it describes the flight of the Hebrews from Egypt in a lot of detail.  It locates the position of the crossing of the sea precisely to the ancient audience, though the places named have become less distinct now, with reference to Migdol, the sea, Pi-Hahiroth and Baal-zephon (Exodus 14:2).  The body of water crossed is the Yam Suf, or the ‘sea of reeds’ - not the ‘Red Sea’ as we understand it today.  Instead, it is a shallow piece of water where reeds can grow.  With good references, Drews locates this place within the Nile delta next to the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, and the ‘sea’ referred to is the Mediterranean Sea.  With clear research and quite reasonable assumptions he recreates the topography of the immediate area and is able to produce a computer model of the movement of water and of the action of winds upon it.  He present it here, for example.

 

Does Moses hold up his staff and create a huge valley through giant cliffs of water like the 1956 epic film ‘The Ten Commandments’ by Cecil B. DeMille starring Charlton Heston?  That isn’t what the Bible says.  The event is the greatest miracle, but it is often protrayed inaccurately.  When the Hebrews are in a position of certain death at night trying to escape from the mighty Egyptian army, trapped on a spit of land surrounded by water, Moses raises his staff.  What happens next?  The sea parts, but the Bible is very clear how it parts (Exodus 14:21): “and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night” - the wind causes the parting of the sea, and it takes all night.  Make no mistake, it is a miracle of the greatest proportions, not least because it is occurs at precisely the right time, and lasts for precisely the right amount of time for the Hebrews to pass safely and for the Egyptians to founder.  The Egyptians must founder so badly that they give up any thought of attempting the longer journey around the Nile delta to get the Hebrews.  The Bible does not describe towering cliffs of water, but ‘walls’ to the right and left.  While that word can mean a conventional ‘wall’, it is next used in the Bible to describe the wall of protection that the young David provides to Abigail’s women when they are out in the countryside.  It does not seem to be describing a towering cliff of water.  The Bible describes the sea ‘going back’.  You do not need a towering cliff of water to see God’s miracle here.  Put yourself in the shoes of the Hebrews who for generations now have only known slavery, and find a tragic comfort in it, while they are forced to make bricks without straw and throw their babies into the Nile.  They were once a strong people, but how can they survive on their own?  Moses has something very special, he brings the idea and the reality of God closer again; he can speak to Pharoah on equal terms, he knows the Egyptian language and culture, yet he is a Hebrew.  He has summoned miraculous plagues of ever-increasing proportions, "LET MY PEOPLE GO" he says to Pharaoh's face.  He is humble yet powerful.  He will not let us down.  He has preserved all our Hebrew babies through the sacrifice and blood of a lamb, and a mysterious meal of the same lamb splayed on a cross of wood over the fire, while the Egyptian first-born are taken back to God.  He cannot let us down now.  There is only one possibility for what seems impossible: faith.

Drews, by using modern computer analysis, historical data and plausible assumptions, shows that a strong east wind, blowing for 6 hours, can open up a land bridge for long enough for the Hebrews to pass safely.  The Egyptian chariots follow in the morning and become mired in the mud and when Moses raises his staff a second time, the wind falls and the waters quickly rush back in.  It seems very simple, but let us reflect again on what is happening.  The Hebrews are slaves with cattle, and through a series of miracles their leader Moses has already inflicted great shame and punishment on the Egyptian elite.  They have been allowed to leave after a series of escalating miracles - you can’t say the Egyptian Pharaoh wasn’t given plenty of chances to “let my people go”.  Soon after this, Pharaoh is burning with revenge and decides to chase them down and put an end to them.  The Hebrews come to a dead-end and are afraid that Moses has led them to their doom.  The most powerful army on Earth is right on their tail, they can see the army camp fires and they are completely cornered.  They think they are certainly going to die, but Moses insists that God will hold them safe.  How?  Moses and the Hebrews are on a colossally difficult journey of faith which will deliver us Our Saviour.  They therefore have the most colossally overpowering miracle to start this new part of their journey, through water and with the breath, the Spirit, of God.  The Bible uses the word בְּר֨וּחַ (bə·rū·aḥ) here, sometimes written as ‘ruach’ in English.  It is not a weather report.  It is the breath of God, manifest in His creation, the same ruach that hovered over the waters in the beginning, and that blew away the flood waters for Noah's family.  With modern methods we can see that there is an extraordinary natural explanation for the Exodus crossing of the sea, together with a supernatural convergence of events.  Moses holds up his staff at the right moment, speaking to God and trusting in God.  If this event had happened a few hours one way or the other, then this crossing would have been a disaster and an end to salvation history.  It was a triumph.

 

If you still want a miracle that is clearly supernatural, reflect that there was also a towering cloud of fire and smoke that guided them and that did not move during all this time of a strong wind, and it kept the Egyptian army at bay.  God was unmistakably at work in the most powerful way.

Can we be sure who the Pharaoh was?

The Pharaoh concerned was very likely Amenhotep the second.  There is a good account of this by Expedition Bible, here, and it is substantiated by the Egyptian historian Manetho as quoted by Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, here, who gives the name of Amenophis, which is the Greek form of Amenhotep.  This Pharaoh was found in the Valley of the Kings in a shroud with his name on it.  He had boils over his skin, and no other mummy has been found in this state.  The Bible records a plague of boils shortly before the Hebrews leave; in fact, Moses throws dirt in the air right in front of Pharaoh which begins this plague (Exodus 9:10).  It appears that his son was buried before him, which is also consistent with last plague of Exodus.  The timing of the Exodus was likely 1446 B.C.  Again, there is a good account of the timeline by Expedition Bible here.  While there seems to be much debate about whether any event at all can be dated from the Bible, a few simple facts can be put together that are consistent with contemporary evidence and they clearly point to the accuracy of the Bible.  

The indexing of Biblical dates with the modern calendar is given good coverage by Expedition Bible here, using the total solar eclipse in Nineveh in 763 B.C., the know date of Sennacherib's invasion of Israel preserved on the Taylor prism (at the British Museum, here) and the account of the same invasion in 2 Kings 18:13 - i.e. by carefully corresponding explicit dates and timings in Sumerian chronology and the Bible.  The Bible can be trusted.

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