FIRST, TO GIVE credit where it is due, scientists
such as Colin Humphreys, epidemiologist John Marr, Italian archaelogist Emmanuel Anati and some other scientists, as
well as non-scientists with an avid interest in Bible topics, have suggested logical, natural theories for the amazing
events in the Bible book of Exodus. The material on this page is thus a synthesis of some of their thoughts.
Much reference was also made to Wikipedia.org and Biblegateway.org.
Although a major objection to there
having been an Exodus is that it is said that the logistics of daily feeding 2,000,000 Hebrews would make that number impossible,
meaning that the story is fiction and the Bible lies; a good counter-point is that the Bible states that not just Hebrews
but "a great mixed company" were in the Exodus out of Egypt. Very possibly the other peoples who
left along with the Hebrews later split off along a more direct route to Canaan instead of wandering along
for forty years.
Moreover, the Hebrew word “aleph” although usually translated as “thousand”
can also mean a clan, troop or family of a number that is not determined. So on this basis too we find
that the number of Hebrews who exited Egypt could have been much smaller than any 2 million. Thus
the following source estimates only 20,000 to 40,000 Hebrews actually came out of Egypt: http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/exodus_population.html
One speculation is that
while Moses was in Midian came before where natural volcanic gas rose from the ground and set an acacia bush on fire that
burned without becoming extinguished. It has been shown that acacias in that area actually do react as
noted. Further, the gas fumes may have caused him to hallucinate that he heard God speaking to him.
He may have been preconditioned to have done so because the area that he was in was Har Karkom which even at that time
was known from long before as a holy area and by speculation (see elsewhere) may also be what was then sometimes called Mount
Sinai. THE TEN PLAGUES
 As to the plagues,
the Nile River seemed to become blood because dinoflagellates or toxic red algae had rapidly multiplied in the river.
The red algae then killed fish including those which normally ate frogs. This caused frogs to multiply
and come onto the land. Also, gnats and flies came ashore because of the dead fish. The
tainted water eventually killed the frogs, causing gnats or lice and flies to multiple. This caused animal
diseases such as African horse sickness and boils. There was also hail, locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) and sandstorms.
The frogs and insects also transmitted poisonous molds or a virus that grew within the top layer of grain in all regions
of Egypt except Goshen where the Israelites lived.
The Egyptians by custom
gave double food amounts to their eldest sons and livestock so those got double amounts of the poison, killing the newborns
throughout Egypt but leaving the Israelites unscathed. The trigger event for the plagues may have been
an erupting volcanic. For example in modern times Lake Nyos in Cameroon, Africa, erupted in 1986 and this
led to a similar chain of disasters. THE CANES THAT BECAME SNAKES
Colin has noted that a
book by Zimniok (Van der Voort, 1992) describes how India’s snake-charmers handle cobras that still have fangs.
They have helpers distract a snake's attention while one approaches it from behind, grabs it, strokes it a few
times then presses a spot on its neck. The snake then stiffens like a cane, staff or rod in the snake-charmer’s hand.
The catalepsis continue a while, then the charmer throws the snake, causing it to revive and resume its threatening appearance.
A larger snake, of course can devour smaller snakes. Exodus 7:12 says "For they
cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods When the Israelites arrived
at the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army in pursuit, the water was pushed back by a very strong wind effect called wind setdown.
Exodus 14:21 says the powerful wind, by conjecture possibly up to 100 mph, blew from the “east,” in other
words against the Israelites’ direction of march. This would have made their walking across the dried
sea ridge tedious and slower although not impossible.
However, Exodus 12:38 says the Israelites and those with
them exited Egypt with “large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.” Since the livestock,
flocks and herds were likely driven in front, the livestock blocked most of wind’s direct force, enabling the Israelites
to go even more easily across the wind-dried sea bed. Further, oxen, sheep, goats etc walk on all fours instead of with two
feet, which gave them greater ability to walk in a much more stable fashion and thus also move more rapidly against the strong
wind. THE PILLAR OF FIRE AND SMOKE  Exodus 12:37 and 40 say after living "430 years" in Egypt, the Israelites left Egypt from the city
of Rameses, which may also have been called Pi-Rameses. They would travel on to Sukkot or Sukkoth, depending
on spelling. Rameses and Sukkot were almost certainly in the Land of Goshen that the Israelites had dwelt
in, and Goshen was likely in the eastern Delta of Nile River.
Some have speculated that The Pillar of Fire and Cloud was the
dark smoke from an erupting volcano rising up during the daytime, and at night time it was fire seen from the same eruption.
Regardless, the following is known from the Bible itself:
Exodus 13 says “20 After
leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 21 By day the LORD went ahead
of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they
could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”
Exodus 14 says “19
Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.
Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other
all night long.”
Exodus 14 adds “23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses
and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25
He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s
get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”
At some point the Israelites ceased to see The Pillar.
By speculation, the source of The Pillar was an erupting volcano at what the Bible calls Mount Sinai. After
they left Sinai and the volcano quit erupting, then they would not have seen it again. TRADITIONAL LOCATION: Christian, Jewish and Islamic tradition
says the mountain now called Mount Sinai, which is in the Sinai Desert, is the original Mount Sinai. It is also
known as Mount Horeb. In Egyptian, depending upon dialect, it is called Jabal Musa (Mount Moses), Jebel Musa, Gabal
Musa.
However in recent times this identification has been challenged for various reasons such as lack of
artifacts, distance not fitting as some feel it should, the location being so far off the "logical" course or movement
for an exodus of slaves from Egypt to the Promised Land, etc.
Therefore three other theories as to
Mount Sinai's location are discussed here. They deal with the mountains now called Bedr, Har Karkom, and Yehoram.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Sinai
HUMPRHEY'S
THEORY (MOUNT BEDR): There are many theories about which mountain is the real "Mount Sinai" of Exodus. At
Galatians 4:25 Paul says it was in Arabia: "Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present
city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children." So the Bible indicates it is in Arabia, but some
point out that there could be more than one mountain that has been called Sinai just as there were in ancient Israel also
more than one city with a certain name.
Also, at the time that Paul said Mount Sinai is in "Arabia,"
the area that he referred to as Arabia may not have been just the area that is now modern Saudi Arabia. Possibly the
entire Sinai peninsula was then thought of as in Arabia if not in terms of governance then in terms of what was then considered
to be the general region of cultural zone of Arabia. In any event, the idea that the Mount Sinai of Moses is in what is
now Saudi Arabia is perfectly in line with the theory of physicist and material scientist Colin Humphrey that it
is likely Mount Bedr, also in modern Saudi Arabia not in the Sinai Desert now part of Egypt. Humphrey notes that since
the mountain in the Bible shook, emitted fire and smoke (Exodus 19:18) that describes the active volcano of Mount Bedr which
appears to be in the area the Bible has called Midian. Mount Horeb, which is what most people have traditionally assumed
was the right mountain, is in the Sinai Peninsula, and it is not active. In fact none of the mountains in the Sinai
Peninsula are or have relatively-speaking been volcanic, which would tend to rule all of them out.
ANATI'S THEORY
(HAR KARKOM): In Emmanuel Anati’s book The Mountain of God (1986) he has proposed Har Karkom for Mount Sinai.
Exodus 3:1 says Moses led Jethro’s flock to the Mountain of God. This implies the mountain was already as the
"Mountain of God" before Moses even arrived there. Deuteronomy 1:2 says:
"It
takes eleven days from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir, to Kadesh-Barnea."
Kadesh-Barnea is believed by many to be modern Ain Kudeirat (or with the nearby Ain Kadis) and Mount Seir with Jebel
Arif el-Naqa, and a trail leads from Ain Kudeirat/Kadesh Barnea to Mount Seir/Jebel Arif el-Naqa to Horeb/Sinai/Har Karkom/The
Mountain of God. Along the trail are ten groups of wells some 7 to 14 miles from one another. As
Deuteronomy 1:2 says, it is also true that a modern person needs exactly eleven days
to walk on foot from Horeb by the way of Mt. Seir to Kadesh-Barnea. Bible accounts indicate
Mt. Sinai was at or near the border of Midian and Amalek. Har Karkom is in the same area. Exodus
24:4 says Moses “built an altar under the hill (or mountain) and 12 pillars, according to the 12 tribes of Israel.
At Har Karkom there are is a grouping of 12 stones or what might be called pillars, perhaps coincidental or for some
unrelated reason, perhaps not.
Exodus 33:21-22 says “the Lord said, behold, there is
a place by me, and thou should stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee
in the cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by ...." At the cleft of one
of Har Karkom’s two peaks is a cleft that forms a small rock shelter. A shelter at the top of a mountain
is not commonly seen elsewhere in the Sinai Peninsula. At Exodus 25:9, God tells
Moses of the Ark of the Covenant: “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show
you.” What pattern? At Exodus 26:30 God says “Set up the tabernacle according
to the plan shown you on the mountain.” What plan? At Exodus 27:8 God says “Make
the altar hollow, out of boards. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.” What pattern
or plan did God show Moses on the mountain? We do know that on Har Karkom’s plateau is a shrine with
a stone platform or altar oriented eastward. Perhaps that or something similar served as the pattern or
plan mentioned in Exodus.
Another possibility is that there existed not one but two places
that the tribes of Israel called Sinai. For example Shin is Arabic for tooth. Mountains that have jagged peaks
resemble teeth. The Israelites may have encountered more than one such mountain. Or possibly Paul when speaking
of Sinai being in Arabia had in mind a mountain there also described or named Sinai (or Shin) but the mountain of Sinai that
Moses went to was a different Sinai (Shin/jagged-toothed mountain) for example Har Karkom.
AARDSMA'S THEORY (MOUNT YEROHAM): Gerald E. Aardsma, PhD, proposed Mt Yeroham for the biblical Mt Sinai
in 1995. Aardsma notes that its distance from Egypt, the remains of countless pottery sherds at the foot of the
mountain, abundant camping space, water supply, etc.
Exodus 3:1 says "Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his
father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain
of God." Midian was east of the Gulf of Aqaba, the right finger of the Red Sea which makes it sound
like Mt. Sinai (also called Horeb) was in Midian or where modern Saudi Arabia is.
However Numbers:10-30,
31 indicate differently. As the Israelites were getting ready to leave Mount Sinai, Moses asked his Midianite
in-laws to stay with them: "You know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for us" The
Midianite named Hobab replied, "I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives" This shows Mount
Sinai was not where Moses' Midianite in-laws lived. Exodus
3:1 says Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, lived in Midian. Exodus 18:5 says he met Moses at Sinai.
Exodus 18:5 says that after their meeting Jethro "went his way into his own land." This
also shows that Mount Sinai was not in Jethro's place of residence which was in the land called Midian.
Mount Yeroham is not in what was Midian, but
rather it is in the northern Negev close to the southern part of the Promised Land. For this and the afore-said
reasons such as the pottery remains, Aardsma's theory carries a lot of weight. He dates the Exodus
to 2450 BC and has written "The Exodus Happened 2450 B.C."
Emmanuel Anati has noted that peoples such as the Amalakites,
Midianites, Amorites, etc. existed and flourished around 3000 BC. Jericho, Ai and other towns also existed
but were destroyed in the same time, not existing around 1447 BC. Mention of a mass exodus of slaves from
Egypt is not made in literature around 1447 BC. Studies in paleoclimatology indicate that around 3000 BC
wind and rain patterns made what is now Israel an agriculturally prosperous area, a “land of milk and honey.”
To Anati, then, all these and other factors indicate that the timing for
the Exodus of the tribes of Israel from Egypt was much, much earlier. He has also indicated that the dating
for archaelogy-found items as well as the geography around Har Harkom, which he believes was the Mount Sinai of Moses, indicate
the earlier dating.
 Mushroom experts have noted that Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms have characteristics remindful
of the food manna which Exodus says God sent to feed the Israelites from heaven. Such mushrooms
breed insects which decompose rapidly, produce molecules resembling human neurochemicals, and at first appear look like small
fibres or mycelia. The mycelia resembles hoarfrost.
Exodus 16:15 says “When the Israelites saw it, they said to each
other, What is it? For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.”
The question “man
hu” in Aramaic likely means “What is it?" Also the word “man” may be
related to the Arabic word “man” which means “plant lice.”
In deserts some scale insects
produce crystallized honeydew that dries rapidly, turning into a sticky solid and then later becomes a shade of white, yellow
or brown. It is still considered a delicacy in the Middle East as well as a good source of carbohydrates.
There are some 8,000 species of scale insects, which are small and in the order hemiptera (true bugs). It was
highly nutricious.
Exodus 16:35 says "The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land
that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan." In contrast Joshua 5:10-12 says “10 On the evening of the fourteenth day
of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they
ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer
any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.”
It may
be that the manna stopped appearing in abundance for them to gather after they reached the border of Canaan but they still
had some which they ate it until they stopped the day after the Passover.
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