Creationist Big Blunder

June 11, 2009, 8:27 am by dc-agape.

Image via Wikipedia

In this post I want to discuss the timing of the Exodus from Egypt.  Christian scholars want this date to be 1446 BCE because it lines up with Creationism’s belief that the world was created on Oct 23, 4004 BCE and the creation of the Temple of Solomon.  Unfortunately for them this date is impossible.  A different date has been offered of 1540 BCE.  But even that is completely wrong due to a number of historical facts that must be introduced.  Two civilizations must be examined closely to determine when the Israelites could have possibly managed to exit Egypt and enter Canaan.  Those two civilizations are Egypt, itself, and the Canaanites. 

Let’s look first at Egypt’s history during the time frame of 1540 BCE, 1446 BCE, and a more likely date of 1223 BC (from Isaac Asimov’s Guide to the Bible).  The date of 1540 BCE correlates to the very beginning of the 18^th dynasty.  Ahmose I began his reign in 1550 BCE and he is the founder of the 18^th dynasty.  22 years later, Egypt has complete control of all the territories north and east to the Euphrates River.  If this was the period of the Exodus, the Israelites would not have been fighting the Canaanites…they would have been fighting the Egyptians.  And it would have been a very powerful Egyptian army in Canaan at the time!  In 1535 BCE he defeated the finally holdings of the Hykos in Palestine (Sharuhen). 

During the reign of Tuthmosis III (1504-1450 CBE) all of Palestine and even Syria was under Egyptian control.  So our second date of 1446 BCE is very questionable.  During Amenhotep II reign Egypt still had control of Palestine and his reign did not end until 1419 or even as late as 1400 BCE.  So if Egypt had control of Palestine during all these years both the date of Exodus of 1540 and 1446 BCE are not accurate.  The Israelites would have been destroyed by the most powerful empire of the period: Egypt!

But what happened to the kingdoms of the Canaanites themselves?  And where are the Philistines?  The Hittite Empire, yes there was an empire, and during the period of 1471 to 1450 this empire had a southern ally along its borders: Egypt.  So the oldest date of 1540 BCE is without a doubt wrong.  This peace between Egypt and the Hittite Empire continued unabated at least to the date of 1246, when Ramses II married the Hittite princess of the ruler Hattusilis.  The kingdom from the edge of Egypt all the way into northern Syria did not crumble until 1197 BCE.  So again the middle date of 1446 BCE is also incorrect.

Well as for the Philistines…they did not migrate to Canaan until the 12^th century BCE!  This would mean that the following verses from the Word of God tell us something about when the Exodus actually happened:

Exodus 13:17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.  For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

Joshua 13:2-3 “This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites: from the Shihor River on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north, all of it counted as Canaanite (the territory of the five Philistine rulers in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron – that of the Avvites);

YHWH in both cases was worried about the Philistines not the Egyptian rulers of these territories.  So the Exodus must have occurred during the rule of these Philistine Kings.  Well as it turns out Ashkelon was not conquered by the Philistines until 1150 BCE!  As a result, the only possible time for the Exodus, to fit with true historical evidence, is Isaac Asimov’s choice of 1223 BCE!  As a result, the Pharaoh responsible for the acts in Exodus would have had to be Ramses II. 

With this being the case the actual Creationist point about the age of the earth would be even less than 6000 years!  The earth would actually be more like 5689 years old.  Even the Creationist can’t seem to get their numbers right.  So the Word of God is complete fallacy and the Creationists are off by at least an error of 5.5%.  You would think with a omnipotent omnipresent supernatural being on their side they could be just a little bit more accurate!

Posted in Exodus, Inerrancy - My Ass, Readings | Print | 1 Comment »