Egyptian Period Lecture Notes
Lecture Items to Remember:
AARON
ADONAI
APIS BULL CULT
EXODUS
EGYPTIAN PERIOD
EXODUS "HINGE" VERSE
PRIMARY VS SECONDARY WILL
"HEBREW" PEOPLE
HYKSOS
MIRIAM
MISTAKEN NAME FOR GOD
MODERN VS BIBLICAL IDEA OF MIRACLES
MOSES
PASSOVER
PASCHAL
PESACH
SINAI
TETRAGRAMMATON
UNLEAVENED
WAY OF THE PHILISTINES
YHWH
INTRODUCTORY BACKGROUND: An Unlikely Hero, A Likely History
The story of Joseph, which closes Genesis, serves as bridge between the period of the Patriarchs and that of the Egyptian/Exodus, which we are now studying. Seventy members of the 11 families of Jacob's sons, from Reuben to Benjamin, are reunited with the brother they betrayed. They are settled in the fertile area known as Goshen, east of the great Nile. Many scholars believe that Joseph's rise to power coincides with the "Hyksos" period in Egypt - a time when Egypt was occupied by a group of Semitic invaders. Since the Hebrews were also Semitic they would have been more open to the Hebrew visionary, Joseph.However, a dramatic change for the Hebrews takes place, and is alluded to in Exodus 1:8. "Then there arose in Egypt a king who did not know Joseph." Perhaps this "hinge verse" coincides with the invasion of the Hyksos who set up a "king" who cared little for the prior history and tradition of Lower Egypt? Any connection with the old dynasty might have been held suspect, and the descendants of Joseph certainly had those - Joseph himslef was embalmed in the fashion of an Egyptian royalty.
The actual amount of time the Hebrews suffer the "cruel fate of slaves" is not clear from the Bible. The Hebrews reckon their time in Egypt to be 430 years. This number is fits into the Egyptian chronology neatly. The hebrew "Asiatics" begin settling in the Nile Delta over 400 yers prior to the fall of Biblical Jericho - the time from the settling of Jacob's descendants to the time they enter the promised land.
The pharaoh Ahmoses retakes Lower Egypt, rounds up the Asiatics and enslaves them at Avaris/Rameses. It was during this time that the "Signs and Wonders" orchestrated by the God of "Moses" delivers Israel from the slave labor camps of he Eastern Nile Delta.
God hardens pharaoh's heart as miracle after miracle unfolds in Egypt. Supporting evidence for the plagues and a massive Exodus from the Nile Delta are found in Egyptian history itself, its archaeology and geography.
There are both Internal and Extrabiblical data for the miraculous return of Israel to Canaan.
Internal Signs of Truth:
Although the story of Moses being drawn from the water fits the pattern of an Akkadian myth regarding Sargon, we shouldn't think this type of event could only apply to one person. Children continue today to be left on door steps and churches throughout our country. Recent laws have been proposed to allow babies of distressed situations to be left at the doors of hospitals. It is entirely possible that the river drifting of babies in areas of the world like Mesopotamia and Egypt in which large populations live near the river was a logical move when the land was too dangerous. In fact, historian Ian Wilson, states that many such stories exist in these parts of the world.
Further, if the story came from Babylon, it should have Babylonian words, but, in fact, the words most important to the story, such as "Nile," "bullrush," "basket," and "reed" are Egyptian words. The word for "reed," for example is exactly the same in Hebrew (suph) and Egyptian.
The Name of Moses
But even more striking, the name "Moses" is not one an Israelite would ascribe to her greatest hero. Why? Its roots are not Hebrew, but Egyptian. Can you imagine an American trying to promote a fictional story as fact which focuses upon some great revolutionary day hero and naming him, "Achmed," or "Anwar?" As worthy as the names may be, they are hardly stereotypical for the Thirteen Colonies. "Ahmose," "Ramses," "Thutmoses" are names which are equally foreign to Israel's ethnicity. They are related to the name "moses," meaning "boy born" in Egyptian. This is usually preceded by the name of an Egyptian god. "Ra-meses," for example, meaning "Ra boy born." It would hardly be inspiring to give one's greatest hero half a name, let alone half the name of one's historical enemies. For most of their history, the Egyptians were Israel's enemy. Yet, we have "Moses." Only his historical reality would have explained the persistence of that name in Israelite tradition.
Yet, there are further internal elements of the story which point to its basis in fact. There is the:
Character of Moses. Moses is reluctant to go before Pharaoh. Unlike fictional heroes, he is very human. He is "slow of speech, " and runs in fear from his fellow Israelites to escape the consequences of defending another Hebrew. He himself is uncircumcised and is kept from entering into the promised land - he fails to live up to a simple command from God. How much simpler would it be to have Moses stand as the ideal leader in the story... a man dedicated unswervingly to God, clean in every way, fearless even before a pharaoh, rewarded with a magnificent and triumphal entry into the promised land. These are the heroes of fiction. They do no wrong, eventually have all the answers and finish first. How Israel would have written it differently.... but this story was not born in the mind of a fiction writer, it was acted out in the public stage of history. Like it or not, Israel is faced with the way it happened. The truth is more complicated than a hollywood script. It is uglier than the way we want it to be; it is the way it is.
On this side of heaven, it is good to remind ourselves that our lives will never be ideal; that is not life. If we are to find God, it is in the reality of our life, as mistake ridden and awkward as it is. It is here that He chooses to meet us. God does not require perfect people, any more than a parent requires a toddler to take his first steps with the grace of a professional dancer. The happiness of having us stumble toward him in our peculiar clumsiness and awkward groping is enough to move God's perfect arms to scoop us up. In choosing Moses, God shows us the favoritism he has for those who have the humility to bare up under their own imperfections.
Finally, there is the:
History of the Hebrews. Which peoples would invent such a humiliating story about their beginnings? Who would rush to claim they are descendants of stubborn, disbelieving and disloyal slaves? This story cannot be explained by the egotistic urges to exalt oneself, one's country and one's culture. History is not flattering , fiction often is. We could reasonably dismiss this story if it depicted Israel as a nation born from the gods, like so many pagan mythologies. What we see here, however, is the unflattering mirror of reality. The Israelites were descendants of Hebrew slaves, most of whom failed to make it to the promised land, and could not remain faithful to God for six weeks. This story has the embarrassing "ring" of the bell of truth to it, not the hollow sound of a people victoriously beating their chests... Ultimately, the Bible was not meant to exalt Israel for Israel's sake, but to reveal the true God at work in the mess of human history. The mess is ours, whether we are God's people or not, the credit of redeeming this mess, making it something that rises above itself, belongs to God.
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