The Exodus Deception A non believer's search for how the Bible began online at www.creationofgod.net Mission Statement: I've written this website because I am separated by faith from my Christian brother. There is a wall between us that is insurmountable. I think this is tragic, because I admire him immensely. He’s a good person, a caring husband and father, and someone who goes out of his way in life to help others. He must be sad too, thinking I am lost and will burn in hell. Rather than tell my brother why I don't believe… which I don’t think could do anything but more harm, I've written all I would tell him here. I mean no harm to anyone, but I firmly believe that the world, like my family, is senselessly divided by supernatural beliefs of vague origin. Our family went to church every Sunday. The preacher told me to study the Bible. I did. But I didn't ask, What does God say? I asked, Who said this was God? In my mind, that was the more important question. I am now satisfied that I have found the answer. My reasoning and evidence is presented here - out of pure frustration, mostly. But if I'm lucky, perhaps I can teach an alternative to religious division. Bill Robertson,   April  2012 Table of Contents               (for the short version - start at Chapter 6 ) Chapter 1 . . . . How Old was Moses?     Moses died at age 120 half years. This chapter demonstrates how belief in miracles takes less effort than a scientific approach to problem solving. Knowing Moses' true age is needed for checking claims in the Exodus story against Egyptian history. Chapter 2 . . . . Who Gave Us God's Words?     The story of Moses and the Exodus was first taught by priests called Levites. The Levites' own words provide clear evidence of their greed and corruption. The story of Moses and the Exodus is specifically tailored to condemn other religions and force the Israelites to tithe to the Levites or risk death by stoning. Seldom read passages supporting this conclusion are brought to the reader's attention. Chapter 3 . . . . When was the Exodus?     The Levites portray Moses as a hero who lead the 12 tribes of Israel out of Egypt to settle in Canaan. However, no mention of Levites or the Ark of God during a 400 year interval in the Book of Judges is inexplicable. The Period of Judges, which is supposed to follow the Exodus, is suspected of being before the Exodus. Moving the Exodus forward actually removes a number of otherwise puzzling Exodus story anachronisms. Chapter 4 . . . . Moses in a Box     The absence of Levites and the Ark is explained if the Levite chief priest Eli arrived with the Exodus and brought the Ark of God into Canaan. As a test of this hypothesis, an estimate of when Eli lived is made. The hypothesis confines the possible date of the Exodus to a 70 year wide 'box' centered at 1095 BC, corresponding to the late 20th Dynasty of Egypt. If the hypothesis holds, Israelites had been in Canaan for at least a century before the Exodus arrived. Chapter 5 . . . . Who was the Pharaoh?     Inside the 'box', a powerful Egyptian high priest Amenhotep is a potential match to the 'Pharaoh' of the Exodus. Remarkably, 'King Amenhotep' is the opponent of Moses in an Egyptian account of the Exodus preserved by the Jewish historian Josephus - as an example of slander. Further investigation reveals that within this 70 year box, much more than the name Amenhotep is a match. Chapter 6 . . . . The Pharaoh of Exodus 2:23     Though we tend to associate Moses with only one pharaoh, Exodus 2:23 states that the king of Egypt died while Moses was in Midian. That king has a name, Chenephres, according to Artapanus, a Jewish historian who predates Jesus. Artapanus also states that there were many kings in Egypt, and Chenephres was only king of the north. This is an apt description of war torn Egypt when Amenhotep was high priest. Amazingly, both Artapanus and an anonymous Hebrew text, Sepir Ha Yasher (The Book of Jasher), report that Chenephres had leprosy. The Book of Jasher also describes wounds this pharaoh sustained in a chariot accident, which led to a slow death by infection. This leads to an exact identification of Chenephres from his mummy. The Pharaoh of Exodus 2:23 is Ramesses IX, a king in the north while high priest Amenhotep ruled in the southern capitol Thebes. Simply put: The Exodus has been found. It is later than the Old Testament account leads one to believe. Chapter 7 . . . . Stairway to Moses     The date of the Exodus is cross checked by stepping back through the Bible's own ancestry of King David. The date of the Exodus can be readily estimated within a few decades by two assumptions: 1) men generally have children in their 20's and early 30's, and 2) exceptions to the first assumption will not appreciably raise the average over five generations. This completely independent method of finding the date of the Exodus gives a 'probability map' of where to search for the Exodus. The highest probability region is again when Egyptian high priest Amenhotep was alive. Chapter 8 . . . . Pillar of Cloud     Descriptions of Mount Sinai, a trembling mountain which smoked like a furnace and burned unto heaven, match that of a volcano. Moses followed a pillar of cloud en route to Mt. Sinai, consistent with an eruption. Within the 70 year box defined in Chapter 4, a search of Greenland ice core data for an eruption induced spike in acidity turns up only one possible match for Mt. Sinai's eruption. Again the date matches high priest Amenhotep. With Mt. Sinai's eruption date as an anchor point, dividing all Hebrew ages in the ancestry of Moses by two leads to a complete chronology of the Old Testament from Moses back to Abraham. This Hebrew half year chronology is in complete agreement with the conventional Egyption Chronology of Egypt. Such an alignment of the Old Testament and Egyptian history has long been sought. Now found, it proves that Moses lived much too late to have led the first Israelites into Canaan. Conclusion: The Exodus did in fact arrive late in the Period of Judges, when Eli appeared in Canaan with the Ark. The Levites deliberately transposed the Exodus and Period of Judges to portray Moses as an ancestral hero and prophet of the LORD. Moses was neither. The words of the LORD and miracles of the Exodus were invented by charlatan priests to amaze the Israelites and condemn all other religions. The Exodus story was a hoax to collect tithes. It makes sense that illiterate shepherds could be fooled so easily, but the story is still fooling well educated people 3,000 years later. Why? Because just as intended, the story provides a living to those who teach it as unquestionable truth, and condemns those like me, who ask sensible questions: The LORD can do anything? Absolutely! Then the LORD could deliver one consistent message to all of mankind without missionaries, without priests, without help. Anything less, would be an indication that the LORD speaking through Moses is ancient fiction, still taught because it rewards those who teach it. CONTINUE Short works I've also written: Christianity without the supernatural bits: Gospel of Bill On reason vs. emotion: Thoughts on Ten Beliefs This PDF may be copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes.