HOME BIBLE STUDY GROUP
HOME BIBLE STUDY GROUP | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Appendix VI
Dating the Exodus
In 1 King 6:1, we learn that the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign was concomitant (synchronous) with the four hundreds and eightieth year after the Exodus, which occurred during the first month of the Hebrew sacred calendar.
And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. (1 Kings 6:1)
Solomon reigned over Israel for 40 years:
And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. (1 Kings 11:42)
Solomon’s death is dated at 930 BC (1) and Rehoboam was Solomon’s successor:
Based on biblical chronology of the Kings of Judah and Israel, E.R. Thiele, using 586 BC as the commonly accepted date of the fall of Jerusalem, computed the beginning of the reign of Rehoboam at 930 BC (2), therefore in good agreement with the date of Solomon’s death.
Using simple arithmetics, we can make the following deductions:
The experts have concluded that it was not possible to accurately date the Exodus. This is how the story goes and repeated again and again. The AD dating system was invented retrospectively in 524 AD by a monk, Dionysus Exiguus (Little Denis) and it was based on the birth of Jesus Christ. But poor chap! He made a mistake of four years, or may be 6 years in computing the birth of Jesus Christ. But you can’t blame Little Denis. He computed that date 500 years after the event. The fact is Dionysus Exiguus is a fictitious person. The real meaning of Dionysus Exiguus is the exact (exiguus) Dionysian (Dionysius) 532 year cycle which started in 8 BC of our common era at the Apotheosis of Augustus Caesar as the incarnation of Dionysus, and ended in 524 AD. Bible scholars swallowed the Dionysian forgery bait, hook and sinker. The AD dating system has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. AD stands for Anno Domini (Year of the Lord), the lord being the deified Emperor Augustus Caesar.
Let us follow the journey of the Israelites after the Exodus. On what day of the week did Exodus occur? It’s very easy to figure out. In Exodus, chapter 16, verse 1, we learn that the Israelites reached the wilderness of Sin on the 15th of the second month. Since the month of Abib has 30 days, the 15th of the second month would be Day 31, taking Passover Abib 15th as day 1. In the same chapter, verses 4-7, we learn that God told Moses He would rain bread from heaven, starting the following day, that is day 32 from Passover. It is clearly stated that they were to collect the manna for 6 days and rest on the 7th day, the Sabbath. Obviously, the first day the manna became available must be the first day of the week, and the 15th of the second month when the Israelites rested was the Sabbath.
So now we know that day 32 is the first day of the week. Using simple arithmetic, we can compute Passover, Abib 15 to have occurred on a Thursday, the 5th day. Of interest is the fact that Passover occurred on a Thursday in AD 31, the year of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In Exodus 13:20, the Israelites “encamped in Etham” after leaving Egypt. Since they left Egypt after midnight on the 15 of Abib a Thursday, the weekly Sabbath would have started 42 hours latter. This first day of rest in Etham since Exodus most likely occurred on a Sabbath, the 17 of Abib, the consummation of the Feast of First Fruits (1). This “Etham” is on the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. We learn in Exodus 13:20-22 that from Succoth, the starting point, to Etham, the first resting place, the Israelites walked day and night, that is, 24 hours a day.
And they took their journey from Succoth and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. (Exodus 13:20-22)
The distance from Succoth to Etham is about 150 miles (4-6). To arrive at Etham at the beginning of the Sabbath, the Israelites were then moving at an average speed of 3.6 miles per hour. The distance from Etham to Nuweiba beach (the final stop before the crossing of the Red Sea) is only 20 miles. The Israelites most likely arrived at Nuweiba the first day of the week, that is day 4 of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and waited there 2 days for the ingathering and to give the Egyptian army time to catch up with them. That would give the Israelites plenty of time to complain to Moses. The crossing of the Red Sea occurred on Tuesday night, at the beginning of the 7th day of Unleavened Bread. The singing and rejoicing occurred in the morning of the 7th day, that is Wednesday morning. After walking 3 days, they spent the second Sabbath camping at Elim (Exodus 15:22-27). Even before the giving of the Law, the Israelites kept the weekly Sabbath, because the LORD planned it that way. The Creator Jesus Christ gives so much importance to Sabbath keeping that when some Israelites broke the Sabbath, even before the giving of the Law, He told Moses:
And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
(Exodus 16:28)
The historical Mount Sinai is in the northwest tip of Saudi Arabia not Egypt. There is overwhelming evidence for that location (4-6). The historical Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia is still called “Mountain of the Law”, in Arabic “Jabal Al Lawz”. Emperor Constantine mislead archeologists for 17 centuries.
References: