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Last
Sunday, the Discovery Channel premiered its newest historical documentary,
Rameses: Wrath of God or Man? The special follows the research of world-renowned
Egyptologist Kent Weeks, who has discovered what are thought to be the
remains of the firstborn son of Rameses II in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.
Blending archaeology with cutting-edge computer technology and forensic
science, Weeks and a team of experts have set out to reconstruct the skull.
The shocking revelation, and the source of the show’s compelling title,
is that forensic scientists have determined the cause of death was blunt
force trauma to the back of the head—the firstborn son of Rameses II appears
to have been assassinated! Where is God in this grisly piece of ancient
history? Rameses II, who ruled Egypt in the 13th century BC, has been widely
accepted by modern biblical critics (oops, I mean scholars) as the pharaoh
of Exodus, whose stubborn refusal to free the enslaved Israelites unleashed
the wrath of God on Egypt in the form of ten plagues, the last of which
was the execution of the firstborn in every Egyptian household—including
Pharaoh’s. But the remains of Rameses II’s son indicates he was clubbed
in the back of the head. What does this mean for the biblical account?
The Discovery Channel suggests it could offer “a different perspective
on the biblical story of Exodus.”
This “different perspective” they hint at is certainly different, but it is nothing new. Historians and biblical scholars have long been promoting this “different perspective” toward Scripture: that the Exodus story—and the rest of the Pentateuch—is a religious allegory loosely based on actual historical events. In order to conclude that the exodus took place in the 13th century, these experts have had to disregard some important chronological indicators from the inspired histories. First Kings 6:1 clearly states that the exodus took place 480 years before Solomon’s fourth year, which was 966 B.C. This would place the exodus in the middle of the 15th century, during the reign of Thutmosis III. Earlier, in Judges 11:26, the record states that by the time of Jephthah (about 1100 BC) the Israelites had been in the Transjordan for 300 years. This early chronology for the exodus and conquest of Canaan is furthermore supported by the archaeological evidence, including a stone inscription from early 13th century Thebes found in 1896 that lists the Israelites as residents of …Canaan! (2) Those that insist that at that time Joshua was only just then leading Israelite forces into Canaan have a much harder time reconstructing the conquest. For example, John Bright in his History of Israel concludes that the fall of Jericho in chapter six of Joshua was greatly exaggerated because the ruins indicate that Jericho did not even have a wall in the 13th century. No kidding! Using the Bible’s timeline, it was totally wiped out in the 15th century, followed by Joshua’s declaration of a curse from God on anyone who rebuilt it (Jos. 6:26, 1 Kings 16:34)! Make no mistake, the men devoting themselves to reconstructing the remains of Rameses Jr. are brilliant men using incredible new technologies. The fundamental flaw in this investigation is their piling these findings onto a heap of false assumptions built up on the core belief that the Bible is not inspired. ? (1) http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041111/dcth017_1.html.
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DIRECT BIBLE QUESTIONS TO: Mitchell Stevens, acts2216@midsouth.rr.com