Written by Stephen Langfur
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Page 1 of 7 The foundation of Biblical faith was the deliverance from slavery in Egypt, especially the rescue at yam suf, the Reed Sea. On this event is based the belief in a God who is active in history. That saving event, in turn, became the basis for God's claim to obedience at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20: 1-2):
God spoke all these words, saying, "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me…"
In sources other than the Bible, however, we hear nothing about the exodus. It left no trace in Egyptian accounts. Most places on the route, including Mount Sinai, remain unidentified. On the other hand, we do know several things that are consistent with the Biblical report:
1. It was regular practice, in times of famine during the second millennium BC, for Semitic shepherds to move to Egypt.
2. The Exodus stories involving the Midianites fit what we know about them on the basis of archaeology and Egyptian texts .
3. From surveys and digs, we know that hundreds of small, unfortified settlements appeared in the highlands on both sides of the Jordan during the 13th and 12th centuries BC. The people in the highlands on the west did not eat pork.
4. A stele of Pharaoh Merneptah, dated ca. 1205 BC, lists a number of cities in Canaan, and among these it also makes the first extant reference to a people called Israel. By that date, then, Israel was in the land.
5. There is also a more general consideration: If we hold the Exodus account to be pure fabrication, how then can we explain the enormous importance of the exodus and wilderness traditions in the First Testament?
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