Information Related to "The Exodus Controversy"
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The Exodus Controversy
Did
the Exodus really happen? Did God deliver the ancient Israelites from Egyptian
slavery as the Bible describes?
Contrary views have generated much publicity, but the facts of the Bible’s
side of the argument are seldom told.
by Mario Seiglie
Last year, for example, The Los Angeles Times ran a front-page story reporting that a liberal rabbi in the Los Angeles area caused quite a stir when he shocked his congregation by stating he had his doubts that the Exodus ever took place.
"The truth is," explained Rabbi David Wolpe, "that virtually every modern archaeologist who has investigated the story of the Exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all" (April 13, 2001).
Perhaps you have read such articles and wondered whether you can believe the Bible. After almost 200 years of archaeological research in Egypt and Israel, why do so many challenge the Exodus account? The stakes are not small, as the critics well know. If the narrative of the Exodus is not factual, then the trustworthiness of biblical revelation is indeed seriously undermined. Therefore it is essential that our evaluation of the evidence be accurate and fair.
Christ affirms the Exodus
First, let’s make sure we have a clear picture of the biblical perspective. We find that Jesus Christ affirmed the biblical account of the Exodus as true, and He based some of His teachings on it. Reminding His countrymen that God had miraculously provided food for them during 40 years in the wilderness, He said: "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven" (John 6:49-51).
Related Information on UCG Sites:
Sidebar: Jericho: Does the Evidence Disprove or Prove the Bible?
Table of Contents that includes "The Exodus Controversy"
Other Articles by Mario Seiglie
Re-published from an earlier version
Egypt, ancient: