Over the last couple of years I have written numerous articles at Kingscalendar about Moses, The Exodus, The Hyksos Expulsion from Egypt, and of course, the identity of the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Just recently I did my best to collate all those articles into one comprehensive treatise on the subject.
My efforts got me thinking again about the Bible and the way people view it. We are all aware that there are many Bible Skeptics and even websites devoted to debunking the Bible, and the issue of the Pharaoh of the Exodus drowning in the Red Sea is one that many Bible skeptics use in their arsenal of 'proofs' that the Bible is wrong.
Quite aside from the actual issue of the identity of the Pharaoh of the Exodus, the biggest problem that we have with Bible skeptics is that they have just as much bought into the premise that every single word in the King James Authorized English Bible is infallible as some Christians. It is the premise on which all their attacks are based.
On the one side you have people who believe that 'Biblical Infallibility' refers to the literal English words contained in the Bible, and on the other, those using that premise to prove that the Bible is a fake. The one thing they both share is ignorance as to what the Bible actually is. Firstly, it is not a book, and not only was it not written in King James English, it was not written in English at all. 'The Bible' as we call it, did not come into being until a couple of hundred years (depending on one's chronology of canonization of Scripture) after Jesus departed this earth.
Inerrancy and Infallibility of the Bible :But scholars never really claim that ANY modern Bible is absolutely inerrant. They claim that the Original Manuscripts were! If it is accepted that God Inspired the writing of the Books of the Bible, then to claim otherwise would imply that either He made or permitted mistakes in the Bible or that He is nowhere near as all-knowing as we believe He is. So, the claim of Inerrancy in the Bible is only made regarding the Original Manuscripts. As far as anyone knows, all of those Original Manuscripts have long since disintegrated, and only Scribe-made copies of any of them still exist, so the claim of Inerrancy regarding the Original Manuscripts is probably beyond any possible proof.It was only after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and scattered both Jew and Christian abroad, that the task of deciding what was and what was not 'authentic' was undertaken by both Jewish and Christian Councils.
The Christian 'Bible' is actually a collection of 'authorized' Jewish records compiled over 1000 years of Jewish history. After Nebuchadrezzar captured Jerusalem in 586 BCE the Jews in exile decided that they had better start collecting and collating their history. It was during this period that the books of Kings and Chronicles were written, as well as the translation into Greek called 'the Septuagint' (LXX). The canonization of Scripture for both Jew and Christian however, did not take place for another 600 + years. (At Magic City - Heresy and Church History)
So you see that whatever you may or may not have previously thought, the Bible is not 'a book'; it was not written in English, and while it does contain words directly uttered by the Almighty, 'most' of it was not 'dictated' by Him. That it was inspired by the Holy Spirit is undeniable on so many levels which I won't go into here, except to say, that no other nation on earth has written anything like it, when it comes to sheer self effacing honesty. Were it not for the Bible, the western world as we know it today, simply would not exist.
But what of the issue of the Pharaoh who did not drown in the Red Sea? Well, there is a pretty simple answer to that one. Do you remember the story of the Patriarch Joseph? He made it to second in charge of Egypt, with recognition, might and power second only to the Pharaoh himself; and when Pharaoh was busy, it was Joseph who took his place.
According to the King's Calendar chronology, The Mosaic Exodus occurred at the time that Amenhotep II became Pharaoh. Upon his accession to the throne, it is recorded that he took off for parts unknown in conquest of the universe. During that time, his grandvizier Rekhmire took his place.
It was Rekhmire who let the people of Israel go, but it was Amenhotep II who ordered them back. When the Pharaoh with whom Moses dealt, followed the Israelites into the Red Sea, he drank a whole ton of water, and vanished from the face of the earth. Literally! Although GrandVizier for 40 years, and despite having prepared for himself a wonderful and decorative hole in the ground in which to spend eternity, he was never buried in his tomb with the pomp and ceremony that was his due.
So you see, there is no Bible contradiction. Want to read some more?
Dates for Nabopolassar & Nebuchadrezzar Kings of Babylon - and - Josiah and Jehoiakim Kings of Judah as per (Wiseman.D.J. (1961) Chronicles of the Chaldaean Kings (626-556 BC) in the British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum. London) Using Babylonian Chronicles B.M. 22047 (p.65) and BM 21946 (p.67) But with a one (1) year adjustment for the Reigns of Nabopolassar and Nebuchadrezzar.
607 bce - Sep - Nabopolassar engaged at Bit-Hanunia / Urartu - 18th year - B.M. 22047 Line 1-4
607 bce - Dec - Josiah's 31st year commences
607 bce - Dec/Jan - Nabopolassar returns to Babylon - B.M. 22047 Line 1-4
606 bce - May/Jun - Campaigning to the north - 19th year - B.M. 22047 Lines 5-7
606 bce - Jun/Jul - Nabopolassar returns to Babylon - B.M. 22047 Line 8
606 bce - Jul/Aug - Necho heads North for Carchemish
606 bce - Aug/Sep - Nebuchadrezzar returns to Babylon - B.M. 22047 Line 12
606 bce - Aug/Sep - Josiah of Judah slain
606 bce - Aug/Sep - Jehoahaz becomes king of Judah
606 bce - Sep/Oct - Nabopolassar Heads to Kimuhu - B.M. 22047 Line 12
606 bce - Nov - Nabopolassar captures Kimuhu - B.M. 22047 Line 14
606 bce - Nov - Jehoahaz deposed by Pharaoh Necho - taken to Riblah
606 bce - Nov - Jehoiakim commences - 1st Artificial year commences.
R.P.BenDedek is from Brisbane Australia and is the author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' at http://www.kingscalendar.com His academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
He writes photographic 'Stories from China' and social editorial commentaries, both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing newspaper columnist. He currently teaches Conversational English in China and in addition to his English Lessons at KingsCalendar, he has created specific sites for Students of English.
