Exodus Documentaries - Red Sea? Reed Sea?

[Guest]

I've had more people lately tell me they believe the old "Reed Sea" argument that they believe explains away the parting of the sea in the Exodus. There must have been a recent documentary on it or something.

Does anyone have a good answer for this one? It's not a big deal, but it's been a while since I've looked into this one and I have a good witnessing opportunity to use it as a point of discussion with one of my vendors who was mentioning it.

[Guest]

I think it's a big deal, especially in light of the fact that the people of Israel could have crossed the shallow Reed Sea, without a miracle from God.

You may want to consider the following article:

http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn10/r ... eology.htm

[Guest]

Does anyone have a good answer for this one?

If it was just a shallow "reed sea", how could it have drowned the Egyptian army on their chariots?
D.

[Guest]

Does anyone have a good answer for this one?

If it was just a shallow "reed sea", how could it have drowned the Egyptian army on their chariots?
D.

Exactly what I was going to say. The Egyptian army all drowned in knee-deep water!

This was one of the first questions I asked someone when I became a Christian. When I was given the answer above, I realized how silly the reed sea explanation is.

[Guest]

There must have been a recent documentary on it or something.

I know there was a recent James Cameron documentary that propagated this theory. It's called "The Exodus Decoded" He did it with Simcha Jacobovici, the same person he did the "Lost Tomb of Jesus" with. This may be why more people are mentioning it to you.

I watched the doc. He believes the entire event, including all of the plagues, happened. He shows, what he believes, to be a naturalistic explanation for the plagues and the crossing. As mentioned, he also believes the "Sea of Reeds" was the crossing point (I think he also made a distinction between "Sea of Reeds" and a specific place called "Reed Sea"...meaning the crossing point is up for interpretation). The specific location in which he thinks the crossing happened would have been deep enough for a mass drowning. I can't fully remember how he explained the water receding. I remember him mentioning something about an earthquake being involved in recediting the waters and it then returning from many miles as a full scale Tsunami (or something like that). Maybe someone else who saw the doc can remember it better.

Here's a link to the doc
http://theexodusdecoded.com/index1.jsp

[Guest]

From Wikipedia...

Jacobovici suggests that the Biblical Exodus took place shortly after the eruption of Thera (now known as Santorini), which is thought to have happened some time between 1650 BCE and 1600 BCE. The dates are disputed, depending on the use either of archaeological dating results (1600 BCE to 1550 BCE), or of radiocarbon dating results (1650 BCE to 1600 BCE). Jacobovici accepts a date around 1500 BCE. He goes on to explain how each of the Mosaic plagues, and even the parting of the Sea of Reeds, could be explained by earthquakes, faulting and a limnic disaster, all caused by Santorini.

One possible scientific conjecture of the past has referred to a spot on the western end of a now-dried lake where it has been observed in the past to turn to a sandbar and facilitate foot travel when a low tide and a strong eastern wind coincide. Jacobovici refers to the possibility of the bed of the reed-filled lake rising out of the water due to geological movements, leaving the water on the sides and below the bed. The text of the story of Exodus 14:21-22 states that there were literal walls of water on either side, making this explanation incomplete. "Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left." Jacobovici's theories intend to provide some plausible basis for stories later embellished, thus a paucity of evidence for physical impossibilities like "walls of water" does not injure his hypothesis, although, interestingly, it would conflict with Jacobvici's beliefs, as he states the Torah is flawless.[citation needed]

Jacobovici's scientific theories are under much criticism. On the History Channel discussion board, it has also been noted by a person claiming to be a geologist that the calcite deposits-theory is purely impossible.[4]

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[Guest]

I've had more people lately tell me they believe the old "Reed Sea" argument that they believe explains away the parting of the sea in the Exodus. There must have been a recent documentary on it or something.

Does anyone have a good answer for this one? It's not a big deal, but it's been a while since I've looked into this one and I have a good witnessing opportunity to use it as a point of discussion with one of my vendors who was mentioning it.

The best explanation I've seen is in Colin Humphrey's The Miracles of Exodus. He argues for the traditional Red Sea, and throws some very interesting light onto the debate.