DID YOU KNOW?
Greetings church family!
This year, we have been journeying through the book of Daniel in the devotional thoughts. However, I will apologize for two reasons right now. One, we’re going to take a break this week from the book of Daniel. Two, today’s devotional thought isn’t really a devotional thought, but more of a “did you know?” reading (thus the title).
In my studies of Exodus preparing for the sermon series, I ran across a pretty cool possibility. Did you know that the Pharaoh considered by many historians to be on the Egyptian throne during the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt is Ramses II? The animated film “The Prince of Egypt” names Ramses II as the Pharaoh.
However, did you also know that even though many historians consider this to be true, Scripture doesn’t really support this. Because of this, there are many other historians that believe a different Pharaoh was on the throne during the exodus. Who might this alternate Pharaoh be? I’m glad you asked!
(By the way, please take the time to be fair and research the argument supporting Ramses II as the Pharaoh of the exodus if you’d like. However, this address will only provide an argument supporting someone else as the pharaoh during the exodus, based on what Scripture points out).
When did the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt take place?
Let’s start with 1 Kings 6:1. It says, “Solomon began to build the temple for the Lord in the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month.”
Several sources state the Solomon’s 4th year of reign was 966 BC (see Edwin Thiele’s The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, John Bright’s A History of Israel, or Leon Wood’s A Survey of Israel's History, to name a few). To go 480 years prior to this date, we would land at 1446 BC as the year of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.
Who was the Pharaoh in 1446 BC?
Ramses II reigned over Egypt from 1279 BC - 1213 BC, almost 2 centuries later than the exodus. According to Scripture, Ramses II couldn’t have been the Pharaoh during the exodus (It is important to note that those who argue that Ramses II was the Pharaoh of the exodus do not credit 1 Kings 6:1 as being historically trustworthy).
This does bring up a dilemma, however. What about Exodus 1:11? It says, “So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.” Wouldn’t Ramses II have to be the Pharaoh during Exodus 1 if a city is being built in his name?
The most common explanation for this is that the city actually had a different name (Avaris?) during Moses’ time in Egypt. This name was likely updated to Ramses centuries later by an editor (much like if I were to update the nations in Daniel 2 to Iraq, Iran, Greece, and Italy, rather than Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome).
All that said, who sat on Egypt’s throne in 1446 BC. Study the chart below. This is a list of the Pharaohs before and during 1446 BC.
Ahmose I c. 1550–1525 BC
Amenhotep I c. 1525–1504 BC
Thutmose I c. 1504–1492 BC
Thutmose II c. 1492–1479 BC
Thutmose III c. 1479–1425 BC
Based on this list, it would have been Thutmose III would have been the one who resisted God’s command to let His people go. He would have been the one to have lost his firstborn son to the 10th plague. He would have been the one who would relent and release the Israelited from their bondage.
But wait, there’s more!
If this is true, this leads to a couple of other possible fun facts. Exodus 7:7 tells us that “Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.” From this passage, the conclusion is that Moses was 80 years old when the exodus took place. If the exodus took place in 1446 BC, then Moses’ birth was about 1526 BC.
Also, Acts 7:23 says, “When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.” This passage is a reference to Moses going out to observe the struggle of the Israelites in slavery. In particular, it is an implied reference to the incident where Moses kills an Egyptian taskmaster for abusing one of the Israelite slaves. Thus, Moses was forty when he left Egypt as a fugitive. This would have taken place around 1486.
To put it all together, Moses would have been born when Ahmose I was in reign, he would have left Egypt 40 years later as a fugitive when Thutmose I was in reign, and he would have led the Israelites out of Egypt at 80 years of age when Thutmose III was in reign.
Final thoughts
It is interesting to note the Moses name is very similar to the second part of each of those Pharaoh’s names - “mose.” In Egyptian, “mose” meant “son of.” Ahmose would be translated “son of Iah” (the god of the moon). Thutmose would be translated “son of Thoth” (the god of wisdom).
What about the name “Moses?” Well, in Hebrew, his name would translate “drawn out of the water.” (see Exodus 2:10). This name would carry tremendous significance in regards to his purpose in relation to the Israelites. Moses, the one rescued from Pharaoh via the water (the Nile) would be the one to rescue his people through the water (the Red Sea).
However, as we saw earlier, Moses name in Egyptian would mean “son of ____” The blank is important because the implication is that, since he’s Hebrew, and not Egyptian, the Egyptians have no idea which god he’s from, or for, or under. But they would find out, wouldn’t they? Through Moses, they would find out the veracity of Moses’ words in Exodus 8:10 - “...so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God.”
Moses - the one who was rescued from the water and would save his people through the water to reveal to their captors the unknown, Almighty Hebrew God! How powerful is that for a name!
Even more, you and I have also been rescued by the real Moses, Jesus Christ, for the exact same purpose - to reveal to the world an almighty and loving heavenly Father! There truly is none like Him!
Well, that is your “did you know” for this week. We will return to our Daniel devotionals next week.
Be blessed church family!
Pastor Chris
