Did Moses Exist? What of The Exodus?

I was taught my first year of high school in Old Testament class that the Pentateuch was penned by none other than Moses, a legend of the Torah. And of the stories he told, none was more central to the faith than the story of the Exodus.

IT IS ALL BULLSHIT!

First of all, he didn’t write it and second of all it never happened.

For such a central figure in history, there is not one shred of evidence that this man ever existed. There’s no hieroglyphic mention of him, there’s no historical references to him nor any archaeological evidence that he led some revolt of Jewish slaves out of Pharoah’s control.

And what of the confrontation where supposed plagues were brought upon the land, the last and most severe of which was the death of all firstborn sons. You would think such a devastating loss in Egyptian history would’ve been captured in the hieroglyphic record. Likewise, you would expect the total annihilation of pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea to have also been captured. But none of it exists in their comprehensive record.

Millions of freed peoples wandering the Sinai desert for 40 years would’ve surely left some archaeological record, but none of that exists either—not one pottery shard, bone fragment, signs of dwelling, cooking utensils or tools. How did they leave no trace?

What scholars believe is that the whole narrative was concocted by King Josiah’s scribes during the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century BCE. At a time went enslaved peoples needed hope and a rallying cry for returning to their homeland, what better story than the Exodus story? God was going to restore Israel.

It blows out of the water everything I was taught since Sunday School and the notion I believed that ancient scrolls once held the laws of Moses. I assumed those scrolls were the basis of the Torah, not some nation-building king trying to bolster the morale of his enslaved subjects.

I covered this in a video on my channel in Fall 2024. (Correction: Dr. Richard Carrier is someone I follow. I called him James in the video.)

https://youtu.be/FOmRNGtXGKg?is=Wl6oxUKExlyepkHJ (link)

What Went Wrong: A Reflection on America at 250

 

Global climate change science predicts we will be underwater due to rising seas. Metaphorically, is America already underwater???

With the nation’s deficit growing with each insane presidential edict—be it Netanyahu’s war or Reflecting Pool algae—to nearly 40 TRILLION DOLLARS, it would seem we are already neck deep.

When these brave men took up arms against their British overlords, do you think they had gilded, golden towers, unfettered consumerism or trillions owed to foreign creditors in mind? These simple farmers, blacksmiths and coopers just wanted a representative government that would allow them to continue to ply their respective crafts without undue government interference or burdensome taxes. “No taxation without representation,” was the rallying cry during our nation’s birth 250 years ago.

I don’t believe they could have foreseen where we are in the 21st Century—families drowning in debt, corporate greed overtaking our representative government or the malaise that’s overtaken most Americans. Our national attitude has gone from “Give me liberty or give me death,” to pass me the bag of overpriced chips and the remote. Real political change is the next person’s problem. We can’t be bothered. Meanwhile, we’ve willingly (or ignorantly, unknowingly) given over our vote to corporations. Where is our revolutionary zeal?!?! Who is ready to throw some tea into the harbor???

My daughter cries that we live in a fascist state. I understand her frustration. With real live Nazi cosplayers like Stephen Miller shaping national policy, it can certainly feel that way. DJT is merely a puppet of his Christian Nationalists handlers. But I believe his election is the result of our national malaise, the greed we’ve let soil the American fabric and our simply giving up on The Dream.

I really don’t think most of my neighbors care. That’s why they blindly celebrated 250 years of American “freedom” yesterday with flags, good and fireworks. But our freedom seems to be faltering, when women can’t get access to reproductive healthcare, children can’t get free, hot meals at school or disabled vets are denied their basic needs and end up on the streets. The dream of home ownership is just a pipe dream for many hardworking Americans. And the Epstein class seems content to tell the rest of us, “eat cake.” 

The freedom our nation was built upon was a notion to begin with, the signers of both the Declaration and Constitution held men in shackles. The notion of ALL “created by the Creator” being on equal footing was hogwash even as the ink was drying on these defunct documents. The very land comprising the original colonies was taken from original Americans. Was The Dream doomed from the beginning??

I have personally participated in protests over the last six years, but do I see any real change resulting from posters and rallying cries over bullhorns? Do I even believe our system of voting is fair, accurate or effective? Not really. What does one vote mean when elections are decided in corporate boardrooms. This is the same place we started, isn't it? Taxation without representation. Only the tax burden falls mainly on the backs of those struggling the most. The 99% are barely above water.

America, Land of the Free? Are we?