How long were Israelites in Egypt?

I am a Scientist, and I am a Christian. Their constant arguments are an irritation to me. If God is creator and supervisor of our world, their conclusions CANNOT disagree! But the two groups are constantly doing exactly that. Scientists have the tendency to reject the idea of God, and claim everything came about evolutionally, not via creation. Conversely, few Christians understand scientific methods, and they discount anything that might disagree with the bible and their interpretation of it.

Time has become a favorite ‘war’ subject for Christians, so I will use that as an example. God, living in a no-time ‘universe,’ has revealed methods of measuring time, although scientists don’t accept that viewpoint. Christians are inclined to say, “If it doesn’t agree with what is written in the bible, the measurement is wrong!”

As I said, time is one of the greatest sources of disagreement. Let’s look at just one situation. Christians and Hebrews both say that the Israelites spent 400 years in Egypt, a span recorded in both Bible and Hebrew records. The problem, though, is that Biblical dates can’t be historically verified until about 1050 BC, when Saul became king. This would have been about 400 years after Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. If we turn to Egyptian historical verification, we find that Thutmose I reigned 1506-1493 BC, and his only son had died, leaving his daughter as next in line. She became Queen Hatshepsut. To become Pharaoh, however, a woman was required to have a son who would follow her when he became old enough to fill the position. This fits perfectly with the story of Moses, and Josephus’ Book 2 tells the story of his being trained to become pharaoh. (Josephus names Moses’ adoption mother as Thermuthis.) Eighty years later, the Pharaoh Moses dealt with was probably Thutmose IV, who reigned about 1400-1381 BC, less than twenty years. (Ramses II has been suggested, but he was pharaoh about 200 years later, which doesn’t fit into Israel history.)

So far, our Hebrew time schedule is in agreement with Egyptian history, so let’s move on. Exodus 12:40-41 says, “Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.” If we now go 400 years back in Egyptian history, we come to Pharaoh Amenemhat III, who reigned 1860-1814 BC. His reign is regarded as Egypt’s golden age. His father, Senusret III, ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC, his military campaigns having given rise to an era of peace and economic prosperity.  The campaigns had reduced the power of regional rulers. Amenemhat III helped develop and inherited a country revival in craftwork, trade, and urban development.

This should be about the time Joseph and his father’s entire family entered Egypt. The limited description of the Egypt given in the Bible, however, does not seem to fit into this picture of Egypt in the 1800s BC. Furthermore, archeologists have found no evidence of Joseph during this period (more on this in a moment). Looking a bit deeper, in Genesis 15:13, we find: “Then the Lord said to (Abraham), “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated.”(NIV) Then, in his ‘goodbye sermon,’ Steven says: “God spoke to (Abraham) in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me.” (Acts 7:6-7, NIV)

Returning to the introduction to Exodus, we find: “Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ‘Look,’ he said to his people, ‘the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.’ So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.” (Exodus 1:6-11)

This passage fits perfectly with what we know about Pharaoh Amenemhat III. He did not seem to be a warrior, and would be logically concerned that some of the countries his father had defeated might reorganize and attack the Egyptian empire. The Hebrews had no real allegiance to Egypt, so it is also logical to think they might find it advantageous to join the invaders. In addition, his expansion plans were extensive and here was a group of potential slaves to do the building.  It therefore becomes apparent that the Hebrews were held in slavery for 400 years. This was not the period from Joseph to Moses! So, how long were Abraham’s descendants really in Egypt?

Let’s now return to Joseph. Egyptian Archeologists searched for evidence of his existence, but could find nothing within the time span he was supposed to live.  However, when the Step Pyramid was excavated, on the base of King Djoser’s statue an inscription was found, saying, “Imhotep, Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt, Chief under the King, Administrator of the Great Palace, Hereditary Lord, High Priest of Heliopolis, Imhotep the Builder, the Sculptor, the Maker of Stone Vases …” That sure sounded like the Bible description of Joseph, but Christians said, “No, that can’t be. King Djoser ruled somewhere between 2682 BC and 2648 BC. That is about 800 years before Joseph.”

Since that discovery, Imhotep has been extensively researched. The more we understand him, the more it becomes obvious that, yes, this was Joseph, and the Bible only touches on his impact within Egypt. Imhotep has been described as “A commoner by birth who advanced to the position of one of the most important and influential men in Egypt through his natural talents.” He was the architect of King Djoser’s Step Pyramid. He was considered a god of science, medicine and architecture. He was a priest, vizier to King Djoser and the next three kings, Poet, physician, mathematician, astronomer, and architect. There is now a couple of TV programs focused on Imhotep, and it is apparent that the writer of Exodus did not ‘tell all.’ Had he done so, the focus would have been on Joseph, not God! Among other things, the archeologists found surgery implements exactly like those used today!! Pretty good evidence of alien contact in Egypt – the name was God, and he worked through Joseph.

I will now confidently say that the time between Joseph and the Exodus was not four hundred years, but the descendants of Abraham were in Egypt for about 1200 years. This also makes more logical the growth of the Hebrew nation from Jacob’s 70-person family to between two and three million that went with Moses. (There were 600,000 men of fighting age, so total count including elderly, women, and children had to be at least 2 million.)