nature could have parted the red sea for moses' escape

[Amby 490]

Mother Earth could have parted the Red Sea, hatching the great escape described in the biblical book of Exodus, a new study finds.

A strong east wind, blowing overnight, could have swept water off a bend where an ancient river is believed to have merged with a coastal lagoon along the Mediterranean Sea, said study team member Carl Drews of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. While archaeologists and Egyptologists have found little evidence that any events described in Exodus actually happened, the study outlines a perfect storm that could have led to the 3,000-year-old escape.

"People have always been fascinated by this Exodus story, wondering if it comes from historical facts," Drews said. "What this study shows is that the description of the waters parting indeed has a basis in physical laws."

Drew and his colleagues used models that showed that a wind of 63 mph, lasting for 12 hours, would have pushed back waters estimated to be 6 feet deep. This would have exposed mud flats for four hours, creating a dry passage about 2 to 2.5 miles long and 3 miles wide.

To match the account in the Bible, the water would have to be pushed back into both the lake and the channel of the river, creating barriers of water on both sides of newly exposed mud flats, which is exactly what the models show could have happened.

As soon as the winds stopped, the waters would come rushing back. Anyone still on the mud flats would be at risk of drowning.

As the Bible story goes, Moses and the fleeing Israelites were trapped between the Pharaoh's advancing chariots and a body of water that has been variously translated as the Red Sea or the Sea of Reeds. In a divine miracle, a mighty east wind blew all night, splitting the waters and leaving a passage of dry land with walls of water on both sides. The Israelites were able to flee to the other shore. But when the Pharaoh's army attempted to pursue them in the morning, the waters rushed back and drowned the soldiers.

"The simulations match fairly closely with the account in Exodus," Drews said. "The parting of the waters can be understood through fluid dynamics. The wind moves the water in a way that's in accordance with physical laws, creating a safe passage with water on two sides and then abruptly allowing the water to rush back in."

A similar phenomenon is found on Lake Erie near Toledo, Ohio, where water will recede several feet when a strong wind blows through, Drews told OurAmazingPlanet.

The research shows how strong and persistent winds can affect water depths, and will also help with understanding storm surges, Drews said.

By pinpointing a possible site south of the Mediterranean Sea for the crossing, about 75 miles north of the Suez reef, where other groups have focused, it also could be of benefit to experts seeking to research whether such an event ever took place.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39287373/ns/technology_and_science-science/#

[ready4ONE 5,400]

A simpler explanation is, of course, that the story is a fable... Are there other Biblical fables? Hard to tell...

Edited September 22, 2010 by ready4ONE

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

OR...the whole thing could be BULLSH*T. What do you bet?

[웃 910]

There are some stories in the bible that are true. For example:

***Jonah survived being swallowed alive by a whale. And while in the whale's belly he setup a small desk with a typewriter and documented it.

***Sampson (with long hair) ripped down buildings but didn't have the strength to lift his finger (with short hair)

***A talking snake named Beelzebub conned the very first woman (Eve) to eat a forbidden apple so that she would get kicked out of a paradise-like garden because the talking snake named Beelzebub knew that the Master of All did not want Eve to eat an apple. So the talking snake wanted to get her in deep trouble.

*** Adam and Eve, the very first humans, were born as 25-year old adults in a magical garden called Eden (why do I say they were born 25-year old adults? God couldn't have created them as infants. Or as 6-year olds. Or 10-year olds. He must have created them and wallah, they were born adults.)

*** A group of people wanted to bring down a giant wall so they marched around the wall and played their trumpets. The sound was so intense that the wall came tumbling down

Edited September 22, 2010 by Lord Infamous

[^_^ 5,021]

the word is voila. pet peeve.

[Amby 490]

the word is voila. pet peeve.

I had to actually read his entire post to find it because I was looking for a V word when I skimmed it

[Ban Hammer 12,857]

*** A group of people wanted to bring down a giant wall so they marched around the wall and played their trumpets. The sound was so intense that the wall came tumbling down

sounds like what's going on with our southern border.

[luckytxn 2,263]

Why is it so hard to believe that a God can perform this miracle?

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Why is it so hard to believe that a God can perform this miracle?

The 'miracle' of creating a round earth and telling his ghost writers to say it was flat?

The 'miracle' of planting fake fossils in the ground so foolish scientists would conclude the world was slightly older than 10 to 20 thousand years old?

Or the 'miracle' of virtually every major story being stolen from earlier religions?

[웃 910]

Religion is something very new on planet earth.

Planet earth = 4.5 billion years old (give or take a couple hundred million years) = 4,500,000,000 years

Judaism = 5,000 years old

Hinduism = 4,000 years old

Christianity = 2,000 years old

Islam = 1,400 years old

Why did it take God 4,499,995,000 years to tell man about religion?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution

[Amby 490]

Religion is something very new on planet earth.

Planet earth = 4.5 billion years old (give or take a couple hundred million years) = 4,500,000,000 years

Judaism = 5,000 years old

Hinduism = 4,000 years old

Christianity = 2,000 years old

Islam = 1,400 years old

Why did it take God 4,499,995,000 years to tell man about religion?

http://en.wikipedia....Human_evolution

because he's a #######?

[chri'stina 190]

Religion is something very new on planet earth.

Planet earth = 4.5 billion years old (give or take a couple hundred million years) = 4,500,000,000 years

Judaism = 5,000 years old

Hinduism = 4,000 years old

Christianity = 2,000 years old

Islam = 1,400 years old

Why did it take God 4,499,995,000 years to tell man about religion?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution

Yeah, he should have told the dinosaurs all about it so they could spread the news.

[Ban Hammer 12,857]

Yeah, he should have told the dinosaurs all about it so they could spread the news.

maybe he did and they all died off in a holy war.

[Amby 490]

maybe he did and they all died off in a holy war.

[웃 910]

How come God is so obviously incapable of speaking anymore? Did He get into a bad accident 2000 years ago? Nobody has heard from God in over 2000 years....With the high technology of a video camera and the internet, along with a dramatic rise in atheism (people that will automatically perish in hell <a punishment that makes all the pain Hitler inflicted seem like a lovetap> for eternity) now would be the perfect time for God to speak. We are waiting for proof of His existence and there is none.