DOCUMENTERY REVIEW

EXODUS REVEALED

The documentary explores evidence for the Biblical account of the Exodus. Its
claims and methods were widely criticized both by Biblical scholars and by mainstream
scientists.In the book of Exodus, Moses triggers a series of terrible plagues on Egypt and
parts the Red Sea to lead the enslaved Israelites to freedom.

The documentary claims that most historians consider the Exodus a "fairy tale," and
it also claims that others reject scientific explanations that are not explicitly miraculous.
Jacobovici reminds viewers that God, according to the Judeo-Christian description,
manipulates nature, having an intimate understanding of it. His miracles may therefore be
an efficient and timely exploitation of natural cycles and logic.The documentary ends by
posing the question of whether the Exodus was just a natural event or "the Hand of God,"
implying that it is for the viewer to decide.It's possible the Sea Peoples weakened Egypt.The
Ten Plagues of Egypt, also referred to as the Ten Plagues ,Biblical Plagues, are the ten
calamities imposed upon Egypt by Yahweh as recounted in the Book of Exodus, to convince
Pharaoh to let the poorly treated Israelite slaves go. Pharaoh did not permit this until after
the tenth plague.

The plagues were applied in a way to portray clearly the reality of Israel’s God, and
by contrast the impotence of Egypt’s gods.Some commentators have associated several of
the plagues with judgment on specific gods associated with the Nile, fertility and natural
phenomena.According to the book of Exodus, God proclaims that all the gods of Egypt will
be judged through the tenth and final plagueGod could manifest his great power and cause
it to be declared among the nations.

1. Plague of Blood : Ex. 7:14–25

“This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the
staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed
into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will
not be able todrink its water.”

— Exodus 7:17–18
The first plague was blood. God instructed Aaron to raise his staff over the
river Nile; all of its water turned into blood. As a result of the blood, the fish of
the Nile died, filling Egypt with an awful stench. Other water resources used by
the Egyptians were turned to blood as well (7:19). Pharaoh's sorcerers
demonstrated that they too could turn water into blood, and Pharaoh therefore
made no concession to Moses' demands.

2. Plague of Frogs  Ex. 7:25–8:11

 “This is what the great LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship
me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The
Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom
and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people,and into
your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people
and all your officials.”

— Exodus 7:1–4
The second plague of Egypt was frogs. God commanded Aaron to stretch
the staff over the water, and hordes of frogs came and overran Egypt. Pharaoh's
sorcerers were also able to duplicate this plague with their magic. However,
since they were unable to remove it, Pharaoh was forced to grant permission for
the Israelites to leave so that Moses would agree to remove the frogs. To prove
that the plague was actually a divine punishment, Moses let Pharaoh choose the
time that it would end. Pharaoh chose the following day, and all the frogs died
the next day. Nevertheless, Pharaoh rescinded his permission, and the Israelites
stayed in Egypt.

3. Plague of Gnats : Ex. 8:12–15

“Then the LORD said  "Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it
may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt."  When Aaron stretched out
his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men
and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.

— Exodus 8:16–17
The third plague of Egypt was gnats. God instructed Aaron to take the staff
and strike at the dust, which turned into a mass of gnats that the Egyptians
could not get rid of. The Egyptian sorcerers declared that this act was "the finger
of God" since they were unable to reproduce its effects with their magic. This
plague killed the most people by far; bugs covered bodies in every place.

4. Plague of Wild Beasts

“This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If
you do not let my people go, I will send swarms ofwild beasts upon you and
your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians
willbe full of wild beasts, and even the ground where they are.”

— Exodus 8:20–21
The fourth plague of Egypt was mixture of dangerous wild animals capable
of harming people and livestock. The Torah emphasizes that the arov ("mixture"
or "swarm") only came against the Egyptians, and that it did not affect the Land
of Goshen (where the Israelites lived). Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this
plague and promised to allow the Israelites' freedom. However, after the plague
 was gone, Pharaoh "hardened his heart" and again refused to keep his
promise.The word ‫ ע ָרוֹ ב‬has caused a difference of opinion among traditional
interpreters. The root meaning is related to mixing. While most traditional
interpreters understand the plague as 'wild animals'Gesenius along with many
modern interpreters understand the plague as a swarm of flies.

5. . Plague of Pestilence
“This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that
they may worship me." If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them
back, the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the
field—on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and
goats.”

— Exodus 9:1–3
The fifth plague of Egypt was an epidemic disease which exterminated the
Egyptian livestock; that is, horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. The
Israelites' cattle were unharmed. Once again, Pharaoh made no concessions.

6. Plague of Boils
"The sixth plague of Egypt was shkhin. The Shkhin was a kind of skin disease,
usually translated as "boils". God commanded Moses and Aaron to each take two
handfuls of soot from a furnace, which Moses scattered skyward in Pharaoh's
presence. The soot induced festering Shkhin eruptions on Egyptian men and
livestock. The Egyptian sorcerers were afflicted along with everyone else, and
were unable to heal themselves, much less the rest of Egypt.

7. Plague of Hail
“This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that
they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues
against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that
there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my
hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you
off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show
you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still
set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time
tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the
day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and
everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on
every man and animal that has not been brought in and istill out in the field, and
theywill die. The LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the
ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning
flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it
had become a nation.
”
 — Exodus 9:13–24
The seventh plague of Egypt was a destructive storm. God commanded
Moses to stretch his staff skyward, at which point the storm commenced. It was
even more evidently supernatural than the previous plagues, a powerful shower
of hail intermixed with fire. The storm heavily damaged Egyptian orchards and
crops, as well as people and livestock. The storm struck all of Egypt except for
the Land of Goshen. Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this plague and promised
to allow the Israelites to worship God in the desert, saying "This time I have
sinned; God is righteous, I and my people are wicked." As a show of God's
mastery over the world, the hail stopped as soon as Moses began praying to
God. However, after the storm ceased, Pharaoh again "hardened his heart" and
refused to keep his promise.

8. Plague of Locusts
“This is what the Lord,the God of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to
humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If
you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They
will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what
little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your
fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the
Egyptians—something neither your fathers nor your forefathers have ever seen
from the day they settled in this land till now.”

— Exodus 10:3–6
It began day 1 of the Hebrew Month of Shevat: The eighth plague of Egypt
was (locusts). Before the plague, God informed Moses that from that point on He
would "harden Pharaoh's heart," (as promised earlier in 4:21) so that Pharaoh
would not give in, and the remaining miracles (the final plagues and the splitting
of the sea) would play out.As with previous plagues, Moses came to Pharaoh and
warned him of the impending plague of locusts. Pharaoh's officials begged him
to let the Israelites go rather than suffer the devastating effects of a locust-
swarm, but he was still unwilling to give in. He proposed a compromise: the
Israelite men would be allowed to go, while women, children and livestock
would remain in Egypt. Moses repeated God's demand that every last person and
animal should go, but Pharaoh refused.God then had Moses stretch his staff
over Egypt, and a wind picked up from the east. The wind continued until the
following day, when it brought a locust swarm. The swarm covered the sky,
casting a shadow over Egypt. It consumed all the remaining Egyptian crops,
leaving no tree or plant standing. Pharaoh again asked Moses to remove this
plague and promised to allow all the Israelites to worship God in the desert. As
promised, God sent a wind that blew the locusts into the Red Sea. However, he
also hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not allow the Israelites to leave.
9. Plague of Darkness
“Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that
darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt." So Moses stretched
out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days.
No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days.”

— Exodus 10:21–23
In the ninth plague, God commanded Moses to stretch his hands up to the
sky, to bring darkness upon Egypt. This darkness was so heavy that an Egyptian
could physically feel it. It lasted for three days, during which time there was light
in the homes of the Israelites. Pharaoh then called to Moses and offered to let all
the Israelites leave, if only the darkness would be removed from his land.
However, he required that their sheep and cattle stay. Moses refused, and went
on to say that before long, Pharaoh himself would offer to provide animals for
sacrifice. Pharaoh, outraged, then threatened to execute Moses if he should
again appear before Pharaoh. Moses replied that he would indeed not visit
thePharaoh again.This plague was an attack aimed directly at Pharaoh's god Ra,
the Egyptian sun god. By introducing the plague of darkness, Moses attempted
to demonstrate the clear power of Yahweh; and the folly of worshipping the
Egyptian Gods.

10. Death of the Firstborn : Ex. 11:1–12:36

“This is what the Lord says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every
firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the
throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and the
firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—
worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.”

— Exodus 11:4–6The tenth and final plague of Egypt was the death of all of the
first born children in Egypt — no one escaped, from the lowest servant to
Pharaoh's own first-born son, including first-born of livestock. Before the
plague, God commanded Moses to inform all the Israelites to mark lamb's blood
on the doorposts on every door in which case the LORD will pass over them and
not "suffer the destroyer to come into your houses and smite you" (chapter 12,
v. 23), thus sparing all the Israelite first-borns in households that followed the
instructions. This was the hardest blow upon Egypt and the plague that finally
convinced Pharaoh to submit, and let the Israelites go.After this, Pharaoh,
furious, saddened, and afraid that he would be killed next, ordered the Israelites
to go away, taking whatever they wanted. The Israelites didn't hesitate, believing
that soon Pharaoh would once again change his mind; and at the end of that
night Moses led them out of Egypt with "arms upraised."
 Moses explains the meaning of the Passover: it is for Israel's salvation from Egypt,
so that the Israelites will not be required to sacrifice their own sons, but to redeem
them.Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. The wives are
described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh's daughter and women of Moab, Ammon,
Sidon and of the Hittites. These wives are depicted as leadingSolomon astray. The only wife
that is mentioned by name is Naamah, who is described as the Ammonite. She was the
mother of Solomon's successor, Exodus is very different. It sees history as having a very
linear direction. God is a force for historical change, driving events forward in a linear way
towards a clear goal.

Things do not remain the same. In fact, the best evidence of God's presence in the
world is the transformation of the Israelites' historical situation (this point is made explicit in
Moses's last words to his people in Deuteronomy). The fact that they were in bondage, were
released, taken into the wilderness, forged into a political community, and taken to the
promised land, all these events are evidence that God is keeping His promise to his chosen
people, that we are on track to our final destiny, in short, that we are progressing. The
historical progress is fundamental to the vision of life in Exodus. It helps define the
relationship of human beings to God (for He is guiding our progress), but it also imposes on
human beings the religious duty of working for that progress. The religious life here is thus
thoroughly united with a political vision which sees all activity as part of long historical
process which is goingto lead to an improved lot for the Israelites. Such a sense is totally
foreign to Gilgamesh or Exodus (andmight encourage in some student readers a few
reflections on how much they have a belief in progress and where that might have come
from).

The historical vision in this story is, of course, the great reward the Israelites have
been promised from God. They have so sense of an afterlife, no heaven and hell, and there
is no sense that individuals will necessarily be economically rewarded in this life for being
faithful to God. Nor will they necessarily be happy in this life. No, what they have been
promised is that eventually God will lead their people to a promised land, where their
descendants will be safe and prosperous. The promise here is that the future of their
community will be guaranteed in this world. Freedom in Exodus.God's promise in Exodus, as
I mention above, is a thoroughly political vision, a fusion of religious belief and political
action. One of the most obvious features of the story is that it tells of the deliverance of the
Israelites from Egyptian slavery into a condition where they can forge their own national
identity and rule themselves by their own law code. Its central concern, then, is freedom.

In Exodus, the emphasis is entirely different. This community is radically

egalitarian. For the rules, which come directly from God, apply to everyone equally. It is not
the case that any one has the freedom to defy the rules or to make up his own rules or to
hold himself above the rules which are binding on all. Nor is there one set of rules for the
leaders and another set for the followers. The focus here is totally on binding the
community together in shared code of discipline, in such a manner that will curb any
tendency to individualistic assertiveness which might jeopardize the group's sense of
solidarity.The Exodus describes the enslavement of the Israelites by the Egyptians, the early
life of Moses, the ten plagues, and the departure of the Israelite slaves from Egypt (the
exodus).This is followed by the drowning of the Egyptians at the Red Sea, the wandering in
the wilderness and the revelation at Sinai. Details of the covenant between God and Israel
are given, followed by the episode of the Golden Calf. The Book is traditionally believed to
have been written by Moses.Significant, also, is the detail. In this system worshipping God
requires attention to every detail of one's daily life. The emphasis here is always on practical
ethical concerns, that is, on all the particular features of daily behaviour (food, dress,
business transactions, clothing, family interactions, and so on).

The Elohist also splits up some of the Jahwist's plagues, making them more
elaborate,Making the plague of the river, which in the Jahwist, involves the smiting of the
river, leading to the death of the fish, and subsequent swarms of frogs seven days later, into
two plagues, one involving the river turning into blood, and a separate involving swarms of
frogs Making the plague of hail, which in the Jahwist, is a pestilence attacking everything in
the fields, crops and cattle, into two plagues, one involving the cattle being attacked by a
pestilence, and the other involving hail and fire against the crops. Making the plague of
locusts, which, in the Jahwist, is so great that itcovers the land, into a plague of locusts, and
a later plague of darkness Egypt's Pharaoh, fearful of the Israelites' numbers, orders that all
newborn boys be thrown into the Nile.
 DOCUMENTARY REVIEW
KINGS OF ISRAEL

A Levite woman saves her baby by setting him adrift on the river in an ark of
bulrushes. The pharaoh's daughter finds the child, and names him Moses, and brings him
up as her own. But Moses is aware of his origins, and one day, when grown, kills an Egyptian
overseer who is beating a Hebrew man, and has to flee into Midian. There he marries the
daughter of Jethro the priest, and on Mount Horeb encounters God in a burning bush. Moses
asks God for his name: God replies "I am". God tells Moses to return to Egypt and lead the
Hebrews into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham.Moses returns to Egypt, where God
again says his name to Moses. God instructs Moses to appear before the pharaoh and
inform him of God's demand that he let God's people go. Moses and his brother Aaron do
so, but pharaoh refuses. God causes a series of ten plagues to strike Egypt, but whenever
pharaoh begins to relent God, "Pharaoh's heart stiffened" (Exodus 7:13). God instructs
Moses to institute the Passover sacrifice among theIsraelites, and kills all the firstborn
children and The livestock throughout Egypt. The pharaoh then agrees to let the Israelites
go.

According to the Bible, before the united monarchy, the Israelite tribes lived as a
confederation under ad hoc charismatic leaders called Judges. In around 1020 BCE, under
extreme threat from foreign peoples, the tribes united to form the first united Kingdom of
Israel. Samuel anointed Saul from the tribe of Benjamin as the first king in c. 1020 BCE, but
it was David who in c.1006 BCE created a strong unified Israelite monarchy.

David, the second (or third, if Ish-bosheth is counted) King of Israel, established
Jerusalem as its national capital 3,000 years ago. Before then, Hebron had been the capital
of David's Judah and Mahanaim of Ish-bosheth's Israel, and before that Gibeah had been the
capital of the United Monarchy under Saul.

David succeeded in truly unifying the Israelite tribes, and set up a monarchical
government. He embarked on successful military campaigns against Israel's enemies, and
defeated bitter foes such as the Philistines, thus creating secure borders for Israel. Under
David, Israel grew into a regional power. Under the House of David, the united Kingdom of
Israel achieved prosperity and superiority over its neighbours.

Under David's successor, Solomon, the United Monarchy experienced a period of

peace and prosperity, and cultural development. Much public building took place, including
the First Temple in Jerusalem.

However, on the succession of Solomon's son, Rehoboam, in c. 930 BCE the country
split into two kingdoms: Israel (including the cities of Shechem and Samaria) in the north
and Judah (containing Jerusalem) in the south. Most of the non-Israelite provinces fell away.
 DOCUMENTARY REVIEW
NOAH’s ARK

The Ark's purpose was to save Noah and his family from the coming global flood,
and to preserve mating pairs of every kind of terrestrial animal.The Ararat Anomaly is
basically an object appearing in pictures on the snowfields at the peak of the Mt. Ararat.
This object is often considered to be the remains of Noah's Ark.One's religious duties are
thus not something one attends to periodically, at special festivals or in certain places, nor
are they something one attends to in private prayer or contemplation. They are observed in
every aspect of life. One worships God by living day by day in a very particular way,
scrupulously observing all His instructions in one's practical dealings with others. Thus, the
idea of the good life becomes something very clear and shared: the good life is the life lived
according to God's rules. And this does not require any detailed study of why these rules
exist or any debates about whether we need to observe them or not.

Artists then began to depict the Ark in a manner befitting an illustrated children's
book. A typical portrait of the Ark, even in church windows, gave it the shape of a claw-
footed bathtub surmounted by an oversized pilothouse with a gabled roof. The Genesis
Flood, their landmark work that incited the modern creation science movement. In that
work, Whitcomb and Morris discussed the Ark and emphasized its carrying capacity and
hypothetical seaworthiness. Shortly after this, a number of witnesses came forward claiming
to have climbed Mount Ararat in modern Turkey and actually seen the Ark, or spoken to
those who had. All the putative witnesses described an immense rectilinear structure,
though they provided few details of its size and proportions. Artists now began to depict the
Ark as a simple rectilinear solid. The most famous such painting was by Elfred Lee, who in
1985 painted the Ark as a long barge surmounted by a ventilatory superstructure running
the entire length of its roof. The Ark was not designed as a ship. It would not have required
a propulsion or navigation system, nor even anchors. Its purpose was to keep its passengers
safe, while leaving their course and ultimate destination completely in the hands of God.

In contrast, the Epic of Gilgamesh suggests that the Ark was cuboidal, rather than
rectilinear. Such a design would have been neither seakindly nor stable.Examination of the
ancient war vessels of the Greeks and Romans reveals many common elements that would
enhance seaworthiness. They include a tapered bow with a projection below the water line,
and a large sail-like projection on the stern. These features would have caused the Ark to
head into the wind and fall back before it,Stories of a global flood, and of a favored family
that survived it, abound in ancient folklore.collected two hundred such stories and found a
surprising number of common elements. Most of the stories collected speak of a global
catastrophe, consisting solely of a flood that a god or gods sent to punish the wickedness of
mankind. Most stories also tell of a family, forewarned of the flood, who built a ship to save
themselves and all the different kinds of animals. More than half the stories say that this
ship ran aground on a mountaintop.Genesis does not tell us that every kind of animal came
to the Ark to be saved from the flood. God only brought animals "with the breath of life", a
phrase that most modern creation apologists associate with land vertebrates.The majority of
the fossil record was laid down during the flood, so there were many more kinds of animals
alive in Noah's time. These would include dinosaurs, pterosaurs, marsupial lions, and
others; mammoths were almost certainly part of the elephant kind. Noah did not have to
round up the animals, because God sent them to him ,The capacity of the Ark matches
estimates of the number of animals kept by Noah that have ince diversified into an
apparently much larger number of species. For example, the variety of modern dogs are
believed to have descended from a single ancestral pair.
 DOCUMENTARY REVIEW

Presented to:

Mr. Roody Angelo juan

As a Partial Fulfillment for the requirement

in
THEOLOGY I-II

by :
Ivy E. de Jesus