Jonah & the Whale ( Archived) (35)

As for the parting of the read sea, in the times, that supposedly happened:

"A Good Wind and Good Timing

In the latest attempt to lend scientific credence to a supernatural event, Naum Volzinger, a senior researcher at St. Petersburg's Institute of Oceanography, and Alexei Androsov, a colleague based in Hamburg, Germany, analyzed conditions that could have made the parting of the Red Sea possible.

As the biblical story goes: "And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided."

Volzinger and Androsov calculated that a wind blowing at the speed of 67 miles per hour sustained overnight could have exposed a reef that existed close below the ocean surface. The Israelites could have then fled over the passage before the wind died down and waters rose again, blocking the way for pursuing Egyptian soldiers in their wheeled chariots.

Volzinger explains that some 3,500 years ago, the reef would have been closer to the water's surface so it would have been exposed for just the right amount of time.

"It would take the Jews … four hours to cross the 7-kilometer reef that runs from one coast to another," Volzinger told The Moscow Times. "Then, in half an hour, the waters would come back."

A miracle? Perhaps. Great timing? Certainly, argues Colin Humphreys, a physicist at Cambridge University in England and author of the book, The Miracles of Exodus.

"I still say they're miracles," Humphreys said. "But I think the miracle is in the timing."

Humphreys has used similar calculations to explain the parting of the Red Sea, although he places the event in a slightly different location along the shore. Other scholars have argued that the name Red Sea has been mistranslated over the centuries from Hebrew and the name yam suph, or "Sea of Reeds" actually refers to a marshy, inland lake, which would have been easier to cross than a sea.

Humphreys traveled to the head of the Gulf of Aqaba of the Red Sea to settle the matter and found that reeds still grow there today due to the freshwater flow of mountain springs. The so-called "Sea of Reeds," he concluded, could therefore refer to the Red Sea. "


At that time, it may seem as a work of god, but actually, those effects were such in that particular region, that at low tide, there was a natural bridge made, as the sea withdrew so much, that the land was shown, and at high tide, again, that land bridge was covered.
Sometimes these effects happen so fast, you can see the water rising and falling with a naked eye . . . .

So much about that miracle . . . .

As Jews leaving Egypt, it happened over 40 years, that they left Egypt, and not in one big march as it is presented in the bible . . . .

Do you also believe that the world is 12,000 years old? When asked the question about the dinosaurs, one usually get's a reply "Ok, dinosaur fossils? Dinosaur fossils? God put those there to test our faith!" ( I'm just asking, cos you state, you believe, everything that is written in the "good book" )… Generally speaking, I Always-get answers like these, what ever one can not argument, with valid points and arguments:

"GOD HAS A PLAN"

"GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS"

"IT IS NOT GOD, BUT HUMAN FREE WILL, THAT GOOD GAVE US, THUS IT IS OUR FAULT"

"GOD IS TESTING US, TO SEE, IF WE WILL BETTER OUR SELVES"

"GOD IS HOPING, THAT IN TIME WE WILL SEE THE LIGHT, AND IS ALLOWING THESE THINGS TO HAPPEN"

"IT IS NOT GOD, BUT THE DEVIL, THAT IS MAKING PEOPLE DO THESE THINGS, OR ALLOW THEM TO HAPPEN, GOD IS JUST OBSERVING AND HOPING, THAT PEOPLE WILL TURN AWAY FROM THE DEVIL, AND SEE THE LIGHT"

"GOD DECIDED, FOR THE SOULS TO SUFFER, COS HE HAS A PLAN FOR THEM, AND THEY WILL HAVE A BETTER LIFE, NEXT TIME WHEN THEY COME BACK TO EARTH (thus also allowing for the reincarnation I believe)"

"GOD HAS A SPECIAL PLACE FOR THEM IN THE HEAVEN ( despite the fact, that everyone are equals in heaven, there are still some, that are more special then others )"

Of course, to each it's own, these replies don't hurt me, personally, but when one looks at the bigger picture, this kind of thinking, and acting upon this way of thinking, does damage to people, in different spheres of life, cos it is prejudiced, and makes a religious person intolerant about anything or anyone, that does not agree with "their point of view" - - - with THAT I do have a problem ( I'd like to point out now, that I am talking in general terms, and not necessarily about you, cos I don't know, how you look at these things, or what kind of a person you are )