I’m so glad we have diligent scientists that care so much to set the record straight. Boy, to think that I thought the power of God who created the heavens and the earth wasn’t really the one who parted the Red Sea, takes a load off my mind.
In a report grippingly titled, "Dynamics of Wind Setdown at Suez and the Eastern Nile Delta," the scientists say they have worked out a "hydrodynamic explanation" for Moses leading the Israelites across the ocean floor, as described in Exodus 14.
Using computer modelling to reconstruct combinations of winds and waves, the researchers found that a strong east wind blowing overnight on a shallow coastal lagoon in northern Egypt could push so much water aside that men could walk across on the exposed mud flats.
"The simulations match fairly closely with the account in Exodus," said Carl Drews, lead author of the study.
Both the Bible and Koran describe Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt ahead of a pharaoh's armies about 3,000 years ago. In the story, the Red Sea parts to let them pass in safety before closing and drowning their pursuers.
"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," the Bible says. "The children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea."
