On the plus side, Egyptians: This means God totally wasn’t mad at you!
According to a new study from scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the parting of the Red Sea described in the Biblical Old Testament could have been caused by natural weather conditions.
A team led by Carl Drews has found that 60 mph winds from the east, blowing for a period of 12 hours, could have pushed back the waters where a river flowed into nearby lagoon, exposing miles of mud flats that would have stayed dry for four hours. (Similar conditions have been observed on Lake Erie.) When the wind subsided, the waters would flood the flats, drowning any unfortunate chariots that happened to be making the crossing.
Says Drews, “the simulations match fairly closely with the account in Exodus.”
He continued:
“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.”
(For NewsFeed’s secular readers, the Biblical account tells of how Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, only for the group to find themselves trapped between a body of water — depending on the translation this is either the Red Sea or the sea of reeds — and the pursuing Egyptian army. Moses appealed to God for aid, and the supreme deity answered his plea by parting the waters of the sea so the Israelites could escape. When the Egyptians attempted to follow them across, God returned the water to its rightful place and the Egyptians drowned.)
Of course, this doesn’t mean that such an event did happen (Egyptologists have found little proof of the Old Testament’s event occurring) or conversely, that because something said to have been done by His hand could have been done by nature God does not exist. What it does mean is that NewsFeed is totally justified in hanging out by the Red Sea waiting for optimal wind conditions on the off chance that it parts and we can call ourselves the Chosen Ones. (via LiveScience)