And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face
– Deuteronomy 34:10 (ESV)
I know that if you are like so many other Thinkers, you are looking forward to seeing more evidence for the Bible and have been asking for additional films like Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus that you can share with your family and friends.
I want you to know that we are working hard right now to make this happen. In fact, I just returned from a two-week trip to Jordan where we were filming scenes for a new series, which we are calling Patterns of Evidence: Moses. This series will be centered around the life of Moses, and the route of the Exodus after the Israelites left Egypt. On this journey they are said to have miraculously crossed a mighty sea and then to have gone on to a mountain where God gave the Ten Commandments.
As you might have guessed, many scholars don’t believe that Moses existed or that he could have written the early books of the Bible. But in this new series we will introduce you to scholars who have found evidence that Moses could have known history’s earliest alphabet, which he used to write the Torah. Other parts of the story that are challenged by skeptics include the claim that no evidence for huge numbers of Israelites wandering in the desert or staying at Mount Sinai has ever been found. Another popular belief is that miracles are irrational and therefore impossible.
Patterns of Evidence: Moses will take on these questions with the same balanced approach that was so successful in our previous film. This new project will be a multi-part series of 55-minute episodes making the material easier to digest and giving more time to investigate all the evidence, locations and points of view (positive or negative) concerning connections to the Bible.
Making a film-series of this scope is a monumental task involving hundreds of hours of research, scripting, planning and filming (including the biblical sites) before we even get to the editing process. At that point, music, graphics and special effects need to be created and combined before several finishing processes are employed. Then there is the hard job of promotion that makes people aware of what is coming. The costs are high, but the result is a quality film that can engage a wide audience with this important subject.
One of the key components of telling the story is re-creations. During my trip to Jordan we filmed scenes of Moses and the Israelites journey across the desert and their time at Mount Sinai.
We also filmed re-creation scenes of early modern explorers like the father of Egyptology Flinders Petrie and his wife Hilda. Petrie discovered the Merneptah Stele, which until recently was the first known record of the name of “Israel,” identifying them as a people group living outside Egypt. Petrie is also known as the father of Egyptian archaeology.
This new series will look closely at the route of the Exodus including potential crossing sites and candidates for the real location of Mount Sinai. Are the traditional sites accurate, if so then why is there no evidence? Is there a pattern of evidence leading elsewhere? According to recent reports from Exodus explorers, there is!
I was accompanied by Egyptologist David Rohl, who believes that Mount Sinai was located near the traditional site in the Sinai Peninsula. Dr. Lennart Moller, a DNA researcher who also traveled with me to Jordan, believes that Mount Sinai is actually in Saudi Arabia where archaeological evidence of the Israelites can still be found today.
Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
– Numbers 20:10-11 (ESV)
We traveled to the area of Petra where both believe that Moses and the Israelites camped during their time in the wilderness. Settlement in this area only exists because of water from a spring called the Spring of Moses. According to the Bible, when the Israelites needed water, God told Moses to speak to a rock, but instead Moses struck the rock twice in anger. Because of this disobedience and dishonoring of God, Moses was forbidden from entering the Promised Land.
Above the city of Petra is Mount Hor and the traditional tomb of Aaron, which also fits the geographic pattern for the Exodus.
We also visited the traditional site of Mount Nebo, which Moses climbed at the end of his life to view the Promised Land and the hills of Judea from a distance across the Jordan River valley.
This is just a small example of what you will see and experience in this new series, Patterns of Evidence: Moses. We have been gathering this material for 15 years and we can’t wait to share it all with you and your family. If you’d like to help us get these films to the finish line, you can give to the Go Fund Me campaign to pre-purchase a DVD of this coming series.
Click here for more details about the different levels of participation and rewards – Go Fund Me
TOP PHOTO: Rehearsal scene of the Israelites exodus from Egypt. For the upcoming series Patterns of Evidence: Moses. (Photo: Angelica Moller – Copyright 2017 Patterns of Evidence)
