The Exodus Decoded

Certainly a lot of work went into making this, and the image effects and reconstructions are expensive and lavishly detailed. But looking really good and being true are certainly not the same thing. The most suspicious thing about this documentary is that it seems to have held a forgone conclusion from the beginning that the events depicted in exodus happened exactly as described and the many details happened in a specific order as described. Then it tries to find evidence piece by piece that this happened using supposedly scientific methodology. But this is exactly the opposite of scientific methodology, which in its pure form never really presupposes a definite outcome. a scientist revises his hypothesis when the most straightforward explanations for observable facts uncovered seems to disagree with his initial hypothesis. Yet here more and more stuff is gathered from everywhere from Thera to Greece to Egypt and across disciplines ranging from tectonics and other earth sciences to archaeology to ancient linguistic subtleties to each piece just happens to corroborate each of the details in the foregone conclusion! Are we supposed to believe the filmmaker is an expert in all of these areas? I certainly wonder how James Cameron got bamboozled by all this hooey and bankrolled the production.

The film provided a more plausible, more logical, more grounded, and more realistic narration of the events of the Exodus. I knew the story told by the old school religious elders were too fantastic, too "magical", too fairy tale-ish, and utterly Hebrew-sided. Finally, a film that confirms my views, although towards the end, I'm not quite clear on whether the documentary suggests that the 10 Commandments came directly from God. I am sure they were laws authored and carved on stone by Moses himself and he paraded them as orders coming from El to scare the Hebrews into strict observance. I was actually waiting for this part to be explained.

Anyhoo, still a film worth watching.

For anyone who has already made up their minds about the exodus or biblical stories in general this film will probably anger them. As does any film which tries to provide different ideas about events. This occurs in non-biblical related cases as well. Life and the quest for information requires that we keep ourselves open to new interpretations. If we do not we only fail ourselves by missing out on a wealth of information. Having said that....this film is trying to provide a different perspective, or interpretation, than had been shown before. In my opinion, it was successful in doing so. This film was far from perfect, however. They did the one thing that bothers me more than anything else and that is take an absolutist perspective.

There is no way to say definitively that any of this is true. It is merely an idea and someone's attempt to verify it. Much of the information is up for interpretation and is best viewed as such, if for no other reason than to avoid getting yourself worked up because it may not agree with your prior beliefs. I think that the film makes the same mistake that debunker's make in taking the aforementioned absolutist stance. There is a lot of stretching of dates and information in order to make the case that is presented for which I have heard this film bashed. Keep in mind, however, that science does this same thing all the time in order to explain past events or current phenomena. Science strives for precision but is far from precise.

Besides this major concern of mine, I liked that the film was trying to present this event, real or not, in a different manner and that it was using natural phenomena to do so. Believers could attack the use of nature in place of God's work, but that is a choice belief since, according to the Bible, God can work in many different ways.

I thought the presentation was impressive and I liked the way the visuals in the film worked to keep attention and aid in the flow the film is following. Information is only as good as what is retained and the approach taken by the filmmakers does a good job in aiding with this.

I found this film entertaining and it held my interest and will certainly watch it again. Did it make me believe that the exodus happened as they claim or at all? No! One opinion is never enough to prove something and the more radical the idea the more proof is needed, but I do think that this begs more investigation by different people bringing different approaches with them.

I would definitely suggest giving this film a look. You will have to make your own judgment about its accuracy in the end, of course, as I have made my own (not shared herein). I would highly recommend that you keep an open mind when watching it, though, and save your judgments for when the film is over. Judging too fast is your own disservice. Then, of course, do your own research afterward. Films like this, when done well, should invoke an interest and participatory response from its viewers to seek out more information and The Exodus Decoded certainly did that for me.

The graphics were excellent and will make an impact on a younger generation who may be "turned off" by traditional teaching models. Exodus came to life, into the here and now! It kept my attention, and gave me evidence that a natural occurrence of a volcanic eruption could cause some of the plagues in the Bible.

Of course, God,in His wisdom, knew we would arrive at this knowledge, so had to go beyond the "natural" to show His Divine power. Since I am no expert in science I cannot say I believe everything presented hook, line, and sinker. A person should always look at all evidence with an open mind. Everyone involved with this production can be extremely proud of their particular role. Thank you for presenting more evidence the Bible is true.

The Documentary was quite interesting and the ideas put forward were well constructed and both sides of the argument were in part considered. I think one should note early in the work Simcha Jacobovici refers to archaeological proof to back up the claim to Israel, and much is mentioned of divine intervention in the stories of the Israelite's escape from Egypt chased by Egyptian soldiers, perhaps they just wanted their gold back? It was well constructed with many Jewish Prof's and Academics to back up the pro Jewish ideals and stories being offered. He also mentions the Egyptians are restricting excavation of certain areas he feels to prevent evidence of Israelite's being found, thus proving their claim beyond doubt, sorry Palestine! I also found the site of Dr Chris Heard, "Higgaion" as mentioned by another review an interesting counter if one wants to consider both sides? The baby in the basket, The Parting of the red sea, Moses meeting God on the mountain and giving his sermon, David and Goliath one has to start to wonder if any of it is true, sadly one cannot just believe what is served up to them any longer. One must verify these potential attempts to corrupt your data and insult your intelligence by finding your own truths, seek and ye shall find! Beware the seen and unseen agenda, watch out for deception in plain sight and never be afraid to question that which you know is wrong.