One of the books on my current reading list is “Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt” by J.H. Breasted. It is important to note that Breasted is agnostic, at best.

While providing a brief trace of the history of religion in Egypt, he writes, “In this process of popularization, the last great development in Egyptian religion took place 1300-1100 B.C.”

Why That’s Interesting
Now, if you are familiar with the historical dating of the Exodus, you might recall that many, maybe most, scholars believe the Exodus to have happened around 1250 B.C.

I follow the thinking of Dr. Currid, that the plagues in Egypt were theologically polemical attacks against the gods of Egypt. For example, Heqet–a human body with the head of a frog–was a goddess of fertility. When Yahweh sent the plague of frogs, he directly attacked Heqet. Instead of their frog-goddess of fertility saving them, the Egyptians watched the frogs die, be collected into piles, and stink as they decayed. This is what Yahweh does to the gods of Egypt.

Another example and perhaps the most powerful: Pharoah. Pharaoh was seen as a god himself who was in charge of the sun. So the 9th plague, that of darkness in all the land (except over the Hebrews!), was to show the people that their Pharaoh, their great god of the sun, was powerless before Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews.

What’s the “Coincidence”
Is it a coincidence that an agnostic historian would recognize that “the last great development in Egyptian religion took place 1300-1100 B.C.,” which is, interestingly enough, the exact parameters in which the Exodus occurred (circa 1250 B.C.)? In other words, is it a coincidence that God displayed his might and exposed the false gods of Egypt in such a way that it essentially ended the further development of their religion?

I think not. I don’t believe in coincidences.