Let me step on the brake pedal for a few seconds to reflect on something I just thought of.

BCE, meaning before common era, is the secular way of marking time before year one, while BC, meaning before Christ, comes from a Christian framework. Both refer to the same timeline, just expressed through different perspectives.

The 14th century BCE, spanning 1400 to 1301 BCE, reaches back roughly 3400 years, if my math is correct.

Between 1353 and 1336 BCE, Akhenaten, who became Pharaoh around the age of 17, introduced a radical shift. He elevated one deity, Aten, the sun disk, as the sole source of life, attempting to replace Egypt’s many gods with one.

Many historians consider this one of the earliest known attempt monotheism, or at least a significant move toward exclusive monotheism, but it did not last. After his death, Egypt returned to its traditional polytheistic beliefs.

Still, while figures like Akhenaten are sometimes mentioned in discussions of early monotheistic ideas, there is no evidence connecting his beliefs to Israel.

In the biblical narrative, beginning in the book of Genesis, God reveals himself directly, establishing belief in one God through revelation, not influence from surrounding cultures.

Historically and biblically, this takes place around the 1300s BC during the height of ancient Egypt’s power, when the Israelites were likely still in Egypt or entering the early stages of the Exodus under Moses.

Let’s fast forward to 1200 to 1000 BCE, a period marked by major upheaval. Egypt began losing its grip on power while other Bronze Age civilizations started to fracture and disintegrate.