Approximately 1600 years after the creation of the world, God sent a flood to destroy the world. It is sometimes referred to as Noah’s flood, because it happened in the lifetime of Noah. Consider some questions that might come to our minds regarding this flood: Why did God bring this flood in the first place? Was this a universal flood, or merely a local flood? What effect did this flood have on the world and man? Let’s consider these questions briefly, and in the order in which they are given.
Why did God bring this flood on the world so long ago? Moses in the book of Genesis answers this question. We read, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” (Gen. 6:5-7.) So because man was so wicked God destroyed the world. It was a violent world. Again we read, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” (Gen. 6:11-13.) Since God is just, He could not allow that old wicked world to continue. It makes one wonder how long God will allow this present world to continue.
Was this flood universal, or a local flood? Some have argued for a local flood. However, the evidence supports a universal flood. The preceding verses cited show that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that the earth was filled with violence, and that all flesh had corrupted itself. So, God promised “to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.” (Gen. 6:17.) Does that sound like a local flood? Whitcomb and Morris in their excellent work enumerated reasons why the flood was universal. I list their reasons, but not verbatim:
1. The waters of the flood covered the highest mountain to a depth sufficient for the ark to float over them.
2. The Bible also informs us that this situation prevailed for a period of five months and that an additional seven months were required for the waters to subside sufficiently for Noah to disembark in the mountains of Ararat.
3. The expression “fountains of the great deep were broken up” points unmistakably to vast geological disturbances that are incompatible with the local-flood concept, especially when these disturbances are said to have continued for five months.
4. The construction of the ark, with a capacity of at least 1,400,000 cubic feet, merely for the purpose of carrying eight people and a few animals through a local inundation is utterly inconceivable.
5. If the flood had been limited in extent, there would have been no need for an ark at all, for there would have been plenty of time for Noah’s family to escape from the danger-area, to say nothing of the birds and beasts.
6. Peter’s use of the flood as a basis for refuting uniformitarian skeptics in the last days would have been pointless if the flood had been merely a local one, especially when we consider the cosmic setting into which he placed that cataclysm (2 Peter 3:3-7).
7. A widely distributed human race could not have been destroyed by a local flood.
--The Genesis Flood, pp. 33-34
The effect of Noah’s flood changed the world, literally. The only animals on the earth after the flood were those that had been on the ark, for God had destroyed every living thing that breathed upon the earth. Moses wrote:
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. -- Genesis 7:21-23.
What about the dinosaurs? God made all animals, which would have included dinosaurs (Gen. 1:24-25) Every kind of clean beasts, seven pairs of males and females, went into the ark. Of all the unclean animals (which would have included what might be considered dinosaurs), two of each, male and female, went into the ark (Gen. 7:2). Those animals, including dinosaurs, which did not go on the ark, perished in the flood. The only plausible explanation for the disappearance of the dinosaurs is that they became extinct.
There are good reasons to believe that the environment after the flood was different. Prior to the flood, there was a water vapor canopy, much like a greenhouse effect. Brother Marion Fox in his excellent work says, “A water vapor canopy would keep the humidity very high and temperature almost constant.” (A Study of The Biblical Flood, p. 63.) This very well could account for the longevity of lives prior to the flood, but lives began to shorten following the flood.
THE INFORMER
July 12, 2015