Good Evening Everyone!
Tonight I would like us to have a look at the Flood in a different way than most churches and seminaries do. The popular view today is that the Flood of Noah was a local flood in the Middle-East, probably caused by the spilling of a big water basin, such as the Black Sea or the Mediterranean. In a clever slight of hand they say that it is a 'universal flood', by which they mean that it flooded Noah's universe - the Middle-East. I personally dislike such word games when it comes to interpreting Scripture. I prefer to look at what the text says and let it interpret itself through the context. Whether it aligns with our scientific theories is irrelevant. We cannot make the text fit a mould which it is not written for. So, let us look at the description of the Flood, what caused it and what extent of the earth it covered.
Lets discuss the extent of the Flood. What did it cover? How much water was there, anyway? It turns out Scripture is quite clear on that:
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 15 cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creeps 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 heavens; and they were destroyed from the earth; and Noach only remained, and they that were with him in the ark.
'All' the high hills, 'all' flesh was destroyed, 'every' living substance on the face of the ground. We could get into the semantics of what 'all' and 'every' means, but when something is repeated so many times, saying the same thing in so many different ways... I'd argue that 'all' actually means 'all' and not just a few in the Middle-East.
(PS: While we're at it, it may be useful to notice that it says that all on the 'dry land' died, repeated several times in different wording, not that all animals died. Important distinction when answering a critic who tries to argue that Noah couldn't have taken the sea creatures on the ark)
So now that we've established the extent and range of the Flood, where did it come from? A lot of water is needed to cover the world! Many critics are quick to point out that if it rained all this water in 40 days and nights, then the heat produced by the reaction would cook the world, since energy is released when water molecules in the air condense into rain. They are correct.
How did the water get here? Well, the Scriptures never say that all the water came from rain. Actually, it says that when the rain stopped, after the 40 days and nights, the waters continues to increase (prevail). So what caused this continual increase? Have a look:
In the 600th year of Noach's life, in the 2nd month, the 17th day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
Did you notice that the first time you read it, or did you skip over this detail (come on, let's be honest, we all have)? All the fountains of the deep. What are the fountains of the deep? I don't really know, but I have a theory and it looks like I'm not the only one! In 2014 there was an article in 'Time's' Science page, click here to see the whole article.
According to it, a team of geologists, led by Steven Jacobsen from Northwestern University, have found evidence of a huge underground basin of water 'three times the size of any ocean'. Prof. Jacobsen says that 'It's good evidence that Earth's water came from within.' Oh really, sir? I think I've read that somewhere!
(For anyone interested in Prof. Jacobsen's work, here is his university page)
Jokes aside, there are interesting geological features all around the world. We call them 'faults'. They are all over and encompass it like the seam of a baseball.
They really do look like huge cracks and it possible that those are the places where the 'fountains of the deep' broke open. The water shot up in huge jets, under pressure, similar to geysers. Scriptures say that eventually the dry land appeared, but did all the water disappear? It is possible that much of today's ocean water came from underground, just as Prof. Jacobsen theorises.
Is there any other evidence for a universal flood? There is plenty! There is, of course, the world-wide Cretaceous layer, which is really nothing more than a gigantic layer of chalk which covers everything. Chalk, to those who are not familiar, is the accumulation of calcium from shells of marine organisms, like crabs and oysters. This huge layer of chalk can be found anywhere in the world, but is spectacularly visible in my current home, the UK, at the cliffs of Dover, along the Channel.
In some areas it is thicker, in some areas less so, depending on how many shells were deposited. But chalk isn't the only way marine organisms were preserved in the flood. They also fossilised. And to make the point explicit, let's climb high.
In an article called 'Geology of Mount Everest' (click here for the whole article) we read the following:
Summit of Mount Everest is Marine Limestone:
The great nature writer John McPhee wrote about Mount Everest in his book Basin and Range: "When the climbers in 1953 planted their flags on the highest mountain, they set them in snow over the skeletons of creatures that had lived in the warm clear ocean......
If by some fiat I had to restrict all this writing to one sentence, this is the one I would choose: The summit of Mt. Everest is marine limestone.
Isn't it stunning that you could go to the highest place in the world, gasp for breath while the ducks fly above you, look down to the snowy ground and see... a shell... of all things! Thousands of feet above sea level you see marine organisms turned into chalk. Aside from the question of how they got there, it is clear that that area was underwater, same as every other place in the world. This would be the simplest explanation for a worldwide layer of chalk.
We could go on and on, and on all night about indicators of a worldwide flood. But I will leave you with the following food for thought - 2 questions:
1: If the Flood was simply a local (or Noah's 'universal'... depending on your thought process I guess) affair, why would God need to instruct him to build the biggest wooden floating ship in history, until our modern day tankers, and bring two by two of every kind of beast to him? Why not just tell him to... I don't know... move?
2: If the Flood was simply a local affair, then how could God set a bow in the clouds after and promise that he would never cleanse the world by water again? Since, even today, we see catastrophic local floods it means that God is now a liar. This promise only makes sense in the context of a world wide flood.
I hope that you found this post informative and I will see you in the our next Bible portion!
