The Old World Judged

God had directed Noah to build and ark to save a small sample of all the different species of land animals.  When the ark was finished, God directed them to get aboard, in Genesis 7:1-5.  “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.  Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.  For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.  And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.”

Noah was accompanied by his wife and three sons, and their wives, for a total of eight people.  In addition there was one pair of each species of animal.  Such a small sample would greatly reduce the available gene pool, and genetic research confirms that several species can be traced back to a single pair, indicating that the record is probably accurate.   Of all the different species of mankind, only Noah’s family, those we know as homo-sapiens survived, although fossils prove there were at one time other species. 

The flood was violent, as we see in Genesis 7:11-12.  “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.  And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”  When God created the world, there was a vast amount of water suspended in the upper atmosphere.  That water fell to the earth in the form of rain for forty days.  In addition, the great underground reservoirs were broken up and squeezed out, probably by earthquakes, resulting in a tremendous worldwide flood, trapping and burying millions of animals and plants.  Today we find large numbers of fossils indicating a sudden flood. 

Genesis 7:18-23 describes the impact of the flood.  “And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.  And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.  Fifteen 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 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.”

The Ark drew about twenty three feet of water, and the water was deep enough that for six months, it not run aground on any of the mountains.  Every land dwelling creature, both man and animal died, as did most of the land plants.  When the water began to go down the seeds left in the soil began to sprout.  Earthquakes created new underground reservoirs, and pushed mountain ranges higher, accounting for the relatively new appearance of some modern mountain ranges.  Water rushing across saturated soil from those up-thrust areas created the canyons and rock formations we see today.  While some of the water evaporated and went back into the atmosphere, very little made it back to the stratosphere, compared to what had been there originally, simply because the condensation and rain had cooled the upper atmosphere so that it would no longer hold as much moisture.  As the ground dried the layers of sediment hardened to form the sedimentary rocks we see today.  Curvature of the layers indicate earthquakes moved some of them before they hardened while fractures indicate others had already hardened. 

Finally, a year after the flood began, the ground was dry enough for men and animals to move around freely.  Genesis 8:13-14 tells us, “And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.  And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.”  Some low lying areas would remain swampy lands for hundreds of years. 

There is an amazing amount of physical evidence to support the biblical record of the flood.  Romans 1:18 warns, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” 

Mankind’s rejection of God before the flood was deliberate, and resulted in their destruction.  God still has that power, and II Peter 2:4-13 warns that he will exercise it again.  “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.  Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time.”