Lesson 75 – Was there a global flood?
Good day. Continuing our topics from Genesis and Hugh Ross’s books, let’s review
whether there could have been a global flood as the Bible seems to document.
Let’s pray.
Lord, thank you for how you bless us all each day. I pray that everyone who needs to
hear this message will find it and that it will lead them to the truth and a deep belief in you
that they can maintain for life. Lord, some say that the Bible’s claim of a global flood does
not match up with the science and they believe the Bible is wrong. Help us to evaluate this
claim and scripture and determine how it can be reconciled so we can reach those for
Christ that do not trust your Word. Lord, bless this lesson and speak your words through
me that you want everyone to hear. Amen.
It is interesting that other than a chapter or two here and there in many books, I’ve seen
no definitive work on the topic of a possible worldwide flood that led Noah to build the ark. My dear friend Ben Smith had such work planned and was in the early research phase when he unexpectedly passed on a few years ago.
The debate again has a science component, as scientists claim there is not enough water in the world to account for a one-time global flood. Many Christians and theologians believe the Bible clearly says it was global. We have here again the potential of a conflict. We know that God’s truth in scripture cannot contradict His truth in nature, so eitherscience is wrong (what many Christians claim) or scripture is misunderstood, or perhaps some of
both. Let’s dive in. Nearly every society has stories of a devastating flood long ago. Whether it was global, local, regional or what we might describe as worldwide is really the question.
A good bit of the investigation centers around the possibility from science but also the
interpretive translation of phrases such as “under the entire heavens” or “every living thing
on the face of the earth” and even “the highest mountains”. Hugh Ross and others make
the point that there is a difference between a “global” event and a “worldwide” event. The
former means across the globe and the latter means in its effect on all of humanity, wherever
they existed at the time. Ross reasons for this partly based on other sort of exaggerated
descriptive uses in the OT.
In the story of Joseph, the famine was over the entire face of the earth. This was clearly
a metaphor, as perhaps other descriptions just mentioned may have been. Using relative
perspective, if all of humanity is confined to the Middle East area at that time, certainly not
in Antarctica or the Western Hemisphere at that time, perhaps the flood was worldwide (in
respect to humanity) but not global. In other words, it covered the entire know humanity in
the world, but that was only the Mesopotamian area, or Middle East, at that time. Does
scripture allow for this distinction? Perhaps so.
The Hebrew for ‘highest mountains’ can also refer to hills and so anything higher than
the plain could be indicated.
Another misunderstanding is the belief that the Ark eventually came to rest on Mount
Ararat after the flood receded. But the Bible says the mountains of Ararat, not Mount
Ararat. That area includes a huge geography and includes everything from hills to tall
mountains. This may also indicate that when flood waters reached the highest mountains it
may refer to areas not necessarily the tallest mountains such as Mount Everest.
As for the science part, scientists tell us the water available in our world from seas,
oceans, rivers, lakes, etc. is totally insufficient to believe there was a global flood that
covered the world up to the tips of the highest mountains at 38,000 feet, for example,
throughout the world. But the Bible tells us a great source came from underground springs
that burst forth, now called aquifers, so there is a reconciliation of that as well.
From geology and the study of how the continents were formed from plate tectonics
below the earth’s crust, we know that such movements take thousands and millions of
years. A global flood event would create massive tectonic disruptions and could not have
taken place in just a year without evidence left to discover.
A completely global flood would also mean that all land animals alive today came from
the pairs from the ark. This is strongly disputed by scientists through fossil evidence.
Once again, we have an interesting debate. But it is not critical to salvation or Bible
inerrancy and should be dealt with grace to the other party’s view until we know the real
answer one day in heaven. Until then, we can be assured that God’s truth in scripture and
God’s truth in nature will never contradict.
Take care, my friends.
