THE GLOBAL FLOOD AND CLIMATE CHANGE

The Bible speaks of a watery catastrophe of global proportions in Genesis 6-8. Those who attempt to marry science with the Bible, who subscribe to the uniformitarian heresy that there has never been a divine destruction of human civilisation on a worldwide scale (2 Pet 3:4), either reject the Genesis Flood as a myth or insist that it was but a local flood. What does the Bible say when read and studied honestly? In no uncertain terms, the Scriptures testify of a global flood that never will be repeated. The destruction caused by the Genesis Flood was both geographically and anthropologically universal. The waters covered every inch of the earth, and drowned every single human being save Noah and his family who were safe in the ark.

Pre-Flood Population

Before we present the biblical evidences for this earth-shaking and earth-changing catastrophe, let us consider why God at that time had to destroy the world at such a cosmic scale. By the time of Genesis 6, about 2,000 years have transpired. Genesis 6:1 tells us that mankind has multiplied, and the earth was richly populated. What was the population like in terms of number? The biblical record does not provide an exact figure, but Dr Henry Morris says a reasonable guess is possible: “Assuming that each family had only six children, and assuming that each generation (the time required for one cycle of birth, growth, marriage and childbearing) took 100 years, and also that the average lifespan was five generations, then the population at the end of Adam’s 930 years of life would have been approximately 80,000. At the time of the Flood (1,656 years after Adam’s creation), the population would have been about 235,000,000 people. If a generation were 90 years instead of 100 years, the two numbers would be about 250,000 and 1,750,000,000 respectively. If each family had eight children per 100-year generation instead of six they would become one million and 25 billion, respectively!”

Man became increasingly wicked after the Fall in Genesis 3. The wickedness was so great that God decreed that the extremely sinful and violent pre-flood generation must be decimated. “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 … And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die” (Gen 6:5–7, 17). The destruction was worldwide.

Universal Terms

The Bible speaks of the Flood in universal terms. In Genesis 7:19–20 we read, “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.” Since water must seek its own level, the Flood must have been global since all the mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. Take note of the universal expressions, “all the high hills,” and “under the whole heaven.” In his commentary, H C Leupold explained what this means, “A measure of the waters is now made by comparison with the only available standard for such waters—the mountains. They were said to have been ‘covered.’ Not merely a few but ‘all the high mountains under all the heavens.’ One of these expressions alone would almost necessitate the impression that the author intends to convey the idea of the absolute universality of the Flood, e.g., ‘all the high mountains.’ Yet since ‘all’ is known to be used in a relative sense, the writer removes all possible ambiguity by adding the phrase ‘under all the heavens.’ A double ‘all’ (kol) cannot allow for so relative a sense. It almost constitutes a Hebrew superlative. So we believe that the text disposes of the question of the universality of the Flood.”

Secondly, Genesis 7:11 and 8:13–14 tell us that the Flood lasted for 371 days. The Flood attained its maximum mountain-covering depth in six weeks, and remained at that level for an additional 16 weeks (Gen 7:17–20, 24). Such a long rain-spell could only have been caused through a supernatural puncturing of the pre-Flood atmospheric canopy.

Size of the Ark

Thirdly, Genesis 6:14–16 reveals the size of the ark. And God said unto Noah, “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.”

Consider how big the ark was. One cubit could either be 20.4 inches or 17.5 inches. Whitcomb and Morris based their calculation of the ark’s dimension by using the shorter cubit. They wrote, “According to this standard, the Ark was 437.5 feet long, 72.92 feet wide, and 43.75 feet high. Since it had three decks (Gen 6:16), it had a total deck area of approximately 95,700 square feet (equivalent to slightly more than the area of twenty standard college basketball courts), and its total volume was 1,396,000 cubic feet. The gross tonnage of the Ark … was about 13,960 tons, which would place it well within the category of large metal ocean-going vessels today.” The ark was thus not a small family-sized boat for Noah and his family, but a large sea-worthy vessel, the size of a Star Cruise ship. Surely the need for such a huge ark which took over a century to build logically anticipated a global deluge. If it had been merely a local flood, it would have been more reasonable for God to tell Noah to move out of the region of destruction. Even if Noah were required to stay, a small boat would have sufficed. The size and need for the ark most certainly point to a global flood.

Climate Change

In Genesis 2:6, the Bible says that there was no rain upon the earth as a mist came forth out of the ground to water the plants. When Noah preached to his generation that a global flood would destroy the earth, he preached to a people who had never seen rain. It was Noah’s faith in God’s Word that caused him to build the ark in preparation for the judgement to come. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

It is also significant to note that there was no rainbow until after the Flood. God gave the rainbow as a sign that He would not destroy the world again by water. Genesis 9:12–15 says, “And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

The rainbow undoubtedly points to a global flood. If it was a local flood, then God has broken his promise, for today, we still see various parts of the world being hit by localised flooding especially after heavy rains. God did not promise that there would be no local floods; He only promised that there would no longer be a global flood.

The world after the Flood is significantly different from the world before the Flood. The Flood caused certain geological and anthropological changes in the world. The geological change is in the breakup of the landmass into different continents and in climatic conditions. We are told in Psalm 104:6–9 that the Flood (“the waters stood above the mountains”) receded into the deep ocean trenches (eg, the Mariana Trench is 35810 feet or 10915 metres deep). The earthshaking and earth changing phenomenon in the Genesis Flood not only caused the ocean basins to plunge in depth, it also caused the mountains to tower in height (“they go up by the mountains; they do down by the valleys”). The great continents separated by the oceans and their shorelines are a result of the Flood (“Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth”).

Not only did the earth’s topography change, there was a change in the climate too. With the pre-flood “firmament” (Gen 1:6–7) burst, the conducive, life sustaining, relatively uniform weather is no more. There was no rain before the Flood (Gen 2:5), but the Flood introduced not only rain but also great variableness in the world’s climate: “cold and heat,” “summer and winter” (Gen 8:22, 9:13–16).

Global Burning

In 2 Peter 3:3–7, the Apostle Peter used the Genesis Flood to warn the people of a future universal destruction by fire: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

Despite all the talk about climate change, there are still things scientists cannot be absolutely certain. But one thing is for sure, God will not destroy the world by water or flood again. Global warming will not lead to a destruction by flood or rising sea levels, but by fire and heat, by burning. Peter warned, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2 Pet 3:10). As Christians, what ought we to do? Peter continued, “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” (2 Pet 3:11–12). We as Christians do not have to worry. We are saved from the judgement to come on account of Christ’s atoning death and resurrection for us. Our duty is simply to be faithful to the Lord, and be ready to meet Him when He returns. JK