Daily Devotional – October 24

Biblical Accuracy

Was the Flood mentioned in Scripture local or worldwide? Let’s take a look:

1. The most common Hebrew word for the description of the Flood is the Hebrew word for “all or every”. Here are a few examples (emphasis added):

• “ALL flesh had become corrupted upon the earth” (Gen. 6:12) • “the end of ALL flesh is before me” (Gen. 6:13)
• “ I will bring a flood upon the earth to destroy ALL flesh (that has the breath of life under heaven) …EVERYTHING that is upon the earth shall die” (Gen. 6:17) • “EVERY living thing of ALL flesh (shall come two by two onto the ark)…” (Gen. 6:19)
• “EVERY living substance I have made I will destroy off of the FACE OF THE EARTH” (Gen. 7:4)
• “ALL the fountains of the great deep broke open” (Gen. 7:11) • “EVERY beast…ALL the cattle…EVERY creeping thing…EVERY bird of EVERY kind (wherein is the breath of life)…two by two went onto the ark” (Gen. 7:14,15)
• “the waters prevailed exceedingly and ALL the high hills, UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN, were covered” (Gen. 7:19)
• “15 cubits (about 24 feet) ABOVE THE HIGH MOUNTAINS the water prevailed” (Gen. 7:20)
• ALL flesh dies…ALL whose nostrils were the breath of life…ALL that was in the dry land…” (Gen. 7:21,22)

2. The ark was large enough to hold two (in some cases seven) of every known kind of land animal that had the breath of life in its nostrils. Without getting into all the math, the 16,000-plus animals would have occupied much less than half the space in the Ark.
3. Noah stayed on the ark for almost 5 months AFTER it had landed. This allowed the land to dry and plants to root so that the released animals had the best chance of survival in order to repopulate the Earth.
4. God promised that, “all flesh would never again be cut off by the waters of a flood; neither shall there be any more a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:11). Yet, there have been thousands of floods destroying large areas of the Earth. Either God is a liar, or the Flood of Noah was global.

The primary reason for misinterpreting Genesis 6-9 as “a local flood” is an attempt to gain credibility with modern geological thought (which needs huge time periods within the Earth’s rock layers to explain life without God). It is long overdue that Christian colleges, theologians, and pastors see the damage done by the distortion and disregard of God’s Word in this area. God’s words are always true.

Thou coveredst [the Earth] with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

~ Psalm 104:6, 9

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.