davidbowerkingwood

The Ark is Preserved

The scope of the devastation caused by the flood was severe and completely rearranged the surface of the earth. The Ark was delivered through this devastation by the power of God. It would not surprise me to learn someday that the voyage of the Ark was as if on a tranquil lake; after all He who told the wind and the waves “peace, be still” could just as easily calm the waters in the vicinity of the Ark with no difficulty whatsoever.

This may well be the device used by the Lord to preserve the marine life I mentioned last time. It may be that the marine life the Lord chose to preserve was drawn to the vicinity of the Ark just as the land creatures were drawn to go inside the Ark. Is anything too difficult for God? The Bible doesn’t address this question at all but as most of you know I delight in speculating on what the Lord might have done that He chose not to reveal.

In Chapter 8:1-2 we are told of the mercy and grace of the Lord, “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.”

In Genesis 8:13-14 we read, “By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.”

God then told Noah to come out of the Ark and bring all of the animals in the Ark with him “so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.” The Bible is silent on the steps God took to distribute the animals around the earth but I’m sure He did exactly what it pleased Him to do. Understanding the Bible is much simpler when one believes that God is truly omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

The Newly Remodeled Earth was Completely Different

From now on the flood would be a part of history; the earth was completely rearranged from what it had been and I’m sure the sky looked vastly different too. It has been calculated that only the larger, brighter stars and planets could have been seen before the collapse of the water vapor canopy. The Sun and the Moon as well as the stars and planets would have all seemed dimmer before the flood as light was filtered through the water vapor canopy.

It is believed that observers would have seen only about 255 stars and planets before the flood due to the reduced visibility caused by the water vapor canopy whereas after the  flood there would have been around 2,500 visible. In addition the moon would have been much brighter at night and the sun brighter by day.

This sudden crystal clarity was actually a danger as the radiation from the sun was soon to greatly reduce the lifespan of mankind from hundreds of years to less than one hundred years on average.

After the flood, the world as we know it today emerged  from what had been a world in a greenhouse; a world protected from the extremes that are now a part of life on this planet. Although the sun, moon, stars, and planets were brighter, the prospects for life were much dimmer.

Further Study Opportunities

I owe a great debt to Joseph C. Dillow for his excellent book, “The Waters Above.” In addition I have found the work of Dr. Walt Brown in his fascinating website, http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/index.html to be a marvelous source of information on the pre-flood world. Dr. Brown’s extensive writings on the flood and the world before the flood are both informative and helpful to any student of the subject. Another website that has much good information is http://www.answersingenesis.org/.

Although “The Waters Above” is out of print, used copies can be obtained if one is determined to have a copy. Dr. Henry M. Morris, Ph.D., in his forward wrote on page xv, “In many sections the book will be difficult to follow, even for those with training in science and mathematics, but it is vital that these sections be included for those who may want to check their validity.” I will freely admit that many sections went right over my head but I found the remainder of the book more than interesting enough to compensate for those more difficult and technical sections which were beyond my understanding.

The two websites I mentioned could probably keep the student busy for the next 5 years if one desired to devote that much time to the subject. What I’m saying is there is no shortage of great information available to the Bible student who wants to learn more about the flood and the pre-flood world. Happy studying!

Next – Spiritual Warfare