Chapter 15: The Flood

And Yahweh said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark... Genesis 7:1a.

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. Genesis 7:2.

For, perhaps, 80 years Noah and his family labored on the Ark and gathered the animals. Now, one week before the Flood in the year 1,656 (from the creation of the world -2344 BC), in the second month and tenth day, Noah has to gather 5 more of each of the "clean" animals to add to the livestock. Meanwhile, his wife and family had to pack into the living quarters of the Ark.

CLEAN & UNCLEAN ANIMALS

The gathering of 5 more of each clean animal would encourage a greater number of "clean" animals in repopulating the Earth. As asked in the last chapter, what makes one animal clean and another unclean, when in the beginning God declared all creatures of His creation good? As suggested, is it possible that certain animals lent themselves to demonic possession as the snake had done so in the garden of Eden. Much later God called upon the Israelites to utterly destroy man & beast of the Canaanites (Deut. 13:15, Josh. 6:21 & 10:40, and 1 Sam. 15:3 for example). Some of these were "clean" animals. Did demonic influence affect animals, too? Or was it purely a military tactic to demoralize the neighboring inhabitants?

The animals listed as clean and unclean in Leviticus and Deuteronomy are given as acceptable and unacceptable food for the Israelis to eat. Naturally there must be a health consideration that was better for the Jews. There are some noteworthy commonalities amongst the animals. Of the mammals listed, grazing animals are clean (chews cud, divides hoof), but many carnivores and scavengers are unclean. Of the birds listed, the unclean birds tend to be birds of prey and scavengers. Animals that graze seem to be the choice of God for food.

Regardless of the healthiness of animals for food, the calling of animals clean and unclean by God to Noah (although none are listed), had nothing to do with their consumption since animals were not eaten until after the Flood (Gen. 9:3). So it had to be a spiritual issue with the animals. Could the animals of Leviticus be the same animals in Genesis? Are the animals that are predators and scavengers that way because of an earlier demonic influence? Needless to say, no answer can be given to these questions for only God knows them.

FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS

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 deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Genesis 7:11 & 12.

In the selfsame day entered Noah.. - (vs. 13a).

And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh... [vs. 15a] ... male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and Yahweh shut him in. Genesis 16b.

The number 40 is a theme throughout the Bible. The rain fell 40 days and nights; the Jews wandered in the wilderness for 40 years; and Jesus was tempted 40 days and nights. When we consider the Flood, we tend to think of it lasting only 40 days. But that was only the length of time the rains fell. The waters remained covering the entire planet for another 110 days and it took another 221 days for the waters to drain and dry off the Earth. This process was over a year in which Noah and the animals remained inside the Ark!

The Scriptures say that it was the "selfsame day" when the rains fell that Noah, his families, and all the creatures entered the Ark. It must have been a hectic scene watching all the animals being removed from their outdoors pens to the stalls within. Even with this brand new experience of rain, the people near Noah must of rationalized it away since none of them tried to get in. Once they were all aboard, the text says that Yahweh shut them in. If they realized Noah spoke the truth, then, like the five foolish brides of Jesus's parable, they missed the boat. Up until then death had been a slow periodic event. Many, no doubt, believed that they would never die. But the Scriptures declare, "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 ... and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark" (Gen. 7:21-23).

THE SKY IS FALLING

The Flood had two sources of water according to the Scriptures: "fountains of the deep" and the "the windows of heaven." The fountains of the deep are the vast reservoirs of waters beneath the Earth's 6 to 16 mile thick granite crust (which the crust still is today). The windows of heaven is understood to be the canopy above the firmament. As discussed in the six days of creation section of this book, the canopy, according to Dr. Carl Baugh, was a crystalline ice shield about 11 miles above the Earth at the troposphere. Three chains of events occurred to bring on the Flood:

According to Psalm 46:6, "He uttered his voice, the Earth melted." Dr. Baugh explains that our voices are a form of vibratory energy similar to microwave energy. Microwave energy, however, vibrates at 2 and a half billion times per second. While our human voices can't vibrate that quickly, God's could. With a single spoken word, the Lord could have set off a vibratory chain reaction like a microwave oven. The reservoir of waters beneath our granite crust could have heated up, creating pressure that would burst through the Earth's crust, fracturing it like a cracked egg shell into large and small fragments.

According to research shared by Baugh, done with computer simulations of the Earth's crust, the water only needed to be heated up to 250E F for the pressure to crack the crust [6]. Fissures would have occurred in the thinnest areas first, which would be the Pacific Ocean today. This fracturing of the crust would have occurred at a speed of 2 and a half miles per second, which would have been a mere 8 minutes for the continents to be delineated. Furthermore, where the underground water broke through, it would have sent narrow bands of jet streams 70 miles high, rupturing the crystalline ice canopy, vaporizing it into rain. No doubt the Chicken Little fable is a mockery of the true story of the canopy falling. Dr. Baugh also notes that due to the Earth's magnetic poles the parts of the canopy falling there would drop as ice or snow which is why woolly mammoths have been frozen in their tracks.

Not only would the rain have fallen but tidal waves would have smashed the land along with earthquakes of land movements creating volcanic explosions and the formation of new mountains as the crust wrinkled. With the falling of the rain, winds would whip around in tornadic activity as the air pressure fled from its 10 mile enclosure into its ultimate expansion of 300 miles away from the Earth. The magnitude of the cataclysm of the Flood cannot be fully comprehended.

THE FOSSIL RECORD

As discussed earlier in this text, it is misleading to think that fossils take millions of years to form. The truth is that all organic matter decays quickly - days or weeks at most - if exposed to the elements. Rapid encasement is necessary for fossilization to occur. Then the time needed to fossilize depends upon the burial conditions. It has been shown that wood and chicken bones can fossilize in just 5 to 10 years, whereas a large dinosaur bone may need up to a hundred years. Bones become fossils through the exchange of organic matter for minerals. The dinosaur fossils on display are not actually bones but mineral casts. The ingredients for creating a fossil are:

Ingredients fully provided by the catastrophe of the Flood. With the Earth moving through volcanic eruptions and tidal waves, mud would inundate creatures quickly burying them alive.

MOUNTAIN TOP EXPERIENCES

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. Genesis 7:17.

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. Genesis 7:19 & 20.

The bursting forth of the fountains of the deep combined with the melting of the windows of heaven continued for 40 days. Undoubtably the Ark rested on the ground for several days before being lifted upon the waters. At the end of 40 days the water level had risen 15 cubits above the mountains. We don't know how high the hills and mountains of the pre-flood world were, but they were probably much lower than they are today. Fifteen cubits could have been about 27 and a half feet. It is not likely that is all the water rose since the Ark itself was 55 feet high. That must mean that the water was 27 and a half feet above the highest mountain top.

THE GREAT DRAIN

And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; and the waters returned from off the earth continually; and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters abated.

And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. Genesis 8:1-4.

The hyperbaric pressure of the atmosphere maintained by the canopy became subjected to extreme temperature variations with its new exposure to the sun. As the crystalline ice finished melting, the sun shone through to the Earth. This began the circulating weather patterns of rising heat and sinking cold air masses which are the cause of wind. Considering the air expanded from 11 miles to 300 miles, there must have been some mighty winds that God used to push the waters back.

The heated waters from the fountains of the deep would also cool off. After 150 days the waters had receded enough that the bottom of the Ark stuck to the mountains of Ararat, although land wasn't visible for another 74 days (Gen. 8:5). The 150 days stated in Genesis 7:24 included the 40 days of rain, which means it was 110 days of drainage before the Ark lodged itself upon Ararat. If a quarter of the Ark were underwater while floating (this is an arbitrary figure), and we know it was about 55 feet high, then the Ark had 13 feet underwater. That means the water would have receded 14 and a half feet in 110 days or 1 foot every 7 and a half days.

ISLANDS IN THE SEAS

And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. Genesis 8:5.

If the assumption concerning the depth of floatation is correct, then in another 74 days the waters receded enough for the mountain tops to appear in the ocean as islands (assuming it also revealed Mt. Ararat beneath the Ark) at a rate of 1 foot every 5 and a half days (74 )13), draining faster than at first. This would make sense in terms of water cooling off underground. The verse also says "continually" which implies an increase of drainage speed. Two hundred and twenty four days had passed since the rains first began to fall.

THE RAVEN AND DOVE ARE SENT

And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. Genesis 8:6-9.

When verse 9 says "the waters were on the face of the whole earth," it doesn't mean that all the land was under water still. That would contradict verse 5 that says that "the tops of the mountains [were] seen." What this means is that the land exposed was still saturated with water, therefore was mud and bogs. With so many dead animals, the bacteria count must have been astronomical, which would have been an unhealthy atmosphere. When Noah let the raven out the window, he let out an "unclean" bird according to Leviticus. Ravens are scavengers, therefore they will have no problem resting their feet upon the carcasses of animals and men to feed upon until the ground dried. Since there were only two ravens (male and female), we must assume that Noah let the mate out shortly after, or at the same time, which the Scriptures simply don't mention. The dove, (apparently the female since it is referred to as "her" and "she" in verse 9) however, is a clean bird that feeds on seed. It had no food, nor would it land upon a dead creature, so it had to return to the Ark. Two hundred and sixty four days had passed since the rains first began to fall.

THE OLIVE LEAF

And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. Genesis 8:10 & 11.

From the mud and bog, seeds buried and dormant began sprouting with the increase of heat from the sunlight. But the ground was still unclean with the rotting flesh which was becoming the new soil for the plants. Therefore, even though the ground was drier, it still was unhealthy to remain in. Hence the return of the dove. Two hundred and seventy one days had passed since the rain first began to fall.

BYE BYE BIRDIE

And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him anymore. Genesis 8:12.

With the plant life gaining leafy foliage, the filtration of the air stabilized enough for the dove not to return. It must be assumed that Noah released its mate thereafter. Two hundred and seventy eight days had passed since the rains first began to fall.

THE FACE OF THE EARTH

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. Genesis 8:13.

Another 37 days passed after the dove left permanently before Noah removed the covering of the Ark. Presumably the covering was the wooden top to the Ark. Why did Noah wait the additional 37 days? Perhaps God had warned him not to go out. The face of the ground being dry must have been a dry film over the mud. The roots of many plants would be drawing moisture from the ground, as well as the sunshine, would create this film that looked firm. But underneath would still be sinking sand and mud which needed further drying. Noah may have needed to get fresh air into the Ark. Three hundred and fifteen days had passed since the rains first began to fall.

Chapter 15