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Does the Bible really claim that the Flood covered the ENTIRE
Earth?
Nine Biblical Evidences that the Flood was Global
Some evangelical teachers today are claiming that Noah's flood did
not cover the entire Earth nor all the mountains of the day.
Further, they claim that Noah and the animals floated on a shallow,
temporary inland sea caused by the flood, somehow covering only the
Mesopotamian region. Thus, they must claim that the Earth's entire
human population was limited to this area, or that not all humans
were killed in the flood. Is there really biblical evidence for
claims of this nature?
1. All The Mountains Were Covered. The tops of all the high
mountains under the entire heavens were at least 20 feet beneath
the waters surface (Genesis 7:19-20). It would be absurd to think
that a flood covering the highest mountains of the Middle East
would not affect the rest of the world. In addition, the waters
remained at this awesome, mountain-covering height for five months!
(Genesis 7:18-24, 8:1-5).
2. The Ark Was Huge. The ark was necessary to prevent the
extinction of humans and animals. If the Flood were merely local,
God could have sent them to a safer part of the world. God warned
Noah about the Flood 120 years prior to its start. Surely, Noah and
his family could have traveled a great distance in that time. Also,
if the Flood was local, the ark was unnecessarily large. Until the
first metal ships were constructed in modern times, the ark was the
largest ship ever built. It was big enough to house representative
pairs of every created-kind of air-breathing, land animal on
Earth.
3. Humans Populated The Entire World. After more than 1600 years of
habitation on Earth, the planet's population was surely large
(millions or billions). The Bible confirms that (a) Man had
multiplied upon the face of the Earth (Genesis 6:1), (b) Violence
and corruption filled the Earth (Genesis 6:11-12). The Bible is
clear that man could not have existed only in the Mesopotamian
region - a region too small to support such a large population,
especially considering the natural dispersion affect of a violent
society.
4. All Humans Were Killed. The Bible clearly teaches that all flesh
died...every man (Genesis 7:21). Genesis 9:1 confirms that only
Noah's family was saved and that every person living today is
descended from his family.
5. All Air-Breathing, Land Animals Killed. The world's entire
population of air-breathing, land animals died, except those taken
into the ark (Genesis 7:21) - "everything on Earth" (Genesis 6:17)
- "all living creatures of every kind on the Earth" (Genesis 9:16).
If only those animals in a specific geographic location died, it
would seem unnecessary for God to protect pairs in the ark for the
express purpose of preventing their extinction. Surely there would
be representatives of their kinds in other areas. If, on the other
hand, there were some unique kinds of animals in the local flood's
path, then it would seem more logical for God to send
representative pairs out of the area, rather than to the ark, as He
did. The Bible is clear that all the air-breathing, land animals
perished during the flood, except those preserved with Noah - from
which all modern animals are descended.
6. A "Cataclysm," Not A Mere Flood. Both Hebrew (Old Testament) and
Greek (New Testament) use words to describe Noah's flood which are
different than the ordinary words for flood. In this way, Noah's
flood was represented as a totally unique occurrence. [Hebrew /
"Mabbool" - Greek / "Kataklusmos" (cataclysm)].
7. God's Rainbow Promise. God promised never again to send a global
flood (Genesis 8:21, 9:8-17). This promise is demonstrated by the
symbol of the rainbow, a sign for God's promise to all the Earth.
The rainbow is a sign to every living creature, mankind and
animals. If this promise was not made to all creatures on Earth,
then God has broken His promise. Local floods have repeatedly
killed hundreds and even thousands of humans and animals since
Noah's time.
8. Why Stay In The Ark A Year?! Noah was in the ark for more than a
year, not just 40 days (Genesis 8:14). 53 weeks is absurdly long to
stay in the ark for a local flood since dry land would have been
just over the horizon. After the flood waters had been going down
for 4 months, the dove could still find no suitable ground (Genesis
8:9). This does not seem to fit the circumstances for a local flood
in which the dove could fly to dry land. However, these situations
are consistent if the Flood was global.
9. The Whole Earth Was Devastated. God said, "I am surely going to
destroy both them (the people) and the Earth" (Genesis 6:13b). The
global extent of the Flood is referred to more than 30 times in
Genesis 6-9 alone! In Isaiah 54:9, God states, "I swore that the
waters of Noah would never again cover the Earth." Peter delivered
a clear global warning, confirming that God created the Earth,
devastated it by the Flood, and will one day destroy it again by
fire (2 Peter 3:5-7). Peter certainly did not mean that just a
local area on Earth would be burned. Just as the Flood was global,
so will be the final judgment.
The Bible specifically teaches that the Flood of Noah's time was
global in extent and that all air-breathing, land animals and all
humans were killed, except those saved in the Ark. How could the
Bible be any more clear concerning the global nature of the Flood?!
Or, if this was actually a local flood, how could the Bible have
been any more misleading about its extent?!