The Flood (In Detail)
Most people think that the Flood was "rain only", but that is not the case at all.
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 great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
- Genesis 7:11 (KJV)
Then "the fountains of the great deep" were "broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." Water appeared to come from the clouds in mighty cataracts. Rivers broke away from their boundaries, and overflowed the valleys. Jets of water burst from the earth with indescribable force, throwing massive rocks hundreds of feet into the air, and these, in falling, buried themselves deep in the ground.
- Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 99
Here we can see the following elements:
- Fountains
- The great deep
- Broken up
- Windows of heaven
Here is a breakdown of what that means.
Fountains
I think most people will know what a fountain is.
- By Alexxx Malev / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Of course, when there's lots of volcanic activity, things heat up quite a bit.
- By Wilhelm Thomas Fiege / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
The fountains of the great deep are unbelievably powerful jets of water driven by enormous pressure.
Water jet = A stream of water discharged into the air, typically issuing from a small aperture under pressure; a fountain.
- Source
A similar thing happened recently in Tonga.
Fountains of Magma?!?
Could a "fountain of the great deep" be an underwater volcano (as depicted below)?
- © Sémhur / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0
Maybe a bit like water-saturated magma? Or a geyser?
Although it's pretty close, I do have some reservations about this, e.g. does this still qualify as a water fountain?
The Great Deep
In Genesis we find that there are seas, the deep (ocean), and the great deep (water trapped in the Earth's crust).
There is very strong evidence that there were seas trapped under the land.
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
- Psalms 24:1-2 (KJV)
Even today we know that there are large oceans hidden underground.
Scientists have published the first direct evidence of a massive reservoir of water three times the size of Earth's oceans located hundreds of miles underneath the surface of the planet.
- Independent
Why did God have water underground?
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.
- Psalms 33:7 (KJV)
Storehouses are kept for times of trouble (such as the Flood).
God normally sustains the world and things like floods don't happen, but after the Fall, God no longer automatically does that, and He brought the Flood on the Earth as a judgment for mankind.
Broken Up
The phrase "broken up" is a reference to geological activities (volcanic in other words), and it litereally means "to cleave, break open or through".
Such as with an earthquake.
- By Katorisi / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Now imagine that happening all over the world.
The Earth is now essentially like a baseball. The seams are all over the place. Scarred beyond belief.
- By Berann, Heinrich C., Heezen, Bruce C., Tharp, Marie. / Wikimedia Commons / CC0 1.0
Further proof of major volcanic activity during the Flood are the 40,000 - 55,000 underwater volcanoes that exist today, and the Ring of Fire where roughly 90% of all earthquakes occur.
It's also interesting to see from the Japanese earthquake (2011), and the Kaikoura earthquake (2016) that earthquakes affect other things, e.g. Japan was moved by 8 feet, and the North/South island of New zealand are now 5 meters closer. The Japanese earthquake also caused the day to be shorter by 1.6 microseconds. So it's highly possible that Earth's continents moved rapidly during this time of geological activities.
Windows of Heaven
The phrase "the windows of heaven" has also been translated as "the floodgates of the heavens".
- By Doug Wertman / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
What I think it means is that it not just rained. No, it rained!!
The rain would have been accompanied by black clouds, darkness, and thunder and lightning.
- By BLM Nevada / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
Not a fun place to be at all.
Flood Models
I've only ever seen two plausible theories as to how the Flood may have happened.
Yes, there are other models, but the ones below seem to make the most sense to me.
| Mechanism | Proposed By | Resources | |
| Hydroplate Theory (HPT) | Water comes from subterranean interconnected chambers below the crust | Dr. Walt Brown | |
| Catastrophic Plate Tectonics (CPT) | The sea floor is raised due to volcanic activity (sea floor spreading) |
Dr. Steven A. Austin
Dr. John R. Baumgardner | |
| Geysers | Water-saturated magma breaks through the oceanic crust |
Dr. Gaines R. Johnson |
I highly recommend you watch the "brief summary" videos below.
Hydroplate Theory:
- Source
Catastrophic Plate Tectonics:
- Source
Geysers:
- Source
The Hydroplate Theory is very comprehensive, and it answers a lot of questions, so maybe start there.
When it comes to having an accurate Flood model I would suggest to read as much as you can, and decide for yourself what makes the most sense. Most Flood models overlap anyway.
For an overview of all flood models, please click here.
Pre-Flood
After Creation the Earth may have looked something like this.
There are only a few things we know about the people living in the pre-Flood era.
Adam and Eve disbelieved what God had told them, and both ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Almost immediately man started sinning. Cain killed Abel, etc.
It became so bad (false gods, human sacrifices, etc) that God wanted to put a stop to that.
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; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
- Genesis 6:5-7 (KJV)
It was only Noah that was righteouss in God's eyes, and God told him to build the Ark.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
- Genesis 6:8 (KJV)
As Noah build the Ark, he also preached to the people living in that time, but none repented, and in the end there were only eight people in the Ark.
Other things we know are that there were lots of giants.
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
- Genesis 6:4 (KJV)
Some people have suggested that the phrase "sons of God" refers to the fallen angels, and that they bare children with the daughters of men. These children were then called the Nephilim (meaning "giants").
Fallen angels are never considered to be "sons of God" though.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
- 1 John 3:10 (KJV)
The sons of God normally refers to believers.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
- John 1:12-13 (KJV)
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
- Galatians 3:26 (KJV)
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
- Romans 8:14 (KJV)
Fallen angels stopped following God a long time ago.
The whole issue of "sons of God" marrying "daughters of men" has to do with the mixing of believers and non-believers. God specifically warned against this, and it was a serious problem in the Old Testament. The "daughters of men" brought with them false religion, and it corrupted God's people.
Giants were simply always there, and it had nothing to do with fallen angels procreating with "daughters of men".
There probably only was one land mass (Pangaea). It doesn't say this specifically in the Bible, but it is implied, and most people agree that there once was a supercontinent. If you don't want to believe this that's fine. I don't think it really matters.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
- Genesis 1:9 (KJV)
There had been no rain yet.
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
- Genesis 2:5 (KJV)
Man lived a lot longer in the pre-Flood era. Quite possibly because of the higher Oxygen levels.
And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
- Genesis 5:5 (KJV)
We also suspect that the seas were shallower.
And yes, there were Dinosaurs back then (and on the Ark as well).
- By Nobu Tamura / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5
The Ark
Most people think that the Ark was a rectangular box.
- Tim Reynaga, Modeling Madness
Mainly because of these verses:
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 (516 feet), the breadth of it fifty cubits (86 feet), and the height of it thirty cubits (51.6 feet). 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.
- Genesis 6:14-16 (KJV)
A cubit is the distance from the elbow to the middle finger.
Royal Egyptian Cubit = 20.62 inches / 52.37 cm
This distance was used for building things (like a ruler if you will).
- By Bakha / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
The sizes above show that Noah was a giant.
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
- Genesis 6:4 (KJV)
I don't believe that Noah would have build a rectangular box, e.g. if you go to a shipbuilding company today, and ask for something that fits those dimensions, they won't build you a rectangular box. Instead, you would get a sea-worthy boat.
It is Ellen White that confirms this:
God gave Noah the exact dimensions of the ark and explicit directions in regard to its construction in every particular. Human wisdom could not have devised a structure of so great strength and durability. God was the designer, and Noah the master builder. It was constructed like the hull of a ship, that it might float upon the water, but in some respects it more nearly resembled a house. It was three stories high, with but one door, which was in the side.
- Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets, Chapter 7
That doesn't sound like it was a rectangular box to me.
Maybe more something like Johan's full-scale Ark in Dordrecht, Holland.
- © S.J. de Waard / CC-BY-SA-3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
There's also Ken Ham's full-scale Ark in Kentucky, USA.
- By Cimerondagert / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
And Ron Wyatt made a model of the Ark as well:
- By Ron Wyatt / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Note that the Ark was not just any old "boat". It was a high-tech vessel designed for surviving a worldwide Flood.
The ratios that God gave to Noah are still in use today (as far as ship design goes I mean).
There was plenty of room on the Ark for all the different kinds of animals, and their food. A Biblical kind consists of many species. For example, the "bear" kind consists of the "brown bear", the "black bear", and the "polar bear", etc.
The Flood
The basic mechanism of the Flood is relatively straightforward, e.g. the fountains bring the water up from the great deep onto the surface (floods), and into the atmosphere (rain).
This basically went on for about 150 days (not 40 days as some believe).
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
- Genesis 7:24 (KJV)
After this it was stopped.
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 were abated.
- Genesis 8:1-3 (KJV)
Basically the whole Earth was flooded at that point.
Even the high hills.
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits (23 feet) upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
- Genesis 7:19-20 (KJV)
Note that at this point there is a distance between the two continents. The Flood is starting to break up Pangaea.
Also note that the mountains back then were nowhere near as high as today, maybe more like hills. No Mount Everest yet.
The earth was not one extensive plain, but the monotony of the scenery was broken by hills and mountains, not high and ragged as they now are, but regular and beautiful in shape.
- Ellen White, The Story of Redemption, p. 20
Mount Everest (and other mountains) were formed later.
- By shrimpo1967 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Mountains are young, and not millions/billions of years old. They were formed when the continents moved, and came to an abrupt stop. The whole tectonic plate then buckled, and formed the mountains and the valleys, as we know them today.
It is interesting that on Mount Everest petrified clams were found in the "closed" position. First of all this proves that Mount Everest was once under water (when it wasn't a mountain yet). Second of all, when clams die, the muscle that keeps the clam closed (when it's alive), relaxes, and the clam opens up. So for the clams to be found in the "closed" position it means that they died while they were still alive. Suddenly. This proves the global Flood.
- The Devonian brachiopod Tylothyris from Wisconsin by Kennethgass / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
They also found giant fossilized clams and oysters on the Andes Mountains (Peru).
Animals and plants were buried rapidly, and they form what we today know as fossils.
- By Ghedoghedo / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
That particular one was found recently in the West Indian Ocean by the way.
- By Alberto Fernandez Fernandez / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5
Some fish were buried so rapidly, that they were still in the process of giving birth.
- By Steveoc 86 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Or how about a fish eating another fish.
These fossils are found all over the world, and can clearly be seen as a humongous graveyeard. Proof of billions of dead animals caught in a worldwide catastrophe.
After God made a wind, the waters returned to where you can find them now, and it has been estimated that 50% of all the world in the oceans today, would have come from the great deep. Today, the oceans are wider and deeper, and have more water in them.
Here are some other examples of where the water went.
Some of the water is on Antarctica, e.g. if all the ice there were to melt, the sea levels would increase by 200 feet.
Large amounts of water are also stored in Ringwoodite in the mantle (like a sponge).
- By Jasperox / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0
Combined with evidence of its occurrence deep in the Earth's mantle, this suggests that there is from one to three times the world ocean's equivalent of water in the mantle transition zone from 410 to 660 km deep.
- Wikipedia
The retreating water left humongous scars on the face of the Earth.
The Grand Canyon is a great example of this.
- By Don Graham / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
The Grand Canyon formed quickly. For a recent example of this, please click here.
Please also study the eruption of Mount St Helens for further information on rapid formation of layers, canyons, etc.
Post-Flood
After the Flood it was a completely different world.
- By Hansueli Krapf / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
There were no animals outside of the Ark, and it must have been strange for Noah and his family to set foot on dry land after all that time (371 days).
The water must have still been retreating to the oceans, the mountains were higher, there was an ice age (according to the book of Job), and Pangaea was no more. Where to go?
God then made a covenant with Noah.
And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 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. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
- Genesis 9:8-17 (KJV)
It had never rained before the Flood, so this would indeed be the first time man saw a rainbow in the clouds.
- Lahavah Netivot Center, from the Rothstein Family Album Kfar Maimon
This, by the way, is excellent proof that the Flood was not local. If it was, then God would break his promise every time there was a local flood.
God then told Noah and his family to replenish the Earth.
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
- Genesis 9:1 (KJV)
Distribution of Animals
God was quite capable of getting all the animals on the Ark.
Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
- Genesis 6:20 (KJV)
One can then also reason that God was quite capable of distributing the animals all over the Earth.
So, how did the kangaroos get to Australia?
- By Sinead Friel / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
Well they "hopped". Across the land bridge. Land bridges were there for centuries after the Flood. Once the Flood waters had gone back into the ocean, the land bridges were covered up, and Australia essentially became an island. The continents today are still "connected", and if the sea level were 100-150 feet deeper, you could literally walk anywhere you want on this world.
You don't even have to walk very far for that.
If you calculate the distance from eastern Mesopotamia to the tip of Australia and divide it by 100 years, you will find that both man and beast would only have to migrate less than 80 miles a year (0.21 miles a day) in order to reach Australia; less than 55 miles a year (0.15 miles a day) to reach North America via the Bearing Straits; and less than 48 miles a year (0.13 miles a day) if a land bridge (or possibly an ice bridge) existed across the northern polar regions. Those average daily distance requirements are much less than most people walk each day in their normal routines. The data support the Scriptures.
- The Bible - Genesis and Geology
The [Bering] Strait has been the subject of the scientific hypothesis that humans migrated from Asia to North America across a land bridge known as Beringia when lower ocean levels - perhaps a result of glaciers locking up vast amounts of water - exposed a wide stretch of the sea floor, both at the present strait and in the shallow sea north and south of it.
- Wikipedia
Here's another example of a fox that walked 4,415 km (2,743 miles) in 76 days.
Researchers at the Norwegian Polar Institute have tracked an Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) traversing three countries and two continents in just 76 days. The vixen, of the blue type typical in coastal areas, was fitted with a satellite tracking collar when just under a year old. It was tracked from 1 March to 1 July 2018, covering a total of 4,415 km (2,743 miles), a straight-line distance of 1,789 km (1,111 miles).
- Source
Even newly formed islands can be populated quickly (Surtsey, Iceland for example).
Flood Accounts
Today there are some 270 Flood accounts from all over the world.
For example, in the Chinese language the word "boat" is translated as "vessel + eight + people" (Noah and his family).
You just can't make that that sort of stuff up.
Flood Lessons
There is much we can learn from the Flood. God clearly draws the line somewhere, and hates sin.
The text below is from Ellen White, written more than a 100 years ago.
Will We Look For Safety After It Is Too Late?
The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7:11.
The antediluvians were warned, but the record states that they knew not until the Flood came and took them all away.... They saw Noah and his wife and their sons and their wives passing into the ark; and the door was closed upon them. Only eight persons entered that refuge from the storm, and for a week they waited for the rain to come.... Daily the sun rose and set in a clear sky, and daily there came to Noah the temptation to doubt. But the Lord had said that the Flood was coming, and Noah rested in this word.
At the end of seven days clouds began to gather. This was a new sight, for the people had never seen clouds.... Thicker and thicker gathered the clouds, and soon rain began to fall. Still the people tried to think that this was nothing very alarming. But soon it seemed as if the windows of heaven had been opened, for the rain poured down in torrents. For a time the ground drank up the rain; but soon the water began to rise, and day by day it rose higher and higher. Each morning as the people found the rain still falling they looked at one another in despair, and each night they repeated the words "Raining still!" Thus it was, morning and evening.
For forty days and forty nights the rain poured down. The water entered the houses and drove the people to the temples that they had erected for their idolatrous worship. But the temples were swept away. The crust of the earth was broken, and the water that had been concealed in its bowels burst forth. Large stones were thrown into the air.
Everywhere could be seen human beings fleeing in search of a refuge. The time had come when they would have been only too glad to accept an invitation to enter the ark. Filled with anguish, they cried, "Oh, for a place of safety!" Some shrieked to Noah, pleading for admission into the ark. But amid the furious blast of the tempest their voices were unheard. Some clung to the ark till they were washed away by the dashing waves. God had shut in those who believed His word, and no others could enter.
Parents with their children sought the highest branches of the trees yet standing; but no sooner had they reached this refuge than the wind flung tree and people into the foaming, seething water....
Where now was the ark and those at whom the people had jeered and mocked? Preserved by the power of God, the immense boat was riding safely upon the waters, and Noah and his family were safe inside.
- Ellen White, The Signs of the Times, April 10, 1901
Conclusion
I understand that it can be very hard to imagine the Flood happening, but it did happen.
Jesus Himself testified to that.
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
- Matthew 24:37-39 (KJV)
So why did God bring on the Flood in such a dramatic way?
A number of reasons I think:
- To demonstrate that God really hates sin
- To demonstrate His power
- To demonstrate that God will judge us, and hold us accountable
He did the Flood in such a way that it would be talked about for thousands of years, and that people would repent.
Today, the atheists are denying all of this, but the Bible actually talks about that as well.
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.
- 2 Peter 3:3-7 (KJV)
So they are willingly ignorant of these three things:
- The Creation
- The Flood
- The Coming Judgment
God hates sin, and He will judge us again.
My spirit shall not always strive with man.
- Genesis 6:3 (KJV)
Jesus' second coming is imminent, and it will happen soon!
Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
- Matthew 4:17 (KJV)