A LOCAL OR UNIVERSAL FLOOD?

GENESIS 6:5–7:20

They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet

(Genesis 7:19–20).

Was Noah’s Flood local or universal? Those who maintain that the Flood did not cover the entire earth but was only a local event do so based on their interpretation of geological evidence. There is insufficient evidence, they maintain, to support the idea that the entire globe was washed with water for about a year only a few thousand years ago. Thus, they say, we should read the biblical story of the Flood more carefully and determine whether it really teaches a world-wide flood.

The Bible sometimes uses universal terms which are not necessarily to be taken as all-inclusive. Words like all, every, and world do not mean in Hebrew and Greek exactly what they mean in English. Thus when Acts 2:5 says that there were Jews from every nation under heaven present in Jerusalem, we are not required to understand this to mean that there were Jews from North and South America and from every nation and tribe of people living in Australia had there been any. Similarly, perhaps the universal language used in connection with the Flood simply means that all the known world was flooded.

The Bible makes it clear that all of humanity was destroyed in the Flood, so if the Flood was local, this means that humanity had not spread very far since the time of Adam—and this is exactly what some advocates of the local Flood theory propose.

Nevertheless, if we did not bring geological evidence into the question, there would be little reason to interpret the text as meaning anything other than a universal flood. In terms of Genesis 7:17–8:5, a local flood is very unlikely. Forty days of rain is more than a local flood. Covering the mountains requires more than a local flood. Waters covering the earth 150 days requires more than a local flood. The ark resting on a very high mountain (Ararat) requires more than a local flood. The “universal language” piles up in these verses.

There are, of course, scientists who argue that the geological evidence, properly understood, supports a universal flood. This is doubtless a matter that will be much debated for many years to come.

CORAM DEO

Numbers 24–26

Mark 8:22–38

WEEKEND:

Numbers 27–31

Mark 9

The debate over creation science should be of concern to every believer. God is not only the inerrant author of Scripture but also of true science. If you have not done so, begin a study of these important issues so that you may give an answer for the faith and hope that you have.

For further study: Matthew 24:36–44 • 2 Peter 3:1–18

WEEKEND