1. Session 5 - The flood
In this session we will turn our focus from Genesis Chapter 1 and Creation to a few chapters later and the flood of Noah
As we’ve said, most people who accept an alternative view of Genesis (which we will review in a moment) reject the Biblical teaching of the flood

2. What does the Bible say? (Exodus 20:11)
Lets review quickly
What does the Bible say? (Exodus 20:11)
What about the Gap Theory?
What about the Day Age Theory
What about Theistic Evolution and the
Framework hypothesis?
What do all these views have in common?
They reject the Worldwide flood

3. 2 Peter 3:3-6: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,4 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.5 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:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished”

4. Three major positions exist;
(1) the traditional, which asserts the universal, world-wide, nature of the Deluge;
(2) limited or local flood theories, which narrow the scope of the Flood story to a particular geographical location in Mesopotamia
(3) Symbolic interpretation, which suggests that the Flood story is a non-historical account written to teach theological truth.

5. Why do these views have to hold to a local (or symbolic) flood?
All these views accept the geologic column as being an accurate picture of earth’s history over the past several hundred million years

6. There is no evidence in the geologic column (as they would see it) for a worldwide flood happening years ago
Now we would argue the whole record is evidence for a flood, but that’s a different class for another time
The fact remains, if a catastrophic worldwide flood happened, it would leave evidence, and if the geologic column represents millions of years, there was no flood

7. What does the Bible say about the flood?
Genesis 6:5-8: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky;…

8. …for I am sorry that I have made them
…for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”
The world became a wicked place, and God tells Noah he is going to destroy it
Genesis 6:13
“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

9. Genesis 7:11 
”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.”
Just reading the text, one has to wonder how someone can come away with this being a local flood, but because people make the claim, we will refute it in detail.

10. The water covered the whole
Genesis 7:19
“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.”
Genesis 7:20
“Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.”
How can the waters be 15 cubits above the mountains and it still be a local flood?

12. If the flood is a local event
Why tell Noah to build a big boat?
Why not just tell Noah to move?
Another problem: The purpose of the flood
was to destroy all mankind and land animals
Genesis 6:7: “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.”

13. But the fossil record (which they claim is accurate) shows that animals lived (and have for the past several million years in their timeframe) around the whole planet
We are supposed to believe that all land animals were gathered in one area to be destroyed by this local flood? How did the water locked Kangaroos in Australia come?
A local flood can’t account for what this verse says (and it’s not the only problem)

14. Jesus links the first and second judgment in
Matthew 24:37-39
“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

15. Will the second coming of Christ be a local event
Will the second coming of Christ be a local event? Or will it be worldwide?
Revelation 1:7:
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”
The second coming sure seems to be a worldwide event, why wouldn’t the first?

16. If God promised not to send a local flood again, he broken his promise
Genesis 9:11-17 
“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.”

17. If the Flood was local, why would birds have been sent on the Ark
If the Flood was local, why would birds have been sent on the Ark? These could simply have winged across to a nearby mountain range. How does a flood destroy every bird in the world?

18. Genesis 8:8-9: “He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself.”
If the flood is local, the dove would have no problem finding somewhere to land

19. Those who hold to a local flood say we are going against scripture in Psalms 104
“You who laid the foundations of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever, You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled; At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. They went up over the mountains…

20. …They went down into the valleys, To the place which You founded for them. You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, That they may not return to cover the earth.”
If this is all referring to creation, wouldn’t the flood (which comes later) contradict?
The debate here is going to be if this Psalms refers only to the Creation account in Genesis Chapter 1 (which it doesn’t)

21. Two verses in the psalm (Psalm 104:5, 19) refer to the events in Genesis 1. But most of the psalm speaks of the creation as it appears to the psalmist at the time he is living and writing.
The way he describes things makes this obvious (particularly the present tense verbs throughout the passage).
Several things are mentioned that show this isn’t dealing with Creation week only

22. He mentions Lebanon (Psalm 104:16), ships (Psalm 104:26), and wicked sinners (Psalm 104:35), none of which existed during the Creation Week.
Contrary to what many Old Earth Christians tell you, Psalm 104:6–9 clearly refer to Noah’s Flood, not to the third day of Creation Week.

23. This also goes along with Isaiah 54:9
Psalms 104:9 is best understood as a reference to the rainbow in Genesis 9:11:
Psalm 104:9: “You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, That they may not return to cover the earth.”
This also goes along with Isaiah 54:9
Isa 54:9: “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn, That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,

24. Nowhere in scripture is there a reference to a supposed promise not to flood the world after day 3 of creation
The Bible refers to the flood as a historical event throughout the New Testament
1 Pet 3:20: “who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”

25. Hebrews 11:7: “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”
2 Peter 2:5: “and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;”

26. “When you read an English translation of the biblical account of the flood, you will undoubtedly notice many words and verses that seem to suggest that the waters covered all of planet earth. However, one should note that today we look at everything from a global perspective, whereas the Bible nearly always refers to local geography. You may not be able to determine this fact from our English translations, so we will look at the original Hebrew, which is the word of God.” - Rich Dee

27. Let’s look at a few examples in the Hebrew and see if it’s just in our “English” Bibles
Genesis 1:8: “And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Genesis 1:14: “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;”

28. Deut. 28:12--The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.
“Heaven” (Shamayim in all cases) means the sky or space or where God dwells
Genesis 7:19: “And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven (Shamayim), were covered.”

29. What does “earth” refer to?
What about the Word for “Earth”
Genesis 9:11-17: “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.”
What does “earth” refer to?
Genesis 1:1-2: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void…”

30. Genesis 1:10:
“And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.”
Genesis 6:13
“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

31. It is true there are two words for “earth” but we have mountains of evidence that the words used in the flood account is referring to the entire world (earth)
All these verses we read describing creation and the flood all use the same Hebrew word (erets)
It’s a normal tactic to say “Well in the Hebrew” as an argument, don’t assume what they’re saying is correct

32. The Ark is a type of Christ
By entering the Ark, Noah ensured the physical survival of himself and his family. When we enter into saving faith through Jesus (John 10:9), we ensure our spiritual survival through eternal life with Christ.
The Ark saved man from the first judgment, Christ saves us from the final judgment

33. God called out to Noah: “Come. into the Ark” (Genesis 7:1)
God called out to Noah: “Come into the Ark” (Genesis 7:1). God was with Noah and his family throughout the flood, which I’m sure helped Noah and his family
Likewise, when we receive Jesus as our Savior, God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, comforts and protects us.
The Ark had only one door through which Noah had to enter in order to be saved
from the Flood. 

34. Likewise, salvation in Christ has only one door (John 10:9)
Likewise, salvation in Christ has only one door (John 10:9). We enter it by faith in Jesus' once-and-for-all-time sacrificial death on the Cross and His bodily resurrection three days later.
Finally, people had the option to enter the ark before the flood came, but once it happened the door was shut, and if you weren’t on the inside, you missed out

35. There is much geologic evidence for the flood that we are not looking at in this class
After the flood we have the tower of Babel come along, where the languages are split and people are scattered around the world
And after a few chapters we arrive at the time of Abraham, which most Christians agree on historically

36. So why do all these views exist despite the clear teaching of scripture?
Many ignorantly hold to these views not knowing the implications of scriptural problems with them
Many others hold to them because they have elevated mans “knowledge” in science to the higher authority than the clear message of God’s Word

37. Memory verse
Genesis 7:19
“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.”