As our Church continues with the Masterclass study, we are posting reviews of our previous “Case for Genesis” class. This week’s post will cover the Biblical Flood and the effects that can be seen on the geology and topography of our world today. This can be a controversial topic as many in academia will not even consider the Biblical Flood, even though there is solid scientific evidence that supports the possibility of a worldwide catastrophic flood, such as has never been experienced before or since. We will look at some specifics that help confirm the reliability of the Biblical narrative!

Watch this week’s class presentation on this topic:

Overview Notes from the presentation

A Case for Genesis

The Biblical Flood and Geology Today

Review

Prayer cards: Take a minute and write your name on the index card provided, and add any special prayer request you might have. Exchange cards at the end of the class this evening.

1. Review and recite the twelve points to the Bible’s Big Picture (5 in the Old Testament, 7 in the New Testament).
2. What are some things you remember, and share with others, from last week’s presentation about the seaworthiness and capacity of the Ark?

Overview

I.  Geological Formations and Fossils – What happened before, during and after the Flood?

II.  Observable Evidence – What does today’s observable facts tell us about the reality of a worldwide Flood?

I. Geological Formations and Fossils – What happened before, during and after the Flood?

A Biblical model for the phases of the Flood:

1. Eruptive – 40 days
2. Ascending – 50 days
3. Zenithic – 60 days
4. Abative – 110 days
5. Dispersive – 110 days

Post Flood

1. Residual – 500 years
2. Modern 3600 years

3^rd Major Historical Event:

The Flood

Reflect as we study:

Which paradigm offers the most reasonable conclusion to the evidence we see today?

1) Slow processes and long periods of time; or 2) Rapid events and a short period of time

1.  ERUPTIVE PHASE

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him.” 

Genesis 7:11-16 (NASB)

How catastrophic would this flood have been?

• The Genesis account indicates both a deluge from above (“floodgates of the heavens were opened”) and a deluge from below (“the springs of the great deep burst forth”)
• The purpose, as spoken by God, was to bring a worldwide flood upon the whole earth to wipe out the evil that had developed in humans and everything on the earth from the first creation (6:12-13)
• This was a cataclysmic, catastrophic flood like no other before and no other after, as spoken by God (9:11)

“When God brought the ‘flood’ upon the ungodly antediluvian world, the word used to describe it was the Greek kataklusmos, and this word is never applied in Scripture to any event except the terrible Genesis Flood….”

—Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

Evidence

During the initial “Eruptive Phase” of the Flood, there is evidence to suggest that the following things could have occurred (also accepted in secular science, with timing as the only issue).

Meteorite impacts:

“ A meteorite shower would have caused large-scale vertical movement of the earth’s crust, leaving behind craters (basins) with raised rims the pulverized crustal rock would have been ground up by turbulence into finer sizes and deposited in the deep basins and rifts.”

Catastrophic plate tectonics:

“The rapid moving of continental plates during the Flood can explain ocean depth, correlations between the rocks of the Americas and Europe/Africa, the presence of large sections of crustal rock penetrating deep into the mantle at subduction zones, and the volcanism that contributed to the post-Flood Ice Age.”

• Water from above can cause massive flood damage, but it is the “bursting of the great deep,” which would have included volcanic activity, that would have resulted in complete destruction and reshaping of the top core of the earth: Pangea
• Many geological strata are tightly bent, not broken, this can only happen in a catastrophic flood

The Great Unconformity:

“The turbulence and rapid currents would have eroded and scoured some of the pre-Flood [basement rock] before more material was laid on top that contains fossilized surfaces. It is very difficult for secular geologists to explain this feature, but it is likely a planation surface that was planned by fast, turbulent currents. This can be seen at the bottom of the Grand Canyon [also referred to as ‘Creation Rock’]  where the upper crust of the earth sank.”

“The Great unconformity can be seen exposed in many of the uplifted mountain ranges with their nearly flat tops. This happened during the “Recessive Stage” of the Flood, when the mountains rose up and helped drain the floodwaters from the earth.”

Erosion

Definition: The process of eroding caused by wind, water, or other natural agents that gradually wear away soil, rock, or land. For example: “the cliffs have been eroded by the sea.”

However, the evidence shows…

• Sedimentary layers cover vast areas, worldwide, with little or no erosion within or between the layers
• Erosion should be seen if there are millions of years between the layers, but it would not be seen if the layers were laid down rapidly, and this is what is found

2.  ASCENDING PHASE

“Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.” 

Genesis 7:17-23 (NASB)

The Great Deposition

• This part of the Ascending Phase reached a peak at about day 150
• Sedimentary layers are laid down following the initial breaking apart of the crust
• Smaller living things were buried and fossilized rapidly
• This period of time included escalating tsunami and volcanic activity that pushed larger living things to higher ground until they were consumed and fossilized (again rapidly)

The evidence:

• Sedimentary layers are found deposited over great distances and is evidenced by matching layer sequences worldwide
• There are mega-sequences overlaid worldwide that encompass supposed eras of time, but in reality, were laid down quickly with living things fossilized in action
• The fossilization of living things does not always match the predicted evolutionary timeline because they are found scattered throughout the layers

3.  ZENITHIC PHASE

• This is the time of the peak of the Flood which occurred at about day 150 (Genesis 7:20)
• This is the phase where the water was at its highest point and covered all the mountain (even 15 cubits higher)
• Note: The topography pre-flood was not the same post-flood as mountains and valleys we have today were caused by uplifting during the “Receding Phase” of the flood (secular science agrees except for the timing)

Psalm 104 – A Flood Psalm

“He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter forever and ever. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters were standing above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled, at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down to the place which You established for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass over, so that they will not return to cover the earth.”  Psalm 104:5-9 (NASB)

Note: Read the entire Psalm for more context on the Flood

4.  ABATIVE PHASE

“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.” 

Genesis 8:1-12 (NASB)

Essential points

The Flood ceases:

• Wind passed over the earth and the water subsided
• The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed
• The rain from the sky was restrained
• The waters receded steadily from the earth
• water decreased
• Land appeared

5.  DISPERSIVE PHASE

^“Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.”

Genesis 8:13-19 (NASB)

Essential Points

• During this period of time the water would still be settling and drying
• Scholars believe that there were many lakes formed during this time that were dammed up, and the water would eventually break through causing residual flooding, in some cases still catastrophic for that area
• Many believe this is what happened in the formation of the Grand Canyon as there is evidence of this at the top of the Grand Staircase
• We have remnants of this today evidenced by great inland seas and lakes

The Receding Waters of Phases 4 and 5

• This is commonly known as the “Recessive Stage” of the Flood
• During this 220-day period of time, the waters would have subsided to the point where it was safe to leave the Ark, although many of the low-lying areas may have taken longer to drain
• It is during this period of time that much of the “carving” of canyons and uplift of mountains would occur
• The violence of such runoff can be observed and evidenced today in local floods and catastrophic volcanic eruptions…

Observational evidence of what flood damage can due

• The effects of any flood can be observed today when we see the devastating aftermath and destruction that results from rapidly moving water currents and mudflows containing debris capable of cutting through solid rock like butter
• We can observe canyons being carved out in a matter of days by both rushing and receding waters that move at a rapid pace, carrying boulders and debris of extreme size and weight
• Evidence from the Mount St. Helen’s eruption in 1980 gives us a glimpse of the type of catastrophic damage a “great deep” eruption can cause – the aftermath of that eruption and subsequent flooding carved out a canyon, in a short period of time, now referred to as “Little Grand Canyon.”

II.  Observable Evidence – What does today’s observable facts tell us about the reality of a worldwide Flood?

What is the focus of the debate between Creationists and Evolutionists?

It is the interpretation of the rock, and the fossils therein, that is at the core of the debate!

For example: What do you see when you look at the Grand Canyon?

OBSERVABLE FACTS	CREATIONIST INTERPRETATION	EVOLUTIONIST INTERPRETATION
Grand Canyon Exists	It formed quickly by lots of water over a little time	It formed slowly by a little water over lots of time
The Earth has layers of sedimentary rock	These layers were formed during the Biblical Flood of Noah’s time and represent the sediments laid down during the Flood and the subsequent receding waters	The layers formed slowly over millions of years and represent eras of time past
Fossils are found in the sedimentary rock layers	The fossils formed quickly and were laid down by mud and water during the Flood	The fossils were laid down in layers that formed slowly over millions of years and can thus be dated as such

Observable evidence for quick laying down of the sedimentary rock layers and fossils therein:

• Our geology, history, and fossil record screams “worldwide flood” and the aftermath can be evidenced today in the topography of the earth around the world where we find things like:
  • mountain upwarping
  • rock formations indicating swift deposits
  • layers of sediments containing fossils that could only result from rapid laying down by water, volcanic activity and mudflows.

Examples from the following observable evidences cannot be attributed to slow processes over long periods of time:

• Bent sedimentary layers
• Water laid sediment forming coal
• Water compressed trees that overlap the geological column of millions of years
• Marine fossils in inland areas and at the highest altitudes, including Mount Everest
• Animal bones piled up as if they were pushed there: For example, there are over 9000 bones piled up in Agate Springs, Nebraska
• Death poses in the fossils indicating quick burial and fossilization
• Flood legends in other cultures that are similar to the Biblical account – over 300
• Dinosaurs fossils with soft tissue including DNA (soft tissue cannot last millions of years)

Post Flood

6.  Residual – 500 years

• This is a time period of about 500 years which would have begun during the receding part of phases 4 and 5
• During this time the effects of volcanic activity and immense water evaporation would have caused what we know to be the “Ice Age”
• Note: Secular science agrees with an “Ice Age” condition, but are in disagreement with the timing and number of occurrences

7.  Modern 3600 years

• This is a time period of about 3600 years and would have begun at the end of the “Residual Phase”
• This is the period of time we live in today, and we experience the continued reverberation of the effects of the Flood and the Ice Age
• Evidence can be seen in the “global warming” reports and the shrinking of the ice caps and glaciers
• For a more in-depth study on the Ice Age, and its reverberating effects, go to searchcreation.org

Going Deeper

Class Resources and References for this topic:

Flood Geology, Receding Waters – Documentary (and book) by Michael J. Oard

isgenesishistory.com – Is Genesis History? – Documentary, video clips, lectures and more

searchcreation.org – Search 1000’s of questions for answers on Genesis and creation topics

genesisapologetics.com – Easy-to-understand web, video, and written products for pastors, parents, and students. The materials are “core” to the Creationist position

creation.com – (CMI) Creation Ministries International’s website: Speakers, videos, articles, tours and more (including topics on aliens and dinosaurs!)

creationtoday.org – A Community oriented group hosted by Eric Hovind with weekly interviews, podcasts and an online community

creationministries.org – Recommended Book: “The Cost” by Russ Miller – See his website for more materials and Grand Canyon tours

answersingenesis.org – Books, articles and conferences geared for all ages, with excellent resources for children; designer and host of “the Ark Encounter” in Williamstown, KY

icr.org – Academic experts from all fields of science related to creation and Genesis; designer and host of the “Creation Museum” in Dallas, TX

Bible Study

Each week we will have Bible study following the presentation. There will be questions presented here on the weekend, and basic answers will be posted mid-week for your review. This can also be used to make a leader’s guide for your own small group and future studies!

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

1.  Review of Class Topic:

With your table group, discuss today’s presentation by summarizing what you learned, commenting or asking any questions.

Read Genesis Chapter 9 with your group then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions:

Note: As you discuss some of these questions, keep in mind that at this point in history there was no written “Law” as of yet.

2.  What did God say to Noah as He blessed them (9:1-2)? Discuss: What are some ways we observe the truth of what God said in verse 2, and why is that important?

3.  What did God say about food and food restrictions (9:3-4)? Discuss: Why do you think it changed after the Flood?

3.  What did God tell Noah concerning “shedding the blood of another man” (9:5-6)? Discuss: Why do you think God gave that command?

4.  What Covenant did God establish and whom did He establish it with (9:8-11)? What was the sign of this Covenant, and why is it important (9:12-17)?

5.  Who were the sons of Noah (9:18-19)? What else do we know about them from Scripture?

6.  Describe what Noah’s Sons did when their father got drunk (9:20-23). Discuss: Why do you think Ham’s behavior was unacceptable?

7.  Going Deeper: What was the curse Noah gave, who was it upon (look closely), and how did Noah bless his other two sons (9:24-29)? How was the curse and blessings played out prophetically later in the Old Testament?

Please join us each week as we continue our case for Genesis!

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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in!  Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.

Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.

Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15