All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. (KJV)

All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. (NKJV)

Few people have given sufficient study to the significance of the mighty "baptism" God gave to the earth in the form of a universal flood. Look at the effects of this one enormous flood. First, it cleansed the world of sin by those whose "...every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5). It changed the atmospheric conditions which, according to some scientists, allowed more harmful rays of the sun through which subsequently resulted in much shorter lives than before.

There is considerable differences of opinions when it comes to whether or not it had ever rained before. we only have two or three clues concerning this possibility, but I feel they are strong enough to be conclusive. Genesis 2: 6 tells us that: "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." This statement, it seems, would be worthless and incorrect if there was not some method rather than rain which was utilized to furnish water for vegetation. It has been postulated that there existed a huge vapor barrier surrounding the earth which regulated the temperature as well as the sun's harmful rays. It has also been supposed that there were tremendous subteranean reservoirs of water from which the mists were released.

"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)
"The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;" (Genesis 8:2)

Then God made a covenant with Noah that He would place His bow in the cloud which should be a token of that covenant. (Genesis 9:13-14) Had rain been customary, this bow would have been seen in them many times, yet this is given as something new at this time.

But the most amazing effect of all, in my humble opinion, is that these enormous eruptions of billions upon billions of gallons of water, not only released from the huge water barrier around the earth but also the tremendous explosions of the underground reservoirs. We are talking about enough water to put a layer over all the earth hundreds of feet deep, perhaps thousands. And it was not calmly laying around, it was gushing and changing the outer layer of the earth, building mountains and valleys, layering strata from one area then from another.

This is what befuddles the atheistic evolutionists. They cannot understand how one species of fish fossils appeared at a particular location and then vanished for millions of years (their count) only to perhaps show up again millions of years later. All the time being a native species of somewhere else. They refuse to accept anything the Bible says, so they go nuts trying to calculate how many millions of years had to transpire before another ice age could lay down a new stratum.

ChristianCourier.com
Reports of Evidence for the Genesis Flood
Publish date: November 27, 2000
Author: WAYNE JACKSON
Article description: This article addresses recent reports of possible evidence in the Black Sea for the Genesis Flood.

A few weeks ago, a fascinating piece appeared in the prestigious magazine U.S. News & World Report (September 25, 2000, p. 38). Authored by journalist Michael Satchell, the article was titled, “An enduring mystery – Evidence points to a flood of biblical proportions.” Satchell’s essay called attention to an amazing archaeological discovery beneath the surface of the Black Sea, a massive body of water (170,000 square miles—greater in size than the state of California) between Europe and Asia, and linked to the Mediterranean Sea.

The article rehearsed a recent find by an archaeological team led by Robert Ballard (who found the Titanic). According to Satchell, these scientists have been exploring beneath the surface of the Black Sea off the Turkish coast “for evidence of an apocalyptic natural event that could have inspired the Genesis account of the great flood.” In mid-September, the expedition discovered “a large wooden building 12 miles offshore at a depth of more than 300 feet.” Ballard described the find as “beyond our wildest imagination.”

Apparently there is an “ancient coastline some 550 feet below the present sea level.” It is speculated that several thousand years ago, melting glaciers “sent the Mediterranean Sea pouring through a natural dam across the Bosporus Strait, inundating a huge freshwater lake and creating the Black Sea.”

Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review (a liberal journal), suggested that

“those who believe in the legend [emp. WJ] of Noah’s Ark will find great comfort in this [find] . . . Any connection between Noah’s flood and this new finding is speculative, but it cannot be disproved.”

The Genesis record consumes four chapters (6-9), detailing the narrative of a cataclysmic Flood, and the sole family (Noah’s) preserved there from.

This inundation was world-wide in its proportions (Gen. 7:19; 2 Pet. 3:6). The idea of a “local” flood does not appear in any Jewish or Christian literature prior to about A.D. 1655 (see Don C. Allen, The Legend of Noah, Urbana, IL:

University of Illinois Press, 1949, pp. 66-112). The Flood was sent by God as a penalty for ancient humanity’s unrestrained wickedness (Gen. 6:5-7; 2 Pet. 2:5; 3:3ff).

Its historicity was widely accepted, both by biblical writers and secular sources (cf. Psa. 104:6-9; Isa. 54:9; Heb. 11:7; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 3:3-7). Some 250 to 300 “Flood” traditions exist in the literature of various nations (Howard Vos, Genesis and Archaeology, Chicago: Moody, 1963, p. 32).

The Son of God Himself endorsed the reliability of the Old Testament record regarding the Flood (Mt. 24:37-39). Since he is an eternal Being (Mic. 5:2; Jn. 1:1), and therefore witnessed the Flood (cf. Jn. 8:58), his testimony must be accepted as fact.

There are geological evidences that buttress the Genesis account relative to the Flood. Marine fossils are found around the world in mountainous areas that are now high and dry. Old shore lines (or strand lines as they are called), are spaced in mountain ranges at parallel heights on both sides of the Atlantic. For further study, see our Feature article on this site, “Lessons From The La Brea Tar Pits”, (July, 2000).

If solid evidence for the biblical Flood is forthcoming, we will rejoice. We must, however, be cautious in evaluating the data, and in making unsupported claims. Ultimately, our confidence is grounded in biblical revelation. There is evidence aplenty that this is reliable.

© 2000 by Christian Courier Publications. All rights reserved.

Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall...Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood...Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Weasel, inactive from age and infirmities, was not able to catch mice as he once did. He therefore rolled himself in flour and lay down in a dark corner. A Mouse, supposing him to be food, leaped upon him, and was instantly caught and squeezed to death. Another perished in a similar manner, and then a third, and still others after them. A very old Mouse, who had escaped many a trap and snare, observed from a safe distance the trick of his crafty foe and said, "Ah! you that lie there, may you prosper just in the same proportion as you are what you pretend to be!"...Aesop