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THE WHOLE EARTH CHANGES

(c. 2349–2348 B.C.)

When the door closed, everything changed.

Noah and his three sons labored together for decades, and by God’s grace, they and their wives overcame great challenges in building the Ark. Now the ship was finished and loaded.

All four couples waited inside.

Imagine the array of thoughts and emotions that probably struck Noah’s family when, with no human assistance, the Ark’s thick door swung closed.

Outside, men and women may have stood in abrupt silence. Perhaps it was while some were laughing at the bizarre vessel and its eccentric builder that the great door unexpectedly sealed itself shut.

Scoffers are everywhere,1 and some in Noah’s day may even have been close relatives; parents or siblings of Noah’s daughters-in-law, the kindred of his wife, or of Noah himself. Thankfully, God closed the door. Noah did not have to decide when the unbelievers would be locked out forever.

Genesis tells us that Noah walked with God.2 In the Ark after the door closed, he may have been praying with his family as the earth began to quake. Perhaps lightning bolts filled the darkening sky as blasts of thunder announced the impending deluge.

On that day, earth essentially exploded as all the fountains of the great deep burst forth.3 One geophysics study suggests that superheated water and magma from underneath earth’s crust would have caused parts of the ocean to violently flash-boil and blast supersonic jets of steam thousands of feet into the air, then fall in pounding, wind-driven gales.4 We do not know if Noah’s family could hear screams of terror, but the worldwide judgment on man’s wickedness had begun.

Soon the timbers that steadied the Ark for decades began to fall away. Rising water enveloped the globe and released earth’s hold on the solitary wooden sanctuary. Animal sounds echoed throughout the ship and mixed with the words of the eight men and women on board. The creatures rested in safety while Noah’s family cared for them and for one another.

Meanwhile, everyone outside the Ark died and was wiped from the face of the earth.5 Clouds, rain, and volcanic ash darkened the sun. There were 40 days and nights of torrential downpour. As the worldwide cataclysm continued, life went on inside the Ark. But research reveals that far beneath the shoreless ocean, enormous ruptures in earth’s crust ran for thousands of miles. Billions of animals and plants were entombed in sediments that hardened into the rock layers we see all over the world.6

Water continued to flood into the depths, and the sea continued to rise. Earthquakes and fiery, magma-spewing volcanic eruptions ripped apart the original supercontinent, eventually splitting it into several smaller ones.7 Finally, on the 150th day, water covered everything, everywhere.8 The fountains of the great deep stopped and the ocean began to withdraw. It had been five months, and the Ark now came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.9

Nothing today is as it was before Noah’s Flood. Now, jigsaw puzzle shapes of distant coastlines remind us of the astounding judgment that transformed our planet.10 Pre-Flood cities, structures, and river channels are no more. Everything, even the place where the Garden of Eden had been, was wiped away11 by the violent waves of erosion and rapid movements of the continents. Only God’s Word adequately explains our planet’s past.

Now grounded amid receding waters upon the mountains of Ararat, the vital work of Noah’s family continued, and mid-way through the journey’s seventh month, mountaintops became visible.12

In the middle of the journey’s tenth month, Noah removed the covering of the Ark.13 He waited, as the earth dried and vegetation spread.

In total, it was more than a year before God told Noah’s family and the creatures to leave the Ark the Creator used to save them from the Flood. However, God’s timing and provision were perfect. The animals could now survive outside and begin to fill the stark, vacant world that stretched out before them.

PRIMARY PASSAGES

Genesis 7:10–8:17; 2 Peter 3:5–7; Psalm 104:8

KEY VERSE

“. . . the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.” 2 Peter 3:6

WRAP UP

“Lord, it is hard to comprehend that as days became weeks, and weeks became months, and as the Ark moved in the storms, the ground far beneath the ocean’s surface broke apart and the continents moved. Thank You for bringing the Ark to rest atop one of the mountains of Ararat, and for keeping Noah’s family safe as more months passed and You sent wind to dry the land. They must have been so happy to watch from the Ark as grasses and flowers soon sprouted and spread. Thank You for the new start that You gave man after the Flood!”

1 At www.answersingenesis.org/articles/au/noahs-flood-and-judgment, accessed February 2017, Ken Ham and Dr. Terry Mortenson state, “2 Peter 3 predicts that, just as there were scoffers during Noah’s time. . . .”

2 Genesis 6:9 (Noah walked with God), Hebrews 11:7 (in holy fear Noah built the ark to save his family).

3 Genesis 7:11; Matthew 24:38–39

4 John D. Morris, “The Ice Age: Causes and Consequences,” Acts & Facts, 2009, 38 (8): 15 (www.icr.org/article/ice-age-causes-consequences/). Also see https://answersingenesis.org/geology/plate-tectonics/catastrophic-plate-tectonics-geophysical-context-of-genesis-flood/ by Dr. John Baumgardner, accessed February 2017.

5 Genesis 6:7 (“wipe away” per YLT), 6:17 (destroy). Also note that, “enormous tectonic upheavals on the pre-Flood ocean floor . . . would have caused massive tsunamis. . . . Add to this the fact that earthquakes often trigger volcanoes and we can readily see that the Flood was a world-changing catastrophe of incredible violence and destructive power.” Quoted from footnote 19 of Dr. Terry Mortenson’s online article, “The Fall and the Problem of Millions of Years of Natural Evil,” at https://answersingenesis.org/theory-of-evolution/millions-of-years/the-fall-and-the-problem-of-millions-of-years-of-natural-evil/). Also see or listen to Dr. Andrew Snelling’s article, “Five Mass Extinctions or One Cataclysmic Event?” at https://answersingenesis.org/geology/catastrophism/five-mass-extinctions-or-one-cataclysmic-event/.

6 See Dr. Andrew Snelling’s excellent article, “Five Mass Extinctions or One Cataclysmic Event?” at https://answersingenesis.org/geology/catastrophism/five-mass-extinctions-or-one-cataclysmic-event/

7 The Bible reveals in Genesis 1:9 that all water was originally together in one place. —logically yielding an original supercontinent as well. This single landmass is commonly called Rodinia by geologists. Computerized Flood modeling that utilizes global catastrophic plate tectonics as the basis for the rapid separation of the continental plates has been done by researchers. An extremely rapid, catastrophic continental breakup is wholly consistent with young earth geological models, but the relatively brief time necessary to accomplish the breakup makes secular geologists unwilling to seriously consider the model. / See also “Noah’s Lost World” by Dr. Andrew Snelling at https://answersingenesis.org/geology/plate-tectonics/noahs-lost-world/.

8 Genesis 7:19–22, 24–8:5. Also see “Biblical Overview of the Flood Timeline” at www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2010/08/23/overview-flood-timeline by Bodie Hodge.

9 Genesis 8:3–4 (“the mountains of Ararat”).

10 See the series of articles on geologic evidences for the worldwide Noahic Flood, written by Dr. Andrew Snelling. Links to all are at https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/geologic-evidences-for-the-genesis-flood/.

11 See “Where Was the Garden of Eden Located?” by ken Ham, at https://answersingenesis.org/genesis/garden-of-eden/where-was-the-garden-of-eden-located/ as accessed February 2017.

12 Genesis 8:4 says the “mountains of Ararate” (not “Mount Ararat”) and 8:5 states “the first day of the tenth month.” This was 224 days (about 7.5 months) into the Ark’s journey. See www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2010/08/23/overview-flood-timeline by Bodie Hodge.

13 Genesis 8:13. The first day of the first month was 314 days (about 10.5 months) into the journey of Noah’s family aboard the Ark.