Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20080427.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Genesis: Explaining The Foundations Of History
Part IV: Explaining God's Judgment By The Global Flood
(Genesis 6:1-8:19)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

The Bible's account of the Noahic flood has been extensively challenged as to its truthfulness by many people for various reasons, and here are just two of the more significant ones (as follows):

(1) Dr. Jan Lever, Professor of Zoology at the Free University of Amsterdam, believed Noah's ark could not possibly have held all the "species" required to save two of all the world's land animals like the Genesis record claims occurred (Whitcomb & Morris, The Genesis Flood, 1978, p. 65, citing Lever, Creation and Evolution, 1958, p. 17)!

(2) Though all Christians once held the Genesis flood had been global, many secular scientists have so strongly denied this that various Christian academics have shifted their views, concluding the flood was local, occurring only in the Mesopotamian Valley, Ibid., Answers, John C. Whitcomb, "Universality of the Genesis Flood", p. 41.



(3) We have supplied evidence that answers these matters and much more in past messages on the Flood that are available on our Church web site. However additional concerns of Christians need to be addressed, such as: "(a) If the Genesis flood was global, why have there been no human fossils of the flood found like there are massive animal fossil graveyards? (b) Psalm 104 that recalls the Genesis 1 creation states in verse 9 (NIV) that God set the boundary of the sea level so that it 'never again will . . . cover the earth'; thus, how could God's Word TRUTHFULLY deny the seas after creation would never cover the whole earth as it did in Genesis 1:2 and then report God sent a global flood in Noah's day? (c) How could a God of LOVE as seen in the Bible destroy a whole world of humans and animals with such a catastrophic flood?"]



So, the question we must answer in addressing these issues is: "IS there EVIDENCE that the GLOBAL Noahic Flood taught in the Bible REALLY OCCURRED? IF so, HOW could it all FIT with God's revelation as being a TRUE and LOVING God?"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "(1) Was the Genesis flood global?! (2) If SO, where is the evidence, and (3) how could a God of LOVE and TRUTH send it?!"
  1. Genesis 6:1-13 reveals that man's sin had produced world violence, so the RIGHTEOUS Creator chose to destroy it in a global event!
  2. This judgment FIT the SIN: man turned chaotic, so God reversed part of His Genesis 1 fixed natural order for the sea to cover the land as it had in the Genesis 1:2 chaos, Gen. 6:13, 17! [Psalm 104:9 uses the word, bal, meaning "not" without adding 'olam, meaning "forever": thus, the psalmist did NOT say God would "never" let the sea level UNNATURALLY rise for the Genesis flood, but that it would NOT rise in God's fixed NATURAL order! God is TRUE!]
  3. Yet, this RIGHTEOUS God is also GRACIOUS, so He had an ark be built to save the godly and a few of each land animal, 6:14-22.
  4. Empirical evidence suggests this flood COULD and DID OCCUR:
    1. Evidence shows the Genesis 6:14-16 ark was seaworthy and adequate:
      1. A South Korean world-class ship research center has ruled the ark's proportions "carefully balance the conflicting demands of stability, comfort, and strength . . . In fact, the Ark has the same proportions as a modern cargo ship." ( Answers, April-June, 2007, p. 27) "
      2. Todd Wood, Ph. D. in biochemistry with 20 published articles in that field and in genomics, claims many alleged species are the product of selective breeding, so only 2,000 different "kinds" of animals would be needed on the ark, making for "plenty of room" for the animals and Noah's kin, Ibid., "Two of Every Kind," p. 34!
    2. Evidence shows that a world flood could have occurred: Andrew Snelling, Ph. D. in geology, reported in "A Catastrophic Breakup," Answers , April-June 2007, p. 45-48 that evidence shows a calamitous movement of the earth's crust did occur, sinking the seabed into the earth's mantle and covering dry land with the seas, cf. Genesis 7:11b. The slowing of this activity (as it is today) would end this catastrophe.
    3. Evidence shows that a world flood did occur just as Genesis claims:
      1. With animal fossil tracks "are the many instances of preservation of ancient ripple marks or raindrop impressions. But that such ephemeral [fleeting] markings could have been preserved in such great numbers in such perfection is a truly remarkable phenomenon . . ." The rain and land movements that rapidly buried the raindrop imprints as Genesis 7:11 claims occurred easily explain this phenomenon! (Ibid., Whitcomb & Morris, p. 166, brackets ours)
      2. In the Rocky Mountains, perfect fossil specimens of palm leaves, an alligator, deep sea bass, pickerel, herring, birds and mammals were found, Ibid., Whitcomb & Morris, p. 157, citing "Fishing for Fossils," Vol. 63, Compressed Air Magazine, March 1958, p. 24. These all give evidence of a catastrophic burial in a global flood.
      3. [Big animal fossil graves minus human remains can be explained by variant behaviors: in a catastrophic flood, animals hopelessly crowd up on hills as waters rise to drown them and mud flows can bury them, but man in hope flees laterally seeking safety, but is left subject to fragmenting forces. Now, prints with "every evidence of having been made by human feet, at a time when the rocks were soft mud" exist in Virginia, Kentucky Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri and west to the Rockies, "and more keep turning up" (Ibid., Whitcomb & Morris, p. 172-173, citing A. C. Ingalls, "The Carboniferous Mystery," V. 162, Scientific American, Jan., 1940, p. 14). Nearly all such sedimentary rocks were laid by flood waters (Ibid., Whitcomb & Morris, p. 124), so these may give evidence of massive lateral human flight at the start of the Genesis flood!]
  5. Then, Genesis 7:1-8:19 shows HOW God sent the global flood:
    1. God told Noah to enter the ark he had built in obedience to God, for in a week God would send the promised flood, Genesis 7:1-4.
    2. Out of respect for the Lord (Hebrews 11:7), Noah obeyed, taking his family and the animals God had sent him into the ark along with the food provisions all such life needed for their stay, Genesis 7:5-9.
    3. God closed the ark door (Gen. 7:16b), and sent rain for forty days and nights, and broke open the fountains of the great deep, Gen. 7:10-12.
    4. The ark rode on the water, it covered all the earth until the ark's keel did not scrape, and all land life outside the ark died, Genesis 7:17-23. The flood peaked in 150 days, Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, 1978, ftn. to 7:24!
  6. Yet, God in LOVE had Noah PREACH on RIGHTEOUSNESS to his generation for 120 YEARS BEFORE the FLOOD, but no one repented at God's GRACE, Genesis 6:3; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5!
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ to escape God's judgment, John 3:16! (2) May we like Noah give God's truth to the lost.

Lesson: The Flood destroyed the world as a TRUE and RIGHTEOUS God brought it to judge man's SIN! Yet, God in LOVING GRACE gave man 120 YEARS to REPENT, and SAVED the UPRIGHT!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

For your benefit, here is more evidence for the global flood. Andrew Snelling, Ph. D. in geology from the University of Sydney, wrote the article, "Six Evidences for the Genesis Flood" in the Oct.-Dec., 2007 issue of Answers, p. 82-83. We list his evidences for the global extent of the Genesis flood (as follows):

(1) There are fossils of sea animals not only in places like the Grand Canyon in Arizona, but also high in the Himalayan Mountains. This reveals that ocean waters once covered the earth's continents.

(2) There are "extensive fossil 'graveyards' . . . all around the world": in the Redwall Limestone of the Grand Canyon, "billions of nautiloid fossils are found in a layer", evidence of the global flood.

(3) Sedimentary rock layers "can be traced all the way across continents -- even between continents -- and physical features in those strata indicate they were deposited rapidly. For example, the Tapeats Sandstone and Redwall Limestone of Grand Canyon can be traced across the entire United States, up into Canada, and even across the Atlantic Ocean to England." This is evidence of a global flood.

(4) Sediment was transported for huge distances: "water current indicators (such as ripple marks) preserved in rock layers show that . . . water currents were consistently flowing from northeast to southwest across all of North and South America, which, of course, is only possible over weeks during a global flood."

(5) There exists rapid or no erosion marks between rock layers, indicating "continuous deposition of one layer after another, with no time for erosion," typical of a sudden, global flood.

(6) A lot of strata was laid down in "rapid succession: rocks do not normally bend; they break because they are hard and brittle. But in many places we find whole sequences of strata that were bent without fracturing, indicating that all the rock layers were rapidly deposited and folded while still wet and pliable before final hardening. For example, the Tapeats Sandstone in Grand Canyon is folded at a right angle (90 degrees) without evidence of breaking," testimony of the global flood.

The Noahic, global flood DID occur, it came in judgment for man's SIN from a HOLY GOD Who ALSO graciously SAVED the godly and samples of land animals to start a NEW world!

May we BELIEVE this account, and in reverence for God PROCLAIM His truth to our generation as Noah did in his time!