Doug Velting
The worldwide flood of Noah’s day was one of the main events of biblical history, so naturally, people have questions and want answers. Here are some of the most asked questions on this subject.
Did all that water come from just 40 days of rain?
There was also a tremendous amount of water under the earth.
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month – on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heaven were opened. Genesis 7:11
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Where did all the water go after the flood?
The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down. Genesis 8:3
Simply put, the waters from the flood are in the oceans that we see today. God formed the ocean basins, raising the land above the water so that the floodwaters flowed into the ocean basins.
It is very possible that there was one supercontinent before the flood and that continent broke apart during the flood. During that process, the ocean basins sank down as the continents moved away from each other. Some of that water is still under much of the earth as we find underwater vents under parts of the ocean.
Are there any extrabiblical historical accounts that echo the Bible?
Yes, other cultures have similar stories of Noah and a worldwide flood. This is called historical collaboration. There are about 270 cultures that have the story of Noah’s flood, some of which are:
- Peru,
- Cherokee Indians,
- China,
- Russia,
- India,
- and Greece.
The flood legend of China records that Fuhi, his wife, three sons, and three daughters escaped a great flood [onto a high mountain] and were the only people alive on earth.
A flood story in Hawaii records that Nu-u and his family escaped a global flood by building a great canoe and filling it with animals. Only he and his family were left alive.
Some details were lost in most of the legends, but the most important information was usually not lost:
- God’s wrath and judgment upon a world of sinful people,
- a worldwide flood,
- a favored family,
- an ark built,
- animals saved.
Is there evidence of humans buried by the great flood?
In 1971, a rock collector found some bones recently exposed by a bulldozer in hard sandstone in Utah. What he found was the lower half of two human skeletons. This collector with another team of researchers excavated further and found the skeletons of ten modern humans that were buried under fifty-eight feet of rock-hard sandstone. These skeletons have the appearance of being washed into place, rather than being buried as in a grave. It seems obvious that these 10 people were buried rapidly by some kind of massive flood. These skeletons indicate rapid burial in water and mud which later turn into stone, something only a flood could do.
How did Noah fit all the animals on the ark?
God did not bring two (or in some cases seven pairs) of every land-dwelling animal species, but two of every kind.
Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. Genesis 6:20
Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate. Genesis 7:2
It has been estimated that Noah only had to bring 9,000–12,000 animals on the ark. Since we know the size of the Ark, we can see there was plenty of room for the animals and their food. Even the unusual conditions on board the ark, including very little light, would cause the animals to sleep more and eat less.
How could Noah build an Ark that was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high?
The Bible does not tell us that Noah and his sons built the ark. It is possible all they did was supervise the building of it. They could have hired workers to help lift the huge beams that the ark had to have had. By all indications, people before the flood had the skill and ability to assemble such a project, including sawing and drilling. Just a matter of centuries after the flood the Egyptians were sawing and drilling granite.
Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. Genesis 4:17b
Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Genesis 4:22b
The pre-flood world made metal tools and built cities. The people in Noah’s day were more capable than you might think. Preflood people were just as smart and creative as we are today and to think they could not advance their skills for 1,600 years from creation to the flood would be foolish.
Why would God kill all those people?
God is a holy God and the most important aspect of God’s character is his holiness. His holiness demands judgment. A worldwide flood would always remind and warn people of God’s judgment on evil.
Mount Everest is over 29,000 feet above sea level. Did the flood cover Mt. Everest?
It is not only possible but likely that the major mountain ranges formed during the flood. So yes, the flood did cover all the mountains at the beginning part of the flood, and those early mountains were smaller than the mountains that were formed at the later part of the flood.
For more information see:
I Believe in the Flood…but Why No Human Fossils?
