The Great Flood and the Foundations of the Earth

[JohnD]

There was a lot more going on in the days of Noah than is generally focused upon. The Bible explains the Earth was enveloped in a water vapor canopy.

 

Genesis 1:7 (AV)

⁷And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

 

Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus all have canopies of various compositions. So the concept is not foreign to the solar system. Scientists will tell you that reentry temperatures of a canopy collapse (at the time of Noah's flood) is impossible. Even the good folks at the Research For Creation Institute bought into this pseudo-science. I say pseudo-science because no one has ever witnessed a planetary canopy collapse. And the true scientific method is observation through repeatable experimentation. Even if they witnessed it once, it cannot be called true "science." Yet they sit back on their PhD's with the authority of the scientific community and tell us it is impossible... a thing they have not observed even once.

 

One of the great pillars of scripture is this passage in Genesis when thousands of years before mankind formed "science" the scriptures recoded these truths to be discovered by mankind later (that is IF he is not so blinded by his prejudices like "pseudo-science" ). Such scriptural pillars prove the divine origin of the scriptures.

 

Calling upon those who have not been through the many proofs of the divine origin of the scriptures to grant that the Bible strives for truth above all and that Genesis 1:7 is true... then what happened to the canopy? Where is it now? And when did it vamoose?

[JohnD]

Some theorize that the Earth simply grew splitting the ocean beds wide open. There is a rough mix video about this showing how the continents fit together by simply reducing the size of the Earth itself.

 

 

Others theorize the foundations of the continents split and shifted under the weight of the flood waters. Collisions and abrupt stops of the plates caused the upthrusts (resulting in mountain ranges, mesa, spires, and valley's, gorges, and rifts. And that residual shifts took place in times even after the Noachian flood. 

 

Genesis 10:25 (AV)

²⁵And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.

 

Just so you are aware, some believe this may refer to the dividing of the people at Babel. I am only setting out the possibilities. I have my opinions and observations. But along with these and about $4.00 you can buy a cup of coffee at Starbuck's.

Edited October 15, 2015 by JohnD

[JohnD]

Here's a personal opinion. The Americas are "Atlantis."

 

The Inca and Mayan citadels were probably the main focus and generally appeared to have the same architecture as ancient Ur and Egypt. 

 

And the "sinking" of the lost continent was merely it disappearing over the western horizon from the African / European coasts. To the observer in Europe or Africa the Americas would appear to be sinking though they were actually gliding on a mobile series of plates.

[JohnD]

Another thing that was going on was that the LORD felt it necessary to erase the chalkboard and start over. All non-aquatic life was destroyed on planet Earth that was not on that ark. And much of the aquatic life was destroyed from the chaos. Chuck Missler got me hooked on this one because he made the point that what most get from the Bible is a wider spread Sodom and Gomorrah experience (predating the actual Sodom and Gomorrah account). And look how far we've gone down the path of evil these days!

 

Point being, there must have been some serious evil going on back then. Missler (and I) believe in the cohabitation of angels and women (or demon possessed people producing hybrid offspring) and that corruption of the gene pool was extensive enough for God to enact a global reboot.

[Kan]

Yes, it's interesting how the earth was divided about 100 years after the flood, a child was named "Peleg" meaning division (of the earth). And like you said it could mean the division by language rather than land moving, but either is possible.

 

I think it is the latter, since the movement of the continents into their position has prevented the ocean from accelerating from the west to the east, and overflowing the land, whereas after this occurred the oceans are caused to circulate north and south and only a portion allowed below the continents, and under the northern ice.

And even now the oceans build up on the eastern coasts by hundreds of feet as seen on the global measurements by satellite.

 

I have no doubt that the legend of Atlantis came from either the flood story or the post flood divisions of the continents, and what you have put forward is plausible. There are many coasts which have ruins below the sea level, indicating that levels were lower in the past, so great changes have happened, maybe there were numerous cities that disappeared below water after the flood.

 

The tendency for the oceans to act like a single body, is easily understood if you are about to wash the dog in one of those oval/long tubs, and you know that when you carry it out onto the lawn, that if the water starts to sway back and forth it is very difficult to stop it, and very easy to make it worse. Imagine the forces involved on a scale billions of times the size? What force could stop an ocean travelling, at even half a knot, in one direction. Nothing will stop it, not any land by any means.

 

So the oceans have to be controlled by God, and He uses currents, air pressure systems, winds, ice, continents, sandy coasts, gravity to the center of the earth, centrifugal force, angular momentum, warm and cold water currents, the tides, and so forth. 

 

About the "waters above" the earth, does it ever say that they came down?

[FresnoJoe]

About the "waters above" the earth, does it ever say that they came down?

 

 

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.

 

And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Genesis 7:11-12 (KJV)

[Kan]

Thanks Joe,

I was just thinking though of the Genesis story how that the separation between the two waters, above and below, is called a firmament, which God called heaven or a heaven,verse 8. 

Then we find God placed the sun moon and stars (or planets - margin), within the firmament. 

 

As to these waters, what are they? Seeing that in Psalms they are even above the heavens or stars. Psalms 148:4.

 

Are they H20 or the waters which the Holy Spirit moved upon, the darkness and face of the (endless) deep? For nothing was created until God spoke the Word "let there be light..."

 

Not that it matters in this topic anyway, you can take it either way and still get the story right.

[JohnD]

I see your point on this, but the Bible also mentions a second and third heaven (not limiting the firmament called heaven to our planetary sky, to include the universe, and a dimension beyond where God is). The trick is... which heaven is being spoken of in Genesis 1:7. I suppose it is a matter of personal opinion. But IMHO it refers to the sky with which man is most familiar. And the evidence of canopied planets in the solar system exists today. And the account Joe gave of the waters coming down to Earth contributing to the global flood. And there is no evidence of waters in space that we can observe (the theorized Oort Cloud is only a theory and has never been detected even by viking / voyager probes out in deep space). I suppose it could mean the great deep meaning space itself... but by classification that I am aware of in the Bible heaven is not a sea or a body of water or "the deep." 

 

2 Corinthians 12:1–5 (AV)

¹It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

²I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

³And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

⁴How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

⁵Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

 

 

Revelation 2:7 (AV)

⁷He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

[Kan]

That's pretty clear, God calls the different firmaments - heavens.

 

I just wanted to continue with a couple of points which show how the water could have covered the entire earth as recorded in the Bible.

 

The OP has already shown that a lot of water is inside certain rocks, strata which may have been laid during the flood, trapping a lot of water.

And of course if this water was inside the earth or under it before the flood, in subterranean seas, there'd be plenty to add to the present oceans. How it came to be above the land, need not be imagined, as there are many legends of the flood which describe different aspects, we could talk about later.

 

Some people wonder how levels of the ocean could differ so much, remaining higher in places for centuries without ever showing signs of leveling off. What most people don't realize regardless of their training in science, is that the oceans have a strong tendency to act independently from the land, and on a large scale water behaves more like an animated solid than a liquid.

 

It's called the relativity of liquid mass viscosity or relativistic fluid dynamics. Basically, the greater the body of water mass, the slower it moves, in proportion to its size. You can see that demonstrated in the surf, as the waves come in, the largest waves are the slowest to form and break. If you could have a wave big enough it would be practically immobile for a long time, but it would have to be at least 200 miles high and 700 miles thick. As the earth turned it would turn with it, centrifugally held up, and unable to collapse fast enough to change its shape. It could stay like that for weeks. Scary right? Nice surfing though.

 

So if there is a rise in the ocean level, it does not need to level out, like the water in a drinking glass. 

For instance the ocean between Australia and New Zealand is up to 30 meters higher than Sydney or Auckland, and yet the ocean does not level out to either city, ever.

In fact the more the water piles up, the less chance it has of leveling off, because its own weight is held towards the center of the earth and not to the east or west, gravity is only downward not sideways.

What is more, it has momentum and inertia which may resist any changes to move in another direction, there is too much water to be moved suddenly or diverted. It takes centuries for the currents in the oceans to change direction, if at all. 

The ocean has a mind of its own, and yet the tides affect its rise and fall on a daily basis. That's why Jeremiah says that the ordinances of the sun and moon will not cease, they have a role in governing the earth and seas.

 

So now we know why the Bible always mentions how God calms the seas, and tames the waves.

 

It does not take a great wind to create great waves. So long as the wind is constant, the waves can begin to develop a rhythm or resonance, adding a little more power with each undulation until the waves become gigantic, big enough to swallow an island, and if God did nothing about it, the waves can become as great as 60 miles long and 2 miles deep. 

 

This phenomenon occurred during the flood, large waves and broad rises in the ocean, treading the earth under by constant changes in pressure, causing the earth to be heated and pulverized, causing submarine explosions. Many places on the earth still have these scars and fingerprints of the great flood. 

[FresnoJoe]

The Flood

 

And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. Genesis 7:23