The Importance of the Genesis Flood

A Tale of Judgement in the Rocks

Evolutionists are not interested in talking about a catastrophic worldwide flood. They have been brainwashed to believe that the Bible’s record of Noah’s Flood is just a fairy-tale legend that has no relevance to history and the science of geology. The exact opposite is true. Such an event as a worldwide flood would have enormous implications for understanding the message of the geological record as we look at the rocks and layers seen all over the earth.

Above is an example of layers (strata) found in many of the road cutouts in southwest Missouri. Such similar layers are found everywhere—from the countries of Australia to Russia, from America to China and in between. These layers tell a story for those who use common-sense empirical observation without being bound by the paradigm of uniformitarian evolutionary restrictions. In other words, the evolutionist’s story, carefully crafted in order to distance themselves from that inspired Book, the Bible, is that these muddy rocky layers were laid down over a period beginning about 4.5 billion years ago¹.

However, you don’t need to be a scientist to see by looking at the evidence, that there is something “fishy” about the evolutionary story. Just by looking at the one example pictured above it is easy to see that there was no time for erosion to take place between the layers as they were laid down. Due to gravity, water finds its own level, and therefore as wave upon wave of swirling muddy and gritty mixes surged over the continents it makes sense that what we now see is the result of a worldwide calamity. When people observe these layers they tend to forget that they were all laid down by the action of water, and in most cases under water.

The Bible makes it clear as it describes this event that it was indeed a worldwide phenomenon, not a localized flood as some have suggested. After all, if it was only local, God could have told Noah to start walking to another location for safety. Also, it doesn’t make sense that birds needed to be on the ark for their preservation and safety. They could have flown to another area. The biblical historical record says:

Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.

The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days (Genesis 7:17-24).

Why did God bring such devastating destruction on the whole earth? The answer was not just a somber warning for the population of Noah’s day, but should be a revelation to all humans today of the awesomeness of God, who He is as our Creator, and how He should be worshipped and glorified as the only true God. Surely we should be able to clearly see that the situation in Noah’s day that precipitated the flood can be seen likewise in the world’s ungodly cultures today. The Bible says,

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:5-8).

This is why the secular unbelieving world doesn’t want to consider the biblical flood as real history, because if it is true, it means there is a God to whom they will have to give account of their lives in the future. Unfortunately, there are professed Christians who compromise by not accepting the Bible’s account as indicating a catastrophic worldwide flood. Theistic evolutionists, that is, professed Christians who believe in the secular idea of millions of years of earth’s history and God using evolution to create, will have to answer to God one day for their compromise with the clear teaching of God’s Word. One would hope and expect that all Christians would accept the statements of Jesus Christ to be absolutely true. He said,

“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:38,39). Luke 17:27 says the same.

The apostle Peter believed in Noah’s Flood as a real historical event. He wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:

“For this they [scoffers] willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water” (2 Peter 3:5,6).

Peter referred to the flood a second time when he wrote:

“And [God] did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 4:5). 

Just as the ungodly were taken by surprise when the flood suddenly came upon them about 4,500 years ago, so it will be when Jesus Christ returns to this earth to reign with His faithful servants. Terrible times of God’s judgment and destruction await this earth, but sin which is the cause of it all will be no more in the coming new heavens and new earth. The Apostle John wrote: 

“The devil, who deceived them [the nations], was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

God promised never to destroy the earth with a flood again (Genesis 9:11-17), but fire is coming. So the importance and significance of the Great Flood is that our perfectly righteous and holy God will only accept those for entrance into the blessing of heaven who have received the covering and forgiveness of their sins through the one and only perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. May we all be ready.