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Originally posted by Literalist-Luke
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Keep in mind that this statement of the Lord's that you have quoted here in Genesis 8 was made after the Flood was over. If anything, that very fact only confirms the theory that I have suggested. I'll explain more below...It all has to do with the earth's overall climate. Notice that in Genesis 1:6-8, it speaks of God separating the waters above from the waters below. What did that mean? Most people scratch their heads over that, shrug their shoulders and keep reading.
Numerous Christian geologists, including pre-eminent Creationists Henry Morris and John Whitcomb in their classic, The Genesis Flood, suggest that the "waters above" refers to a water vapor "blanket", if you will, that was in the upper reaches of the atmosphere just after Creation was completed. This "blanket" would have had numerous effects, including (1) filtering out a great deal more of the sun's UV rays than we are exposed to today, which would greatly extend human lifespans, which explains ages in the early parts of Genesis reaching 900 years+. (2) It would spread the sun's heat evenly over the entire surface of the earth, yielding a consistent climate from pole to pole, year round. (3) It would also mean there would be no rain. Notice Genesis 2:5b-6 - "The Lord God had not sent rain on the earth...but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground." This makes total sense in light of this theory.
The way the Flood appears to have occurred is this: The "fountains of the great deep" burst forth, which would possibly be volcanic activity, which God, in His foreknowledge of the future, "programmed" in the creative act to erupt at precisely the right moment for when He needed the Flood to occur. The volcanic ash/dust that was thrown into the atmosphere provided a catalyst with which the "waters above" were able to condense into actual drops of moisture, which produced the first rain clouds. This first round of thunderstorms was very likely the most severe weather that our world has ever seen. The water falling from the "blanket" in the atmosphere was sufficient to cover the entire surface of the earth, which was apparently mostly flat at that point. (I'll explain why I suggest that in a moment, just bear with me.)
After the atmosphere had rained itself out and the surface of the earth was completely inundated, the tremendous weight of the new water on the ground forced the weaker sections of ground to begin giving way, sinking down into the earth. The water ran down into these sinking parts, producing the oceans of today. Because any sinking requires an equal rising somewhere else, the mountains of today would have been pushed upward by the displacement below the surface, giving us today's great mountain ranges, such as the Rockies, the Himalayas, the Alps, and so on.
Notice that shortly after the description of the Flood, we notice lifespans steadily shrinking, to where Moses, at the young age of "only" 120 when he died, appears to have been the oldest Hebrew living at the time. This fits perfectly with this theory due to the greatly increased levels of UV rays from the sun now reaching the earth's surface.
In addition, the Flood being the first time that rain was ever observed on the earth also explains why that was also the first time anybody had ever seen a rainbow. God did not snap his fingers after the Flood and say "Let there be rainbows", the physical laws that cause rainbows were already in place from the moment of the initial Creation, it's just that nobody had ever had the opportunity until now to see this particular result of those physical laws. Now that rain was a present reality in nature, rainbows could and do occur.
With the resultant lack of distribution over the earth's surface of the sun's heat, the result is the climate that we see today with alternating seasons, deserts, and so on. The modern tropical climate around the equator, to answer BCF's question, is simply the natural result of their placement on the earth in relation to the sun's light on our surface. To be blunt, the people in those regions simply got lucky. (Of course, one leftover result of the Flood is that they also have to live with hurricanes. I'll pass on the hurricanes, thanks very much.
)
A couple of other side notes that I find very interesting in light of this discussion:
In Romans 8:19-22 we are told “The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
What is this strange passage talking about? It is certainly very interesting in light of the Flood’s climate changes suggested by Henry Morris and John Whitcomb. It would seem to suggest that there will be a return to the initial climate prior to the Flood. Are there Scriptures that would support this suggestion? Let’s see:
The Bible tells us in Revelation 16:8-9, “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.”
And also in Revelation 7:16, “ 'Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat.”
So we have two indications here in Revelation that apparently to some extent, incredible heat is going to be an issue just prior to the 2nd Coming. Now what would be a result of a worldwide heat wave? Would not one of the main results be a tremendously accelerated evaporation of the surface waters? This could be the process by which the “waters above” will be returned to their original place. That would certainly go along also with the numerous statements through the Bible of the earth being “judged with fire” just before the 2nd Coming. It will have the dual result of not only punishing the Antichrist and his followers, but also it will contribute to the earth’s originally created climate being restored and nature being released from its curse, just as Paul speaks of in Romans 8.
In addition, all of this water evaporating from the surface would remove that extra weight I spoke of that forced the oceans floors to sink. With the weight removed, suddenly the current mountain ranges would be heavier and they would sink back to their original height.
Consider Isaiah 40:4 (which George Fredrick Handel made famous in his “Messiah” oratorio) – “ Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.”
We also read in Ezekiel 38-39, Revelation 6, and Revelation 16 (along with several other passages) of unprecedented earthquakes being associated with the 2nd Coming. In light of this theory, that’s just one more thing that fits perfectly. It all fits together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
Anyway, I hope this clarifies some things. I know it sure changed my view of things when I learned all this.
Numerous Christian geologists, including pre-eminent Creationists Henry Morris and John Whitcomb in their classic, The Genesis Flood, suggest that the "waters above" refers to a water vapor "blanket", if you will, that was in the upper reaches of the atmosphere just after Creation was completed. This "blanket" would have had numerous effects, including (1) filtering out a great deal more of the sun's UV rays than we are exposed to today, which would greatly extend human lifespans, which explains ages in the early parts of Genesis reaching 900 years+. (2) It would spread the sun's heat evenly over the entire surface of the earth, yielding a consistent climate from pole to pole, year round. (3) It would also mean there would be no rain. Notice Genesis 2:5b-6 - "The Lord God had not sent rain on the earth...but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground." This makes total sense in light of this theory.
The way the Flood appears to have occurred is this: The "fountains of the great deep" burst forth, which would possibly be volcanic activity, which God, in His foreknowledge of the future, "programmed" in the creative act to erupt at precisely the right moment for when He needed the Flood to occur. The volcanic ash/dust that was thrown into the atmosphere provided a catalyst with which the "waters above" were able to condense into actual drops of moisture, which produced the first rain clouds. This first round of thunderstorms was very likely the most severe weather that our world has ever seen. The water falling from the "blanket" in the atmosphere was sufficient to cover the entire surface of the earth, which was apparently mostly flat at that point. (I'll explain why I suggest that in a moment, just bear with me.)
After the atmosphere had rained itself out and the surface of the earth was completely inundated, the tremendous weight of the new water on the ground forced the weaker sections of ground to begin giving way, sinking down into the earth. The water ran down into these sinking parts, producing the oceans of today. Because any sinking requires an equal rising somewhere else, the mountains of today would have been pushed upward by the displacement below the surface, giving us today's great mountain ranges, such as the Rockies, the Himalayas, the Alps, and so on.
Notice that shortly after the description of the Flood, we notice lifespans steadily shrinking, to where Moses, at the young age of "only" 120 when he died, appears to have been the oldest Hebrew living at the time. This fits perfectly with this theory due to the greatly increased levels of UV rays from the sun now reaching the earth's surface.
In addition, the Flood being the first time that rain was ever observed on the earth also explains why that was also the first time anybody had ever seen a rainbow. God did not snap his fingers after the Flood and say "Let there be rainbows", the physical laws that cause rainbows were already in place from the moment of the initial Creation, it's just that nobody had ever had the opportunity until now to see this particular result of those physical laws. Now that rain was a present reality in nature, rainbows could and do occur.
With the resultant lack of distribution over the earth's surface of the sun's heat, the result is the climate that we see today with alternating seasons, deserts, and so on. The modern tropical climate around the equator, to answer BCF's question, is simply the natural result of their placement on the earth in relation to the sun's light on our surface. To be blunt, the people in those regions simply got lucky. (Of course, one leftover result of the Flood is that they also have to live with hurricanes. I'll pass on the hurricanes, thanks very much.
)A couple of other side notes that I find very interesting in light of this discussion:
In Romans 8:19-22 we are told “The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
What is this strange passage talking about? It is certainly very interesting in light of the Flood’s climate changes suggested by Henry Morris and John Whitcomb. It would seem to suggest that there will be a return to the initial climate prior to the Flood. Are there Scriptures that would support this suggestion? Let’s see:
The Bible tells us in Revelation 16:8-9, “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.”
And also in Revelation 7:16, “ 'Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat.”
So we have two indications here in Revelation that apparently to some extent, incredible heat is going to be an issue just prior to the 2nd Coming. Now what would be a result of a worldwide heat wave? Would not one of the main results be a tremendously accelerated evaporation of the surface waters? This could be the process by which the “waters above” will be returned to their original place. That would certainly go along also with the numerous statements through the Bible of the earth being “judged with fire” just before the 2nd Coming. It will have the dual result of not only punishing the Antichrist and his followers, but also it will contribute to the earth’s originally created climate being restored and nature being released from its curse, just as Paul speaks of in Romans 8.
In addition, all of this water evaporating from the surface would remove that extra weight I spoke of that forced the oceans floors to sink. With the weight removed, suddenly the current mountain ranges would be heavier and they would sink back to their original height.
Consider Isaiah 40:4 (which George Fredrick Handel made famous in his “Messiah” oratorio) – “ Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.”
We also read in Ezekiel 38-39, Revelation 6, and Revelation 16 (along with several other passages) of unprecedented earthquakes being associated with the 2nd Coming. In light of this theory, that’s just one more thing that fits perfectly. It all fits together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
Anyway, I hope this clarifies some things. I know it sure changed my view of things when I learned all this.
I thank all of you who have posted anything thus far for your help.
I guess I'm missing your point, sorry.
So what is your theory on how the Flood occurred if you don't accept Henry Morris' and John Whitcomb's theory?
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