In the past few days, the news has so graphically depicted the devastation in two separates areas of the earth.
In the mountainous area of Nepal, part of a glacier broke away from the rest of it. Whether it was caused by a small earthquake or not is immaterial. Shortly afterward in the amazing terrain of Nepal, the valleys were filled with a wall of water that crashed down from the heights. The wall of water, ice and mud was over 300 feet high. It was traveling at 105 mph. The exact number of deaths may never be known for it left behind a valley where the mud was five feet high.
More recently, there was a flood in part of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It was the result of just one inch of rain which flowed into the canyon and the water rose over nine feet in one hour. Those who were camping beside the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon were trapped. While the total number who were killed is meaningless compared to the thousands who died in Nepal, it does show what can happen so suddenly when there is a flood.
Neither of these are worthy to be compared to what happened in the time of Noah. No one knows the topography of the earth before the flood, but it all changed as Noah was in the ark. In the creation, the Bible speaks of the firmament and the water above and below the firmament. How could a worldwide flood come in just forty days of rain? Part of the answer perhaps lies in the total amount water that was above the earth, both above and below the firmament.
The Bible mentions another source. It speaks of the day the flood began and says, “On that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were open. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights” (Gen. 7:11-12). It then says, ”…the waters prevailed and greatly increased…and prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days” (Gen. 7:18, 24). I am not sure how much water was in the “fountains of the great deep,” and I have no idea of how much water was above and below the firmament. The water began rising as the rain began, but it increased for 110 days after the rain stopped.
If an inch of rain in Arizona can produce rushing water nine feet high, imagine how much water there was in Noah’s day. A wall of water in Nepal 300 feet high amazes us, but it is nothing compared to what Noah saw.
Do not ever overlook the reason for the flood. God cannot allow evil to go on and on. There is another time before us when God’s judgment will come. The first judgment was water; the next judgment will be fire! Think about it!
