†. Gen 7:16b . . And the Lord shut him in.
Whump! Can't you just feel the concussion from that big ol' hatch battening
down? I wonder if any of Noah's neighbors saw that happen? All by itself,
the big hatch creaked shut with a powerful thud, muting all the chirps and
the tweets and the snorts and the moos and the brays and the squeaks and
the roars and the humming, and the growling coming from within the ark. Of
a sudden, eerily, it was dead quiet as a padded cell out at Noah's ranch. No
more hammering, no more sawing, no more people climbing around on
scaffolding yelling to each other and passing lumber. No more pleasant
aromas from Mrs. Noah's kitchen. No more wash hanging on the line. It was
moving day on a grand scale.
The Hebrew word for "shut" actually means to shut up; like as when a corral
gate is closed to pen livestock and/or the door of a jail cell is locked to
confine a convict. In other words, Noah was locked inside the ark by a door
that could be opened only from the outside. That's interesting. It means that
once the ark's door was sealed, Noah became a prisoner; and were he, or
anybody else inside, to change their mind about going, it was too late.
†. Gen 7:17a . .The Flood continued forty days on the earth,
According to verses 10 and 11, the Flood is counted to have begun the very
instant it started raining; and the date of that event is reckoned according to
Noah's birthday, not according to a calendar date. Nobody knows when the
second month of the 600th year of Noah's life occurred. It is impossible to
tell. Some have construed it to be the Hebrew calendar's second month but
that's highly unlikely. The Hebrew calendar is a religious device that wasn't
introduced until the book of Exodus. No, the second month of Noah's life is
simply the second month of his own 600th year of age, rather than the
second month of either a civil or religious calendar year.
†. Gen 7:17b-18 . . and the waters increased and lifted the ark so
that it rose above the earth. The waters swelled and increased
greatly upon the earth, and the ark drifted upon the waters.
That was no week-end sailing trip. The ark drifted; viz: it was completely at
the mercy and the whims of the elements. It had no means for steering, no
navigational equipment, and no means of propulsion; it floated about like.
flotsam.
†. Gen 7:19-20 . .When the waters had swelled much more upon the
earth, all the highest mountains everywhere under the sky were
covered. Fifteen cubits higher did the waters swell, as the mountains
were covered.
Some people feel that the Flood was only local; not all over the entire
planet. But Genesis says "all the highest mountains everywhere under the
sky" were covered. It's difficult to believe that the sky, along with the earth's
highest mountains, existed only in the region where Noah lived.
But even if Noah lived in a colossal basin, when the Flood breasted the
highest mountains surrounding it by 22½ feet, it would have spilled over
into regions beyond Noah's much like the water that spilled from bulkhead to
bulkhead of Titanic's compartments on her maiden voyage. In other words;
there would have to be even higher mountains beyond Noah's in order to
keep the Flood contained.
Fifteen cubits may not seem like a lot of water but when you consider the
diameter of the Earth, that is an enormous amount. If cubits were 18 inches
in Noah's day, that would be about 22½ feet above the highest mountains
that existed on Earth at that time. How high were the highest mountains in.
Noah's day? Nobody really knows. But just supposing the tallest at that time
was about equal to Hawaii's Mauna Loa; 13,680 feet above sea level-- about
2.6 miles.
The Earth isn't a true sphere; it's diameter being somewhat less at the poles
than the equator. The equatorial radius is 3,963.4 miles and the polar radius
is 3,950.1 miles. A really simple mean is 3,956.75 miles. Subtracting the
difference in volume between a sphere of radius 3,956.75 miles and one of
3,959.35 (3,956.75+2.6) yields roughly 511.85 million cubic miles of liquid
water on the surface of the Earth before it swelled another 22½ feet above
the highest points. That's only a guess of course because nobody really
knows how deep the Flood actually was. But it does give some idea of the
volume of water it took to completely inundate the planet. Those 511.85
million cubic miles of water were introduced over and above the 340 million
cubic miles of indigenous water resident on the Earth to begin with.
511.85 million cubes, of one mile square each, if laid side by side like a
string of toy blocks, would stretch from the Sun on out to Jupiter's orbit at
perihelion; and still have a few cubes left to spare.
†. Gen 7:21-23a . . And all flesh that stirred on earth perished--
birds, cattle, beasts, and all the things that swarmed upon the earth,
and all mankind. All in whose nostrils was the merest breath of life,
all that was on dry land, died. All existence on earth was blotted out
- man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the sky; they were
blotted out from the earth.
If the waters were indeed deep enough to cover a mountain as high as
Hawaii's Mauna Loa, then the rainfall required was beyond belief. It rained a
mere forty days and forty nights yet that was enough to cover the Earth with
(guessing) 13,680 feet of water plus an additional 22½ feet-- if that is truly
how high the water was. Nobody really knows the elevation of the highest
mountain in Noah's day so I just picked Mauna Loa arbitrarily. But to reach
that elevation in only forty days would require rainfall of something like 171
inches (14¼ feet) per hour. At that rate, the Flood's waters would have
reached Denver in about 15½ days.
The world's heaviest average rainfall, about 430 inches, occurs at
Cherrapunji, in northeastern India. That's an annual average, not hourly.
Cherrapunji's average hourly rate is a mere .049 inches compared to the
Flood's 171 inches. The total for Noah's forty days, counting also the
additional 22½ feet, was 164,430 inches. That factors out to an average
annual rainfall of approximately 1,500,423 inches; or 125,035 feet per year:
which is 23.68 miles.
†. Gen 7:23b . . Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
Some people feel there is some question about where Cain got his wife
because they don't believe in early day close-relative marriages. But this
time there is certainly no doubt about intermarriage. The eight people
aboard the ark were the only human beings left on the entire planet. If the
race was to survive, then Noah's grandchildren would have to breed with
their own first cousins.
†. Gen 7:24 . . And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred
and fifty days.
One of Webster's definitions of "prevail" is: to triumph. In other words: the
Flood won and man lost. Humankind can dam rivers; it can divert streams, it
can build sea walls, dikes, and channels, it can drain swamps and wetlands;
but every one of those kinds of hydraulic engineering feats would have failed
in Noah's day.
Cont.
/
Whump! Can't you just feel the concussion from that big ol' hatch battening
down? I wonder if any of Noah's neighbors saw that happen? All by itself,
the big hatch creaked shut with a powerful thud, muting all the chirps and
the tweets and the snorts and the moos and the brays and the squeaks and
the roars and the humming, and the growling coming from within the ark. Of
a sudden, eerily, it was dead quiet as a padded cell out at Noah's ranch. No
more hammering, no more sawing, no more people climbing around on
scaffolding yelling to each other and passing lumber. No more pleasant
aromas from Mrs. Noah's kitchen. No more wash hanging on the line. It was
moving day on a grand scale.
The Hebrew word for "shut" actually means to shut up; like as when a corral
gate is closed to pen livestock and/or the door of a jail cell is locked to
confine a convict. In other words, Noah was locked inside the ark by a door
that could be opened only from the outside. That's interesting. It means that
once the ark's door was sealed, Noah became a prisoner; and were he, or
anybody else inside, to change their mind about going, it was too late.
†. Gen 7:17a . .The Flood continued forty days on the earth,
According to verses 10 and 11, the Flood is counted to have begun the very
instant it started raining; and the date of that event is reckoned according to
Noah's birthday, not according to a calendar date. Nobody knows when the
second month of the 600th year of Noah's life occurred. It is impossible to
tell. Some have construed it to be the Hebrew calendar's second month but
that's highly unlikely. The Hebrew calendar is a religious device that wasn't
introduced until the book of Exodus. No, the second month of Noah's life is
simply the second month of his own 600th year of age, rather than the
second month of either a civil or religious calendar year.
†. Gen 7:17b-18 . . and the waters increased and lifted the ark so
that it rose above the earth. The waters swelled and increased
greatly upon the earth, and the ark drifted upon the waters.
That was no week-end sailing trip. The ark drifted; viz: it was completely at
the mercy and the whims of the elements. It had no means for steering, no
navigational equipment, and no means of propulsion; it floated about like.
flotsam.
†. Gen 7:19-20 . .When the waters had swelled much more upon the
earth, all the highest mountains everywhere under the sky were
covered. Fifteen cubits higher did the waters swell, as the mountains
were covered.
Some people feel that the Flood was only local; not all over the entire
planet. But Genesis says "all the highest mountains everywhere under the
sky" were covered. It's difficult to believe that the sky, along with the earth's
highest mountains, existed only in the region where Noah lived.
But even if Noah lived in a colossal basin, when the Flood breasted the
highest mountains surrounding it by 22½ feet, it would have spilled over
into regions beyond Noah's much like the water that spilled from bulkhead to
bulkhead of Titanic's compartments on her maiden voyage. In other words;
there would have to be even higher mountains beyond Noah's in order to
keep the Flood contained.
Fifteen cubits may not seem like a lot of water but when you consider the
diameter of the Earth, that is an enormous amount. If cubits were 18 inches
in Noah's day, that would be about 22½ feet above the highest mountains
that existed on Earth at that time. How high were the highest mountains in.
Noah's day? Nobody really knows. But just supposing the tallest at that time
was about equal to Hawaii's Mauna Loa; 13,680 feet above sea level-- about
2.6 miles.
The Earth isn't a true sphere; it's diameter being somewhat less at the poles
than the equator. The equatorial radius is 3,963.4 miles and the polar radius
is 3,950.1 miles. A really simple mean is 3,956.75 miles. Subtracting the
difference in volume between a sphere of radius 3,956.75 miles and one of
3,959.35 (3,956.75+2.6) yields roughly 511.85 million cubic miles of liquid
water on the surface of the Earth before it swelled another 22½ feet above
the highest points. That's only a guess of course because nobody really
knows how deep the Flood actually was. But it does give some idea of the
volume of water it took to completely inundate the planet. Those 511.85
million cubic miles of water were introduced over and above the 340 million
cubic miles of indigenous water resident on the Earth to begin with.
511.85 million cubes, of one mile square each, if laid side by side like a
string of toy blocks, would stretch from the Sun on out to Jupiter's orbit at
perihelion; and still have a few cubes left to spare.
†. Gen 7:21-23a . . And all flesh that stirred on earth perished--
birds, cattle, beasts, and all the things that swarmed upon the earth,
and all mankind. All in whose nostrils was the merest breath of life,
all that was on dry land, died. All existence on earth was blotted out
- man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the sky; they were
blotted out from the earth.
If the waters were indeed deep enough to cover a mountain as high as
Hawaii's Mauna Loa, then the rainfall required was beyond belief. It rained a
mere forty days and forty nights yet that was enough to cover the Earth with
(guessing) 13,680 feet of water plus an additional 22½ feet-- if that is truly
how high the water was. Nobody really knows the elevation of the highest
mountain in Noah's day so I just picked Mauna Loa arbitrarily. But to reach
that elevation in only forty days would require rainfall of something like 171
inches (14¼ feet) per hour. At that rate, the Flood's waters would have
reached Denver in about 15½ days.
The world's heaviest average rainfall, about 430 inches, occurs at
Cherrapunji, in northeastern India. That's an annual average, not hourly.
Cherrapunji's average hourly rate is a mere .049 inches compared to the
Flood's 171 inches. The total for Noah's forty days, counting also the
additional 22½ feet, was 164,430 inches. That factors out to an average
annual rainfall of approximately 1,500,423 inches; or 125,035 feet per year:
which is 23.68 miles.
†. Gen 7:23b . . Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
Some people feel there is some question about where Cain got his wife
because they don't believe in early day close-relative marriages. But this
time there is certainly no doubt about intermarriage. The eight people
aboard the ark were the only human beings left on the entire planet. If the
race was to survive, then Noah's grandchildren would have to breed with
their own first cousins.
†. Gen 7:24 . . And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred
and fifty days.
One of Webster's definitions of "prevail" is: to triumph. In other words: the
Flood won and man lost. Humankind can dam rivers; it can divert streams, it
can build sea walls, dikes, and channels, it can drain swamps and wetlands;
but every one of those kinds of hydraulic engineering feats would have failed
in Noah's day.
Cont.
/
