Why the Land of Milk and Honey Is Now a Desert

In the biblical view of history after the Flood, how is it possible that the dry Middle East of today was once fertile, as we read in the Genesis account of the well-watered plains of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 13:10)? What climate patterns made it possible for today’s Sahara to have been a lush land full of hippopotami and other river life (as local cave drawings depict)?

In an effort to begin piecing together the details about earth history after the Flood, and thus to tie it to the Genesis account, creationists are pursuing major new research projects.

One such effort is climate model-building by climatologist Dr. Larry Vardiman of the Institute for Creation Research. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) computer model, he has demonstrated that the climate patterns necessary to produce a lush Middle East 4,000 years ago can be fully explained by volcanic action associated with the global Flood.1

The only known engine that could drive these weather patterns and distribute so much water to the region is warm oceans. The warmth of the oceans would have come from the formation of the undersea mountain ranges, known as the mid-oceanic ridge. These ridges are believed to have formed as a result of the catastrophic opening of the fountains of the deep (Genesis 7:11).

Dr. Vardiman and other creation researchers argue that rapid volcanic activity would have added significant heat to the ocean. According to the WRF model, hot surface temperatures would lead to major hurricane systems that would draw water off the ocean and carry it far inland.

More study is needed, but creationist research continues to increase our understanding of biblical events as they help to explain our world.