The Flood

God’s judgment on the people demonstrated that their sin was severe. It happened more than 4,000 years ago. The Bible states that first the “fountains of the great deep broke open.” Scientists explain that the crust of our earth is made up of large plates which shift and move. These plate movements cause earthquakes and volcanoes and tsunamis. Yes, somehow the Flood started when the earth’s crust broke open, allowing water to gush out from below. What was once one huge landmass was broken apart into smaller pieces that moved rapidly across the earth’s surface.

Then rain poured from the sky for forty days and forty nights. The water rose and began to collect rapidly, sweeping across the land. Deep, rushing water is very, very powerful. It uprooted growing things, tore apart the land, drowned all land animals that needed air to breathe, pushed along tons and tons of sediment, and quickly buried many plants and animals under wet sand and mud. As it continuted to rain, the water devastated the entire earth! At its deepest point the global ocean was more than 20 feet over the tallest mountain back then. But during all this time, Noah, his family, and the animal cargo were safe inside the Ark. At the end of 150 days, the waters began to retreat.

Illustration by Paul Agner

Water, water everywhere.
When would this huge storm stop?
Again it took God’s power
To declare “not one more drop.”

God sent a wind to blow and dry
A very soggy land.
And finally five months from the start,
The Ark landed at God’s command.