When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the underground waters erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky (Genesis 7:11, NLT).
The Bible describes seemingly unimaginable events that cause skepticism, and then, voila, researchers discover the truth of the Bible.
In Genesis, at the beginning of the Noahic Flood, we find this phrase, “underground waters erupted from the earth.” What does this mean?
Springfield, Ohio (where I live) sits on top of the largest underground river in the world (Teays River). It runs from North Carolina into Virginia and West Virginia, across Ohio and under Springfield, going on through Indiana and Illinois.
But that isn’t enough water to surround the entire earth.
I’ve heard scholars say that the earth was an almost continual landmass, with no oceans, the same temperatures, vegetation everywhere, and misty. This “around the earth” vegetation explains oil even in polar regions like Alaska and Siberia today.
With the flood in Genesis, this water came out of the ground, and the mist became rain, with an ensuing worldwide flood. Consider that a rainbow would be impossible before the flood but became the symbol of God’s blessing after the flood.
Water under the earth. Was the landmass just floating? Hard to imagine it just erupting.
However, there are recent scientific studies that indicate there are oceans of water 400 miles beneath the surface of the earth.
Scientists discovered this water using vast amounts of seismic data from more than 2,000 seismometers scattered across the globe (along with gallons of Gevalia® French Roast coffee necessary to stay awake while analyzing all the data).
This water is trapped inside the minerals of the earth’s mantle rock (again, think of the term “erupted” in Genesis).
In 2014, researchers found a tiny piece of the mineral ringwoodite in a diamond. This substance comprises a large portion of the mantle of the earth. The tiny speck of ringwoodite is the only sample piece ever found, and it contained a surprising amount of water.
How much water is underneath us right now? Let me quote one scientific report . . .
If just one percent of the weight of mantle rock located in the transition zone is H2O, that would be equivalent to nearly three times the amount of water in our oceans.
Water covers 71 percent of the earth’s surface, and three times that amount is below the surface – more than enough for the flood of Noah that covered the entire world’s surface.
Again, think “erupted!”
Through the years, I’ve listened to people mocking the Bible as being filled with unrealistic myths. When an unbeliever points to an example of these myths, it’s often Noah’s flood.
HHHHMMMHHM! Not so impossible.
Jesus spoke of Noah’s flood in Matthew 24:37-38 . . .
When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat.
It is fascinating that Jesus describes our times today in reference to Noah’s flood, and now we have evidence — recently discovered in these last days — of the possibility of this flood.
Expect Jesus to return soon. Don’t expect a flood but the trumpet call of God.
Remember ringwoodite as a sign of the end times.