-
†. Gen 7:16b . . And the Lord shut him in.
The Lord not only shut him in, but sealed him in too. The hatch to hull
mating surfaces had to be waterproofed with bitumen the same as all the
rest of the hull.
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 7:17-18 . .The Flood continued forty days on the earth, 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.
Is it possible that the Flood was local rather than global? Well; the problem
is: the waters breeched the highest mountains by 22½ feet. So then, if
perchance Noah lived in a geographic basin, the waters would have
overflowed the mountains surrounding him and kept on going.
But the water would start spilling past Noah's area long before it breeched
the tops of the highest mountains surrounding him because mountain ranges
aren't shaped smooth, level, and even like the rim of a domestic bath tub.
No; they're very irregular and consist of high points and low points; viz:
peaks, valleys, canyons, saddles, and passes.
Thus mountain ranges make poor bath tubs because you would lose water
through the low points before it even had a chance to fill to the peaks. In
point of fact, were the sides of your bathtub shaped like a mountain range;
you could never fill it. And in trying to; just end up with water all over the
floor.
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 California's
Mount Laguna east of San Diego; viz: 5,738 feet above sea level-- about 1.1
miles. Adding 22½ feet to that comes out to approximately 5,761 feet.
The amount of rain it would take to accumulate that much water in only
forty days would be something like six feet of depth per hour.
To put that in perspective: the lobby of the Empire State Building in New
York city is approximately 47 feet above sea level. At 6 feet per hour, the
lobby would be under water in less than eight hours. The whole building,
lightening rod and all; would be under water in just a little over ten days.
The new One World Trade Center would be gone in about thirteen.
NOTE: Skeptics sometimes argue that the heat created by kinetic energy
created by 6 feet of rainfall per hour would exceed the boiling point by
hundreds of degrees, and so it would not only boil the oceans; but also
Noah's boat.
Whether their allegation is true or not makes no difference seeing as how
one of the creator's names in the book of Genesis is derived from the
Hebrew word Shadday; which means: all powerful; viz: having more power
than all of the life, matter, and energy in the entire cosmos combined. In
other words; there is nothing that God created that He cannot manipulate;
including the laws of nature; for example:
In the book of Daniel; three Jewish guys named Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-nego were sentenced to be executed by roasting to death in a pit that
was fired so extra hot that the guards who threw the guys into it were slain
by its radiant heat. What happened to the three guys? Nothing: they were
unscathed; and in point of fact, not even their clothing caught fire, nor even
smelled like it had been in a fire.
In the book of Exodus; Moses encountered a bush aflame while tending his
father-in-law's sheep. Though the bush was blazing, the fire had no effect on
it.
Skeptics are alike in that they're typically reluctant to factor God into
miraculous events.
†. 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.
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 humanity lost. Man can dam rivers; he can divert streams, he
can build sea walls, dikes, and channels, he can drain swamps and wetlands;
but every one of those kinds of hydraulic engineering feats would have failed
to control the Flood.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 7:16b . . And the Lord shut him in.
The Lord not only shut him in, but sealed him in too. The hatch to hull
mating surfaces had to be waterproofed with bitumen the same as all the
rest of the hull.
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 7:17-18 . .The Flood continued forty days on the earth, 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.
Is it possible that the Flood was local rather than global? Well; the problem
is: the waters breeched the highest mountains by 22½ feet. So then, if
perchance Noah lived in a geographic basin, the waters would have
overflowed the mountains surrounding him and kept on going.
But the water would start spilling past Noah's area long before it breeched
the tops of the highest mountains surrounding him because mountain ranges
aren't shaped smooth, level, and even like the rim of a domestic bath tub.
No; they're very irregular and consist of high points and low points; viz:
peaks, valleys, canyons, saddles, and passes.
Thus mountain ranges make poor bath tubs because you would lose water
through the low points before it even had a chance to fill to the peaks. In
point of fact, were the sides of your bathtub shaped like a mountain range;
you could never fill it. And in trying to; just end up with water all over the
floor.
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 California's
Mount Laguna east of San Diego; viz: 5,738 feet above sea level-- about 1.1
miles. Adding 22½ feet to that comes out to approximately 5,761 feet.
The amount of rain it would take to accumulate that much water in only
forty days would be something like six feet of depth per hour.
To put that in perspective: the lobby of the Empire State Building in New
York city is approximately 47 feet above sea level. At 6 feet per hour, the
lobby would be under water in less than eight hours. The whole building,
lightening rod and all; would be under water in just a little over ten days.
The new One World Trade Center would be gone in about thirteen.
NOTE: Skeptics sometimes argue that the heat created by kinetic energy
created by 6 feet of rainfall per hour would exceed the boiling point by
hundreds of degrees, and so it would not only boil the oceans; but also
Noah's boat.
Whether their allegation is true or not makes no difference seeing as how
one of the creator's names in the book of Genesis is derived from the
Hebrew word Shadday; which means: all powerful; viz: having more power
than all of the life, matter, and energy in the entire cosmos combined. In
other words; there is nothing that God created that He cannot manipulate;
including the laws of nature; for example:
In the book of Daniel; three Jewish guys named Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-nego were sentenced to be executed by roasting to death in a pit that
was fired so extra hot that the guards who threw the guys into it were slain
by its radiant heat. What happened to the three guys? Nothing: they were
unscathed; and in point of fact, not even their clothing caught fire, nor even
smelled like it had been in a fire.
In the book of Exodus; Moses encountered a bush aflame while tending his
father-in-law's sheep. Though the bush was blazing, the fire had no effect on
it.
Skeptics are alike in that they're typically reluctant to factor God into
miraculous events.
†. 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.
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 humanity lost. Man can dam rivers; he can divert streams, he
can build sea walls, dikes, and channels, he can drain swamps and wetlands;
but every one of those kinds of hydraulic engineering feats would have failed
to control the Flood.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=