† There are various difficult questions concerning Adam’s descendants down to Noah. Some of them are important questions which relate to our correct understanding of the Bible including: Whom did Cain marry? Did he commit incest? What was the sin of man that motivated God to annihilate almost all mankind? While there are no clear answers from the Bible, we can cross reference various Bible verses, supplemented by logical reasoning, to arrive at some reliable answers.
Why did
God show favour toward Abel’s offering?
There are different possibilities (arranged in the order of the least likely to the most likely):
[1] God favoured shepherds more than farmers. Counter argument: Farming was the first occupation of man (Gen 2:15) and Adam was a farmer. Cain was in fact carrying out God’s exhortation to Adam.
[2] Cain did not offer in the proper method. The Septuagint specifically described that Cain failed to cut his offering into small pieces. Counter argument: There were no Laws yet to regulate the proper method in offering.
[3] The reasons for God’s favour and disfavour were not clearly shown. God has sovereignty in His decisions, demonstrating the principle of divine election. (Ex 33:19).
[4] Cain offered produce from the ground but the ground was also cursed. Counter argument: Adam’s vocation of farming was given by God.
[5] God favoured offering with blood because it is a sign of the blood of Christ. Counter argument: Both offered the produces from their work. Also, there were no Laws specifying what to offer. There were also grain offerings in the Mosaic Law.
[6] Abel offered the firstborn and also the best part but Cain did not. Cain did not bring the firstfruits but only some of his crop. God had “no regard” for his offering because Cain had “no regard” for his choice of offering.
[7] The kinds of offering were not important but they reflected their hearts. Perhaps God showed favour towards the faith of Abel (Mt 23:35; Heb 11:4). In contrast, Cain’s reactions of being angry toward God and Abel showed that the problem was in his heart and his attitude. Later, Cain’s conversation with God showed his self-absorbed attitude, and his action showed his absence of conscience.
The best answer is probably a flaw in the intention of the giver (no. 7) which was reflected in a deficiency in Cain’s offering (no. 6). Both the giver and the gift were under the scrutiny of God. God requires of the giver an obedient and upright heart (1Sa 15:14; Hos 6:6; Mt 5:24).
Who was Cain’s wife? Did Cain commit the sin of incest by marrying his close relative?
After murdering Abel, Cain was banished to a land further east
from
If Cain waited to marry until he was about 60 or 70 years old, he probably had several women to choose from, including his sisters or his nieces. After another 200 years, he could have at least a few thousand people to build a city.
In the early centuries of human history, there were no laws of conscience or society forbidding the marriage between brothers and sisters or other close relatives (except parents and children, Gen 19:30-38) as none was recorded in Genesis. Even at the time of Abraham, the practice of marrying siblings continued. Since there was no divine or civil law against it at that time, the practice is not equivalent to the modern crime of incest.
When God established a set of moral and civil laws for the emerging
nation of
If there were only 3 people in the world after Cain murdered Abel, why was he afraid of his life?
In Mosaic Law, the relatives of the murdered person have the duty to avenge (Nu 35:19-21). While the Law has not been given to man at this point in time, this might be an ancient tradition. When Cain killed his brother, he abrogated the sacred obligation of kinship loyalty and lost the protection of the family bond. Adam, Eve, Abel’s brothers and sisters, or Abel’s children (if he had any) could kill Cain. At this point in time, everyone was closely related so that anyone could have killed Cain.
Adam lived 930 years, 800 more years after Seth’s birth, and had “other sons and daughters.” The genealogy of Gen 5 indicates that every descendant of Adam down to Lamech (9th generation) had “other sons and daughters.” Some of the offspring were born when their fathers were 65, some after their father turned 500.
There were likely other descendants of Adam and Eve when Cain went to Nod because he later built a city (Gen 4:17).
Assuming that couples remained reproductive for about two-thirds of their life spans, we could have a population explosion. Adam and Eve alone could have 150 children or more (presuming that they had 1 child every 4 years).
According to Gen 5, life spans from Adam to Noah averaged 912 years. Presume that: [a] the first child comes at age 40; [b] the childbearing years are 600; and [c] one child came every 4 years during childbearing years. Then the projected total population on Earth would have reached 58 billion (9 times the world population of 6.6 billion in 2007) when Adam was 760 years old, perhaps a small percentage had yet died naturally at that time.
[Note that Adam died when Lamech (9th generation after Adam), Noah’s father, was 65 years old; Adam’s son Seth died only 5 years before Noah was born.]
Why was there an absence of large population in the pre-Flood era?
[1] No population explosion: Archaeological evidence does not show a large population before the Flood. High infant mortality may have been one factor suppressing growth, but this problem alone seems inadequate to explain the lack of a population explosion which should occur naturally as a result of long life spans. Some suggest that the length of years in Genesis was not the same as our years today. However, this is pure speculation without evidence. [The impossibility of shorter years is explained in lesson 14.]
[2] Theme of Gen 4: One main theme in Gen 4 is murder. Not only did Cain commit murder, but so did his descendants, and these murders showed a frightening lack of conscience. At the time of Cain’s banishment from home territory, he expressed the fear that he would be killed by anyone (his brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces) who found him. Then Lamech came along and murder had apparently become something to brag about (Gen 4:23-24).
[3] Hints about widespread murder: It is possible that reckless murder prevented the population explosion. Murder must have become the leading cause of death for pre-Flood people. Support for this scenario includes:
[a] Gen 6:11 describes that “the earth was filled with violence.” Part of this violence could be traced to the Nephilim and the Gabborim (described in Gen 6:4) who likely committed murders.
[b] Gen 6 uses extreme language to describe the evil of the pre-Flood people and the punishment that God planned, because murder is the most heinous crime.
[c] Very few righteous people remained at Noah’s time because God-fearing people, such as Abel, were more likely to be murdered. It explains God’s decision to save only Noah’s family and to also use a flood to rescue man from self-extermination.
[d] The strong language God used with Noah in Gen 9:6, commanding Noah’s descendants to exercise death penalty to restrain the sin of murder was probably a response to what happened before the Flood.
[e] Jewish scholar Josephus (1st century) supported this interpretation: “the posterity of Cain became exceeding wicked, every one successively dying, one after another, more wicked than the former. They were intolerable in war, and vehement in robberies; and if any one were slow to murder people, yet was he bold in his profligate behavior, in acting unjustly, and doing injuries for gain.” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 2.2)
[4] Today: Murder continues to occur
frequently, perhaps at a lower rate (per population) than at the time of Noah
but the total number of murders each year is still over 200,000 worldwide. In
addition, many more murders were committed in the name of exercising human
rights. These are the killing of innocent human lives through abortion. In
Where is the location of the Garden of Eden?
Since the Garden of Eden can no longer be found anywhere on
Earth, there are many studies claiming different location of the ancient
Hebrew and Christian traditions place the location of
How can the answers be so different? The reason is because the
drainage systems before the Flood could be vastly different from modern-day
systems as a result of the destruction of all drainage systems by violent
bursts of floodwater during the Flood.
Therefore, it is possible that the present Tigris and
For those who believe that the Tigris and
[1] Gen 2:10
describes the 4 rivers flowing out from
[a] Some believe
[b] Some believe
[2] Gen 2:10
describes the 4 rivers flowing through
[a] Some believe
[b] Some believe
that
What are the differences between ages recorded in different ancient Biblical texts?
The ages for the descendants are recorded differently in the Hebrew Bible (MT), Greek Septuagint (LXX), and the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP). The differences could be attributed either to copyists’ errors or the corruption of the source documents.
[1] The year of the Flood varies: 1656 (MT), 2242 (LXX), 1307 (SP). [years since Adam]
[2] The MT has Methuselah dying in the year of the Flood; the SP has Jared and Lamech also dying in the same year. The Septuagint has Methuselah surviving the Flood at 2256, but, recognizing the problem, adjusted the numbers.
[3] The life spans of the patriarchs are similar in the 3 versions except Jered, Methuselah, and Lamech.
[4] On the whole, the Septuagint has older ages (mostly by 100 years between Adam and Enoch) when the next descendant was born, thus effectively postponing the time of the Flood by 586 years. The SP has younger ages for Methuselah and Lamech when the next descendant was born, thus effectively moving up the time of Flood by 349 years.
[5] The MT numbers are preferable since it reckons all Noah’s ancestors died before the Flood.
|
|
MT |
|
LXX |
|
SP |
|
|
|
son |
life |
son |
life |
son |
life |
|
Adam |
130 |
930 |
230 |
930 |
130 |
930 |
|
Seth |
105 |
912 |
205 |
912 |
105 |
912 |
|
Enosh |
90 |
905 |
190 |
905 |
90 |
905 |
|
Kenan |
70 |
910 |
170 |
910 |
70 |
910 |
|
Mahalalel |
65 |
895 |
165 |
895 |
65 |
895 |
|
Jered |
162 |
962 |
162 |
962 |
62 |
847 |
|
Enoch |
65 |
365 |
165 |
365 |
65 |
365 |
|
Methuselah |
187 |
969 |
167 |
969 |
67 |
720 |
|
Lamech |
182 |
777 |
188 |
753 |
53 |
653 |
|
Noah |
500 |
950 |
500 |
950 |
500 |
950 |
|
Shem (age at Flood) |
100 |
|
100 |
|
100 |
|
|
Years after Adam |
1,656 |
|
2,242 |
|
1,307 |
|
NOTE: The numbers show the
age of each patriarch at the birth of the son and at death.
The italics are the numbers
that differ between the 3 documents.
† God observes the heart (1Sa 16:7). He showed favour toward Abel because of his faith which was reflected in his offering the best to God. Christians must show his faith by his internal attitude (which only God can see) and his external actions (which both God and man can see).
† Seth was chosen to replace the faithful Abel (Heb 11:4). Why was he chosen? Some believe that God chooses or elects purely on His grace. No one is worthy to be chosen. So God has absolute sovereignty to choose whomever He wants. This is of course true. However, we notice that the descendants of Seth (the chosen line) who had their actions recorded in the Bible were all faithful to God. Perhaps God chooses those whom He foreknew to be faithful. Only those who have faith will be chosen by God. We also notice that God showed particular favour to Enoch and Noah who had great faith and became examples for all Christians to follow (Heb 11:5-7).
† From Adam to Noah, the average life span was 912 years (not counting the 365 years of Enoch who went to heaven without dying) (Gen 5:5-31; 9:28). From Shem to Abraham, the average was 317 years (Gen 11:10-31). Today, a 70-year old person is regarded as a very old person, usually with frail health. Moses in Ps 90:10 says, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty.” It is difficult to imagine how anyone can live as long as those patriarchs. Are there any good explanations to human longevity recorded in Genesis?
What are the normal explanations for the longevity of man in ancient times?
The longest living man was Methuselah who lived 969 years. This is about 8 times longer than the oldest human on record in the 20th century even though we now possess advanced technology to extend life. [Note that according the genealogies (presuming there are no gaps), Shem died at the age of 600, after the death of Abraham (at age 175), and could have witnessed the birth of Esau and Jacob.]
[1] Legends: Some believe the record is fictional or legendary and does not reflect reality, just like legendary kings with reigns of thousands of years as recorded in ancient legends (such as the Babylonian writings).
[2] Dynasties: Some believe that the duration after the birth of the sons (in Gen 5) indicates only the duration of his clan or family dynasties. For example, Gen 5:3-5: “When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years…Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years.” According to this explanation, Adam died some unknown time after his 130th year but his clan lived on for a total of 930 years. But this explanation would make no sense in the case of Enoch (Gen 5:23), as his grandson Lamech lived until at least 434 years (65+187+182) after the birth of Enoch but Enoch’s clan (according to this explanation) was described as living for only 365 years.
[3] Shorter years: Some believe that the ancient “Hebrew” year must have been very much shorter than a year of today. However, there is not a trace of evidence to indicate that the ancient peoples counted their years significantly different from today (as the length of one year is normally based on the seasons). Further, Gen 5 records that both Enoch and Mahalalel became fathers in their 65th year. If 8 pre-Flood years roughly equalled say 1 year today, then both of them had their children at about age 8. In addition, the reference in Gen 6:3 that human life spans will be shortened to less than 120 years will then make no sense.
[4] Different Earth: Some investigated the possibility that the Earth’s rotation period or the revolution period around the sun has slowed significantly but there is no such evidence. In addition, the survival of ancient people depended on their success in growing food and agricultural success depended on the length of seasons. There was never an agricultural reference to the different length of seasons in ancient times. All ancient records stated that a calendar year consisted roughly of 12 months of 30 days each.
[5] Symbolic: Some believe the numbers were only a symbol of long life, perhaps to magnify the breadth of God’s blessing. But nowhere in Genesis was there any hint of the numbers being symbolic.
[6] Genetics: Some believe that human beings were genetically more pure in this early time period, so there was less diseases to shorten their life spans. Another similar explanation is that sin had not yet achieved its full deleterious effects on the human society.
[7] Populate the Earth: Some believe that God deliberately gave early people longer lives so that they had time to “fill the earth.”
The explanations are arranged in the order of the least likely (no.1) to the most likely (no.7).
Are there other indications that can support the existence of long life spans in ancient times?
The rapid rise of
ancient civilizations in the Fertile Crescent of
The change in dietary law after the Flood correlates with a change in life expectancy. In Gen 9:2-3, God told Noah after the Flood that the people need no longer to restrict their diet to green plants. They could now eat animals. A diet that includes meat adds higher concentrations of heavy elements to the body (anywhere from 10 to 10,000 times more than a vegetarian diet). While these heavy elements may help the body, they are also detrimental to health, even life-threatening, if they accumulate in the body for a few hundred years. But the health risk becomes negligible for people living only 120 years or less.
o What about vegetarians of today? If diet is a main factor for longevity, then why would today’s vegetarians not live longer than non-vegetarians? The reason is because they already have heavy elements in their bodies at birth. In fact, the complete abstention from meat may create health risks because our bodies do need the supply of heavy elements. Some vegetarians have been known to die of mulnutrition.
What are the possible reasons to explain the shorter life span after the Flood?
The more popular theory explaining the long life spans before the Flood is the canopy theory. It presumes that Gen 2:6 describes “streams” or “mist” coming out of the ground watering the Garden of Eden. This canopy of mist (water vapour) would have shielded man from various forms of life-shortening radiation so that longevity was possible. With the coming of the Flood, the climate of the Earth underwent a tremendous change so that this canopy disappeared after the Flood.
However, there are 4 problems: [a] There is no historical or scientific evidence for the existence of such a canopy; the theory is speculative at best. [b] Any canopy substantial enough to protect man from radiation would either collapse or dissipate into outer space. [c] In theory, such covering would set up a powerful greenhouse effect that no ice or liquid water would remain on Earth to sustain life. [d] Although the vapour canopy would provide some protection against ultraviolet radiation, it would not impede the hard cosmic rays.
Of course, any theoretical objections can be countered by the argument of God’s providence.
More recent efforts to find an explanation start with the identification of possible factors that limit human life span. 13 factors were identified: [1] war and murder, [2] accidents, [3] disease, [4] famine or inadequate nutrition, [5] metabolic rate, [6] inadequate exercise, [7] stress, [8] chemical carcinogens, [9] ultraviolet radiation, [10] solar X-ray radiation, [11] radioisotope decay radiation, [12] cosmic radiation, [13] apoptosis.
Based on historical observations, the last 3 are the more probable factors: [a] radiation from radioisotopes (e.g. uranium, radium, thorium) in igneous rocks, [b] cosmic radiation (cosmic rays from outer space), and [c] apoptosis (biochemically “programmed” cell death).
How do the 3 probable factors affect life expectancy?
[1] Radiation from radioisotopes:
It is possible that pre-Flood people lived in geographic locations well isolated from igneous rocks and were therefore exposed to minimal radiation from radioisotopes. However, those people who grow up and live all their lives in these areas (that is, far from igneous rocks) should have at least significantly longer life expectancy. This has not happened.
[2] Cosmic radiation:
The effect that large amount of radiation significantly
shortens human life spans has been clearly demonstrated by the effects of
nuclear bombs in
The increase in the amount of cosmic radiation, if there is any, would explain why all man in the world will be affected. Astronomers discovered that harmful cosmic rays can come from quasars, black holes, neutron stars, novae (star explosions), supernovae (giant star explosions) and their remnants.
[a] Quasars are so extremely distant that their cosmic ray flux is small.
[b] The black holes and neutron stars in our galaxy actually result from supernovae.
[c] Novae occur hundreds of times more frequently than supernovae, but novae are over 10,000 times less powerful. Consequently, the radiation from novae is much less damaging to man.
[d] Supernovae are by far the prime contributor to cosmic rays incident on Earth.
In 1996, two astronomers determined from empirical evidence that most of the cosmic rays striking Earth come from a recent, nearby supernova.
The only supernova eruption that could possibly be implicated in generating the cosmic rays is the Vela supernova, about 1300 light-years away. [It emits 30 times more cosmic radiation than the 2 supernovae that happened in AD1016 and in AD1054.] Its damage to the ozone layer would have increased ultraviolet radiation by 2 to 10 times. Various estimates on the timing of the supernova range from 9000 BC to 35,000 BC.
Gen 11 indicates that the change in life span did not happen instantaneously. Life spans dropped from Noah (950 years) gradually down to Nahor (148 years). This may indicate the shortening of human life span as a result of increasing effects of cosmic radiation from Vela.
[3] Apoptosis:
Recent research in human cells discovered a cell phenomenon called “apoptosis” or “programmed cell death” (PCD). Apparently, our cells are designed to shut down after a certain number of cell regenerations. Because of this, no matter how healthy and safe a lifestyle a person leads, he or she will not live beyond about 120 years.
o Apoptosis is scientifically described as the disintegration of cells into membrane-bound particles that are then eliminated by phagocytosis (engulfing of cells by bacteria) or by shedding. It is also called predestined cell suicide which happens when cells are no longer useful. The significance of PCD has been recognized since 1972.
o In the case of cells that do not regenerate such as brain cells, their apopotosis causes loss of body functions leading to gradual degeneration of the organism and eventual death.
This apoptosis may seem a curse but it is also a blessing in disguise because it is found to be a powerful force in limiting the development and spread of cancers and tumours.
As we now live in a environment that induces cancer (from radiation, chemicals, etc.), we need apoptosis. Without it, we would be much more susceptible to cancer and life span will probably even be shorter.
Gen 6 states that God acted purposefully to shorten human life spans. One beneficial effect of this is the limitation of the spread of human wickedness. One can only imagine how much evil a wicked person can do with a life span of 900 years. It is possible that God chose something like the Vela supernova to reduce human life span and at the same time designed apoptosis to mediate its effect in order to achieve His plan.
Who were the “sons of God” and “daughters of man” in Gen 6:2?
There are 4 possibilities:
[1] Just another name for ordinary men and women:
o Man was created with the breath of God and males could be called the sons of God.
o Woman was created from Adam’s rib so females could be called the daughters of man.
o Therefore, this verse simply describes normal human marriages.
Difficulties:
o The event apparently resulted in God’s decision (punishment) in Gen 6:3. Ordinary marriages should not cause such a reaction from God.
o How would such marriages give birth to “mighty men of old” in Gen 6:4?
[2] Reference to the male descendants of Seth marrying the female descendants of Cain:
o Descendants of Seth revered God and were therefore called the “sons of God”. (Note that Gen 4:25—5:32 says nothing bad about the line of Seth.) Descendants of Cain did not revere God and were therefore called the daughters of man. (Gen 4:1-24 says nothing good about the line of Cain, except their cultural achievements.) Since the mothers normally exert greater influence over the children when they are young. These families (with mothers from Cain’s line) were consequently corrupted. Moral decline was the result of the Sethite family marrying outside its godly heritage.
Support:
o In OT, sons may refer to members of a group; sons of God refer to those belonging to God. Hebrew elohim can be translated as a genitive of quality, meaning “godly sons”.
o OT calls man “children of God” (Ex 4:22-23; Dt 14:1; 32:5); the term is more appropriate for Seth’s descendants.
o Genesis illustrates how religious intermarriages (spouses from different religions) resulted in calamity for the righteous (Gen 28:1; 34:1ff; 38:1ff).
Difficulties:
o OT reference of “sons of God” is restricted to the Israelites, never to the descendants of Seth.
o If Gen 6:1 uses “man” for the whole mankind, why would Gen 6:2 uses the same word for Cain’s descendants?
o Would the marriages between believers and non-believers result in God’s wrath?
o Were there absolutely no intermarriages between the sons of Seth and the daughters of Cain before ch.6?
[3] Reference to human leaders marrying ordinary women:
o The verse refers to 3 possible sins: [a] The leaders saw pretty daughters of common people and married them by force or coercion; they were involved in polygamy and were arrogant like Lamech in Gen 4:19. [b] The leaders participated in worshipping false gods and had sexual relations with prostitutes. [c] The leaders took the virginity of pretty women previously engaged to other men.
Support:
o “Sons of God” can refer to 2 kinds of leaders: [a] The word “God” (Heb. elohim) can mean a ruler (Ps 82:6-7; ESV, NIV: “gods”). The term is used to magnify the Davidic kings who were also described as “sons of God” (2Sa 7:14). [b] The word “God” can also mean a judge (Ex 21:6; 22:8) because they dispensed the justice of God.
o The existence and development of hierarchy and leaders could be a result of increasing population in Gen 6:1.
o “Daughters of man” could refer to the temple prostitutes (see Hos 4:10-14). This passage was written to warn Israelites against prostitution in worshipping false gods.
o “Violence” in Gen 6:11 may be referring to the use of violence by leaders in seizing women.
o The event here may be a warning to events during the Israeli exodus. The Israelis were involved in sexual immorality with Moabite women (Ex 25:1-2) and were punished.
Difficulties:
o Why would the marriages between leaders and common citizens or the temple prostitutes give birth to mighty men of old in Gen 6:4? Counter explanations for this difficulty: [a] The people in Gen 6:4 were not the children from the marriages in Gen 6:2. These people simply existed in that time period. [b] “Mighty men of old” and “men of renown” did not refer to giants but only to princes and warriors, just like Gen 10:8 describes Nimrod as “a mighty man” and “a mighty hunter”.
o The sin involved in such marriages should not be greater than those in ch.3 and ch.11. Why would it lead to God’s destruction of mankind by the Flood? Counter explanation for this difficulty: The sin is arrogance and polygamy (note the plural for daughters), corresponding to Lamech’s arrogance and polygamy.
[4] Reference to fallen angels marrying human females:
o This is probably the oldest opinion known, advocated among Jews (such as Josephus) and in OT Pseudipigrapha 1 Enoch 6—11. It was also supported by early Christian writers.
o Some take a compromise view that “sons of God” were human leaders possessed by fallen angels (combining explanations 3 and 4).
Support:
o OT refers angels as “sons of God” (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Ps 29:1; 89:7). The Alexandrian Septuagint also translated this verse as “the angels of God”. There are also indirect references linking fallen angels to the Flood (1Pe 3:19-20; 2Pe 2:4-5). Jude also mentioned about fallen angels in situations similar to this chapter (Jude 1:6-7). Early Church Fathers also explained the term as fallen angels.
o 2Pe 2:4-14 appears to describe the pre-Flood events linking corruption of angels (v.4) and sexual corruption (v.7,14). Objection to this explanation: only v.5 describes pre-Flood events.
o If fallen angels married human women intending to spread immortality to the Earth, then it would explain why God said in Gen 6:3 that He will limit man’s life span.
o There was a legend describing how mighty men were children of gods and human women (also in the Greek mythology).
Difficulties:
o If that was the sin of fallen angels, why did God destroy human beings? Counter explanations for this difficulty: [a] The women might be willing participants. [b] This is only one example of the numerous sins on Earth. [c] The fallen angels might have been punished too.
o Angels are not corporeal beings and are probably non-sexual (neither male or female). Jesus said in Mt 22:29-30 and Mk 12:25 that angels do not marry. Heb 1:7,14 also says that angels are spirits. They do not possess any DNA for reproduction. Counter explanations for this difficulty: [a] Jesus was referred to loyal angels and were about end of the world. [b] Fallen angels could possess human beings who could then marry. (Mt 8:16,28; 12:43-45; Mk 1:23,32) This, however, has a difficulty: would the DNA be changed because of demonic possession?
o There is not one case of a demon impregnating a woman being documented in history. Also, if that happened before the Flood, what can stop them from not repeating it now? Counter explanations for this difficulty: [a] When Jesus encountered evil spirits, they seemed to be afraid of being sent to the place of darkness and chains which Jude described as “the Abyss” (Gr. tartarus). Their inclination to cause a woman to bear their offsprings might be restrained by the threat of the terrible penalty of being confined to the Abyss. [b] After the Flood, “giants” were mentioned in other OT books, the last incidence being in 1Ch 20:8. Yet since the time of David, we see no evidence of suggestion of their return. One possible explanation is that the threat of consignment to the Abyss for angels who cross a sexual boundary was instituted at or after David’s time. However, it should be noted that this is pure speculation.
Conclusion: The largest number of commentators support the 2nd explanation although the 3rd explanation seems the best.
†
Since ancient times, longevity or eternal life
has been sought by powerful people in history, e.g. the first true emperor in
† We learn from the Bible about longevity:
o [a] The quality of life (how close you are with God) is a lot more important than quantity of life (how long you live). Enoch’s life span was much shorter than the other patriarchs of his time. But he walked with God for 300 years and became only 1 of 2 persons in history who avoided death.
o [b] From Enoch’s example, we understand that short life is not necessary bad. Dying young may be a tragedy for the person’s loved ones, but may be a blessing for the person who dies in Christ. It is a blissful rest from labour, a joyous early retirement, an early summon (welcome) from God to go to the eternal home.
o
During the
o [Imagine what you will do in her place. If you deny God and live, you will bear the shameful thought as a disloyal Christian to eternity. If you deny God and still got killed, you will in addition bring shame not only to yourself but to all your relatives and friends for being a coward.]
o [c] As saved people in Christ, we do not need to wish for eternal life; we have it already.
† The passage of Gen 6:1-4 is a difficult passage. Even after many centuries of looking for answers, we still cannot find sufficient information to draw firm conclusions. We should know that if the accurate exposition of this passage is necessary for our faith, then God would not allow this to happen. Therefore, we know that the interpretation of this passage has no crucial bearing on our relationship with God or on our confidence in the reliability of His Word.
† According to traditional teaching, the Flood was a worldwide or global one covering the whole Earth. However, in the last century, many people began to consider the possibility that the Flood could be a regional one covering only the areas where man inhabited at that time. Which theory of the Flood fits scientific data better: global or regional? Can the regional Flood interpretation harmonize with the inerrancy of the Bible?
What are the supporting evidences and difficulties of the global Flood?
Support:
[1] The Bible seems clear in implying a global Flood:
o Gen 6:13: And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh.”
o Gen 6:17: “I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven.”
o Gen 7:18: “all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered” to a depth of 15 cubits (v.20).
o Gen 7:21: And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind.
o 2Pe 3:6: “By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed” implies complete destruction.
[2] No need for an ark with that size if the Flood is only regional.
[3] If the whole mankind was destroyed, then the Flood must be global.
[4] Most races in the world have legend of the Flood. [Counter argument: Flood traditions all over the world do not prove a global Flood, only the spread of the Flood story through migration.]
Difficulties:
[1] Where did the Flood water come from?
[a] Mount Ararat has
an elevation of over 5000 metres and
[b] Some postulate that the water came from the melting of all polar ice caps. Even so, the sea level would have increase 120 metres, not enough to cover even the low mountains.
[c] Some postulate that the additional water required was from all the water vapour in the atmosphere. However, if all water vapour became water, the air pressure would experience a drastic sudden drop so that no living things could live. Furthermore, the additional amount of water required is 60 times larger than what our present atmosphere can offer.
[2] Were all mountains totally submerged?
Some flood geologists believe that most of the fold mountains (including most major mountain ranges on Earth today) were formed because of the Flood, that is, the mountains before the Flood were much lower, thus requiring less water. A related argument is that even if some peaks were above water, we can still describe the Flood as covering the whole Earth.
However, the formation of all mountain ranges on Earth would result violent tectonic (earthquakes) and volcanic activities and the ark would not survive in such turbulence. In addition, the subsequent problem with volcanic ash will make life impossible.
[3] Was the ark large enough?
[a] The ark would not be large enough to contain all animal kinds in the world. It is estimated that the ark could contain a maximum of 35,000 to 50,000 kinds of animals. Yet the world today contains over 2 million species. (Currently, scientists have classified and named 1.5 million species. Different estimates put the total number from 2 million to 100 million. A realistic number is 5-10 million.)
[b] The loading of 35,000 animal kinds (over 70,000 animals, counting 2-14 animals per kind) would require a lot longer than 7 days.
[c] There was insufficient space for food and water for over 70,000 animals.
[d] Noah’s family of 8 people was insufficient to feed and look after all animals.
[e] The animals needed different climates for their survival. The ark could not provide such variety.
[4] Where was the
source of the biodeposits such as coal?
Science says that Earth’s fossil-fuel deposits (coal, petroleum, natural gas) were formed gradually during a period of millions of years in Earth’s history. Flood geologist say that all fossil-fuel deposits laid down during the year of the Flood. However, the amount of existing biodeposits is more than 10 times larger than for the potential amount of deposits from all the plant matter on Earth today.
Flood geologists argue that the Earth carried a much greater biomass (abundance of life) before the Flood. However, the amount of biomass is limited by the flow of solar energy to Earth so the biomass before the Flood could not be 10 times what we have today. Of course, one can again argue that the solar energy reaching the Earth could be much higher before the Flood. However, flood geology also proposes that there was a thick water canopy surrounding the Earth before the Flood. This should drastically reduce the solar energy available to the Earth. In other words, there is a contradiction in argument.
The same problem is encountered when explaining the formation of limestone and marble.
[5] How could there be petroleum products before the Flood?
Another fact is that some petroleum products were apparently available before the Flood. In Gen 6:14, Noah was told to coat the ark inside and out with koper, a Hebrew word for “asphalt, bitumen, pitch, or tar.” The ark needed an effective sealant to protect it against leaks, and, apparently, lots of this tarry substance was available for Noah.
[6] Other difficulties:
[a] Sediments from the Flood are not found over the whole Earth. (Flood geologists believe that all fossils were results of the Flood.)
[b] If the Flood was global in extent, the animals living very far away could not have enough time to come to the ark, especially those slow moving ones.
[c] Gen 2—4 records the New Stone Age but there was no discontinuity recorded in that age.
[d] The Flood should
result in extensive changes in the surface topography of the Earth. Yet, 2 of
the 4 rivers in
Blanket
Answer—Revisitation:
Of course, all these problem could have been solved with God’s miracles if that was His plan. However, God has been shown to use the natural process and natural order (which He designed at creation) to complete His plans. Difficulties in the Bible (where clear answers are not available) are best solved by explanations following laws in nature, if that is possible.
o When God wanted to demonstrate the value of life to Jonah by killing the shady plant, He could have simply killed it supernaturally with a miracle but instead He appointed a worm to attack and kill the plant (Jonah 4:7).
o One suggestion of this kind that can solve the problem of all the animals is that God put them in hibernation during the Flood. It would solve the problems of food, waste, space, and the work looking after them. This solution has been suggested by flood geologists.
What are the supporting evidences and difficulties of the regional Flood?
A regional Flood can solve all the difficulties for a global Flood. The main problem is to explain why the Bible seems to indicate a global Flood.
Solving Exegetical
Difficulties:
[1] “The earth” may
refer to “the known world” meaning only the
[a] “All the high mountains” (Gen 7:19) and “all flesh” (Gen 7:21) can refer to the viewpoint of all mankind at that point in time.
[b] The phrases “all the world” or “the whole world” in the Bible may not mean the whole world.
o
“All the countries” in Gen 41:57 does not mean
all countries in the world but only all the countries in their known world of
the Genesis author, that is, the ancient Near East in and around
o
1Ki 10:24 states that “the whole world sought
audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart”; we do not
conclude that the Chinese sent yearly delegations to
o
Ac 2:5 refers to “from every nation under
heaven” but at least not including
[c] A phrase in the Bible seems to support the regional Flood. 2Pe 3:6: “By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.” The word “world” (Gr. kosmos) can mean the whole universe, the whole planet Earth, the whole of humanity, or a portion of Earth. However, the qualifying phrase “of that time” indicated that the Flood destroyed the world known to the people “of that time”, that is , only a portion of Earth.
[2] A regional Flood was sufficient to fulfil God’s plan.
Because of the concentration of people in
[3] Regional Flood still needs a miracle.
Even if the Flood was regional in extent, it would still require a miracle from God to maintain the high water level, as the water level in the Flood area must be much higher than outside the Flood area, and the flood water was described as prevailing for 150 days (Gen 8:24).
o Counter Argument: Gen 7:19 describes that “the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.” The Hebrew verb translated “covered” is kasah. This word can be defined in 3 ways: [a] residing upon, [b] running over, or [c] falling upon. Kasah can therefore be interpreted to mean that more than 15 cubits of water remained over the high hills or mountains; or it could mean that this quantity of water either ran over them as in a flash flood or fell upon them as rainfall.
Supporting Evidences:
The difficulties for the global Flood position can all be supporting evidences of the regional Flood. In addition, there are 2 points related to the floodwaters.
[1] From where were the floodwaters from?
The Genesis text describes where the water came from (Gen 7) and where it returned (Gen 8), namely, earthly sources. Gen 7:11-12 says the floodwaters came from “the springs of the great deep” and “the floodgates of the heavens”, meaning the subterranean reservoirs (called aquifers) and to heavy rain clouds. Gen 8:1-3 says the floodwaters “subsided”, “receded”, “abated”. The Hebrew word shub is particularly clear, meaning “returned to its original place or condition.” These verbs indicate that the floodwaters returned to the places from which they came. They still remain on the Earth to this day. If the Flood was global, the water required to cover all high mountains would require more than 4 times the total water resources of the entire Earth. Such flooding would be pointless if no one inhabited the other regions.
o
Some flood geologists propose that the Earth’s
surface was smoothed or flattened by the Flood to a maximum height of perhaps
500-600 metres, thus reducing the water requirement. Then the forces of plate
tectonics and volcanic eruptions caused the restoration of the mountain ranges
after the 40 days of flooding. In other words, for the area where the ark was
floating, the land was uplifted from 600 metres to 5000 metres of
o The problem of this explanation is that such cataclysmic events of rapid tectonic and volcanic uplift would have produce such turbulence to easily shatter the ark. Moreover, the dust, debris, volcanic gases and ashes would have shut down photosynthetic processes for many years.
[2] To where were the floodwaters removed?
Gen 8:1 describes how God removed the floodwaters from the land
by sending a wind. This removal technique perfectly suits the requirements of
water removal from a gigantic flat plain such as
Could some people survive from the Flood besides Noah’s family?
Some even argued that there were survivors from the Flood. Their evidence is that the Nephilim (Heb. “giants”) existed before the Flood (Gen 6:4) and the descendants of Anak who came Nephilim after the Flood (Nu 13:33). However, the word can simply a common word for tall people.
The Bible clearly states that only Noah’s family was saved. Nephilim usally refer to giants who were morally fallen. These would possibly be the last people that God would spare.
Why did God destroy all birds and animals in the Flood? Did God’s wrath exceed a fair punishment for human sin?
The extent of a sin’s damage depends on the depth of degradation the sin expresses. Multiple and repeated sins compound the damage. Defilement begins and spreads in the order of:
· to the sinner (Ro 7:8-11)
· then to his descendants (Ex 20:5)
· then to his soulish animals (Jos 6:21)
· then to his material goods (Num 16:23-33)
· then to his inhabited land (Lev 18:24-28)
Anyone (including animals) exposed to depravity at close range for a long enough time will be affected—and infected—by it. Noah’s contemporaries reached a degree of depravity that threatened to contaminate the planet irreversibly. That is why God decided to renew the Earth with the Flood.
God’s judgment never goes beyond the boundaries of sin’s damage
and is therefore always fair and just. Just observe how God commanded different
treatment when Israelites invaded
· In some cities, God instructed the Israelites to kill only the Canaanite adults.
· In some cities, God decreed death for the entire population but not the soulish animals (the nephesh creatures tamed by the inhabitants). [We often see the negative impact of evil humans on the birds and mammals living with them (Ex 21:28-29; Lev 20:15-16). However, no amount of sin affects the behaviour of insects and bacteria, for example.]
· In some cities, God told the Israelites to destroy everything: people, their soulish animals, and sometimes, people’s possessions too.
·
In the rarest of cases, such as
On the other hand, God would rescue the righteous people (fewer
than 10) in the case of
In the case of the Flood, there was no reason for God to destroy the areas where the sin of man had not reached before the Flood. A geographically limited Flood would still be “universal” and “worldwide”, according to the definition of “world” (not the globe) among the ancients.
Can we find evidence of the Flood in the alluvial deposits?
There is no evidence of a global Flood in the world. However, this alone does not prove against the global Flood. It is true that several large alluvial flood deposits have been found in the Mesopotamian plain. However, the assumption that the Flood would leave clear evidence of its occurrence must be challenged. The Noahic Flood, though massive, lasted only one year. A flood of such brief duration typically does not leave a deposit substantial enough to be positively identified thousands of years later.
As an example, the flood in
If the Flood was not global, why would God not simply instruct Noah to move his family and flocks to areas outside the Flood region?
When God pours out judgment, He gives ample warning ahead of time. This can be seen from the examples of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Jonah.
Noah was sent by God as a prophet to give out the warning. For someone to build an enormous vessel in the middle of a plain would have commanded attention. Noah’s persistent devotion to this immensely challenging project for 100 years would have heightened the drama. As crowds gathered to jeer, not cheer, Noah would patiently preach God’s warning of impending doom and implored them to repent.
In 2Pe 2:5, Noah was described as “a preacher of righteousness.” Heb 11:7 says that “By his (Noah’s) faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” 1Pe 3:20 describes people before the Flood disobeyed God, possibly referring to Noah’s warnings.
How many kinds of animals were saved from the Flood?
Gen 7:21-23 identifies the animals destroyed: “And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth.”
Gen 6:19-20 identifies the animals brought into the ark: “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind.”
There are 7 Hebrew words for the animals aboard the ark and their definition based on the Theological Wordbook of the OT:
o basar: flesh; animal musculature, mankind; creatures used in Jewish sacrifices
o behema: beast; cattle; long-legged, four-footed mammal
o hayya: living animal; wild, not domestic, animal
o nephesh: “soulish” creature; person; mind; land creature with the breath of life; creature capable of expressing yearnings, emotions, passions, and will; self-aware creature [these are birds and mammals with the capacity to form relationships with each other and with humans; they have unique ways of expressing their understanding, their choices, and their feelings; they, however, can be corrupted by human actions]
o op: bird; fowl; insect; winged creature
o remes: creeping living creature; short-legged land mammal such as a rodent; small reptile
o sippor: bird; little bird
All these words refer to birds and mammals, though some can be used a little more broadly. There is a high correlation between this list and the list of soulish animals God created on the 5th and 6th creation days. It is not certain that animals other than birds and mammals were on the ark. The preserved animals were those that would allow Noah and his family to restore rapidly their economy, culture, and worship.
When the two lists are compared, there are 2 Hebrew words describing creatures that were destroyed in the Flood but not among those preserved on the ark:
o sheres: teeming, swarming prolific small animals, all the smaller sea creatures and land animals (as contrasted with birds and beasts); rodents, amphibians, smaller reptiles, flying insects, wriggling water animals
o yequm: animals with standing; animals which subsist
While sheres can refer to small mammals, most often it is used for small nonsoulish animals. Yequm can refer to all animals or just those that merely subsist.
We can therefore assume the death of insects, reptiles, and other creatures in the floodwaters but they would probably return within a short time from adjacent regions.
There are flood traditions in different cultures. How did they get similar stories?
More that 80,000 flood accounts in over 70 languages describe a cataclysmic deluge. More than 85% of these accounts mention a large vessel that saved the human race from extinction. The abundance of these Flood stories suggests that the memory of some unprecedented Flood catastrophe was firmly etched in the minds of ancient peoples.
One reasonable archeological explanation is to associate these
Flood accounts with a common source. Similar to the creation accounts, we see
traces of a pattern: the greater the story’s distance (in time and geography)
from
† While it is important to assert the inerrancy of the Bible, the Biblical record can in fact accommodate a Flood that was regional in extent. The regional Flood theory is in fact better supported by scientific evidences. That is why most theologians today (including those supporting a global Flood) allow the possibility of a regional Flood.
† The belief in the extent of the Flood is non-essential faith. We have to recognize that many explanations used here are not found in the Bible; some of them are speculations, perhaps logical, but speculations nonetheless. Arguments on this question should be avoided.