My family and I enjoyed taking canal boat holidays (vacations) when we lived in Britain. The scenery was often beautiful, the pace was slow, and we especially liked the anticipation of what was around the next bend.
My wife took this photograph of me easing the narrowboat into a lock just before we moved back to the States. Notice the name of the boat? I don't believe in coincidences. Not anymore.
Noah built a large boat because he believed God, and I am sure his neighbors thought he was crazy. They eventually learned the hard way that he was not. Noah saved his family with that boat, and became God's 'reboot' of the world.
It grieves me to see so many people ignore the clear warnings in the Bible. They seem to spend most of their time reveling in the parts they like, judging others for not following the rules, and ignoring what Yeshua commanded us to do.
Only eight people survived the Flood. It happened. About 71% of the world's surface is covered by water. That's quite a flood! There is clear evidence of continental drift, and the size and location of each of the Hawaiian Islands implies the drift was very fast at first and then slowed way down. That makes sense if the earth is young (about 6000 years), and there is a lot of evidence supporting that. There are also logical explanations for the very old ages of the things we can see in the night sky with telescopes. A very young earth and very old quasars is not a contradiction, especially when the Bible says God "stretched out the heavens." Do some research on black holes, white holes, and what happens at event horizons.
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| My gorgeous wife at Florissant Fossil Beds Nat'l Monument |
Fossilization must happen quickly before the animal or plant decays. Mineralization requires water saturated with minerals to transport those minerals into the pores of a specimen. That cannot happen to a skeleton on top of the ground exposed to the air. Leaves wither and dry up in a few days. Trees and stumps decay in a few short years. Animals and plants must be quickly covered with water and sediment in order to be fossilized. That is only going to happen in a flood.
There are fossilized redwood tree stumps at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, just west of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Those stumps, by definition, had to be at ground level when they were fossilized. Assuming my assertions are true that Noah's Flood formed all fossils, it follows that the ground under those stumps was the actual ground level at that location before the Flood. The elevation of Florissant is 8169 feet. How did they get so high above Flood level, which was logically around the present day sea level?
Museums and establishment science talk about a "fossil record" as if the various layers of sediment happened over a very long period of time. But most of those layers are very homogeneous, which means they had to form in minutes, not eons. If you ever come across a place where there has been a flood and substantial sediment has deposited, try cutting down through that sediment with a shovel. I think you will find the same layering phenomenon that is in the following picture of a mountain, only on a much smaller scale.
The layers of sedimentary and metamorphic rock we see in mountains and outcroppings around the world had to occur quickly, and had to be formed by moving water. There are many examples of homogeneous layers of sediment containing isolated rocks and rubble. As an engineer who has done a lot of fluid flow observations and calculations, I can tell you that those large items had to have been transported there by fast moving water.
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| Grand Canyon outlet (Google Earth) |
Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg,[g] because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.
[g] Peleg means division. (1 Chronicles 1:19 NIV)
Revisiting the question raised above about the current elevation of the Florissant redwood stumps, it is logical the mountains rose as the continents drifted and collided with other tectonic plates in the days of Peleg. That is the explanation from establishment science, the only difference being the timing and presumed cause of those events. This also explains how the layers of flood-deposited sedimentary rock ended up as metamorphic rock and at the top of mountains, like in the picture above.
What was the population of the earth before the Flood? The Bible doesn't say, but it does say that people lived for a very long time back then, much longer than they do today. Given how long people lived then, the number of generations between the Creation and the Flood, and man's capabilities for producing offspring, the number of people was probably very substantial. And out of all of those people, only eight survived the Flood. Those are not good odds.
After the earth repopulated, and the people were dispersed because of what they were doing at Babel, God picked one man, Abram, to have a relationship with Him. One man. Those are not good odds.
Abraham's nephew, Lot, lived in Sodom. He was warned to get his family out and flee the city. Only his wife and two daughters went with him. His wife did not survive the journey. Out of all the people who lived in the Jordan valley, only three people survived. Those are not good odds.
When Jacob's descendants went to Egypt, they became slaves, but God made them prosper. Eventually, God brought them out by judging Egypt and its gods with the Ten Plagues. He then "baptized" all of the Israelites (Jacob's descendants) by opening up the Red Sea so they could walk through and escape from the Egyptians. Eventually God led them to Mount Horeb. Those things happened. They did not happen where tradition says they did, but using the Internet and tools like Google Earth we can learn where those events actually took place. It's quite fun to do.
The Bible says 603,550 men over the age of 19 were in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt (Numbers 1:45). It also says 22,000 Levite males from the age of one month and up were there (Numbers 3:39). Women were not counted, so assuming there were about the same number of them, there were well over a million people with Moses in the desert. Let's assume it was 1.2 million. That's about the population of Dallas, Texas.
After the Israelites scouted the Promised Land and gave a bad report, God punished them by making the entire community wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all of those who had rebelled perished (Numbers 14:22-23; 28-30). Only Caleb and Joshua got to enter the Promised Land. Even Moses was not allowed to enter (Numbers 20:10-12). That's because he hit the rock instead of speaking to it. That's pretty strict, especially considering everything Moses did throughout his life following God. One sin is enough to keep us out of where we want to be.
So, out of the 1.2 million people who came through the Red Sea, only two men got to enter the Promised Land. That's only 0.00017%. I presume they got to take their wives and children with them, so the number would likely be a bit higher, but it is still well below 1%. Those are not good odds.
When Assyria and Babylon took Israel and Judah captive, respectively, they left essentially no Jews in either place (2 Kings 17;25). What was the entire population of Israel and Judah before the exile? The Bible doesn't say. It does say 42,360 returned from Babylon after many years, when God intervened in the hearts of the rulers of the places the Jews had been taken. Assuming the combined populations of Israel and Judah had been two million, which is probably a gross understatement (the number of Jews in the state of Israel today is nearly 7 million), the the number of returned exiles was only 2%. Those are not good odds.
The Bible gives a New Testament example of the sternness of God. Ananias and Sapphira. They lied to the Holy Spirit and held back money. They each dropped dead. This caused great fear among the believers who heard about it.
These things all frighten me. I believe they illustrate what Jesus was talking about when He said...
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV)
I discussed that in a previous post.
We need to get into the Ark. That "ark" is Yeshua. The Bible tells us how to do it. God promised Noah He would not destroy the earth again with a flood (Genesis 9:11), but other parts of the Bible say He will eventually destroy it by other means. Our neighbors, friends and family will laugh at us like Noah's neighbors probably laughed at him. We must stand firm, get into the boat, and bring along anyone we can convince that a storm is coming.
All glory to God.
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UPDATE, September 4, 2022...
One of my older daughter's high school classmates went into the Peace Corps soon after they graduated. She stayed with us in our home when she was back in Midland because her family had moved away. She gave us this "peace dove" stained-glass decoration when she left. My wife loves stained glass. It has been hanging in our front window ever since.
I recently realized this symbol is not about "peace." It is about redemption; it is about the end of an ordeal; it is about the biblical account of Noah's Flood.
And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. (Genesis 8:11 ESV)
Shortly after we moved into the home I am in now, my wife saw these gothic arches at one of the local big-box stores. We purchased some and I attached them to our house. Over the years I have noticed it makes our place look like a church. I don't believe in coincidences. Not anymore.
UPDATE, November 3, 2022...
This video is about the archeological remains of Noah's Ark in Turkey...
This particular evangelist preaches about hell to unbelievers. I am not the judge of someone else's servant, but I don't do that. I don't do it because Jesus did not do it.
Jesus talked about hell when he was speaking to his guys, but he did not mention it to the crowds. He spoke in parables to the crowds. He did, however, warn the religious professionals about hell. They needed to hear that message.
Jesus told stories and used metaphors when he spoke to general audiences, and he waited for the Holy Spirit to draw specific people to him. He knew he could share more information with the people his Father was sending him. That is what I try to do. I have been learning techniques to discern who is receptive, and then I work with them as the Spirit leads.
Jesus healed the sick and performed miracles to get people's attention and to demonstrate his authority. He did not preach about damnation on street corners and hand out Gospel tracts. Those are things I see people doing today, but I don't think they are very effective. For the most part, I think they are just preaching to the converted and angering those who need to hear the message. I think they are driving away and hardening those they are actually trying to reach.
At best this kind of behavior may be due to impatience on the part of the aspiring evangelist, and at worst it might be a form of usurpation and counterfeit discipleship by the Darkness.
I do like this guy and what he says, but I already understand and embrace his message. I am one of "the converted."
I
left "preaching hell" and handing out tracts behind years ago. It
doesn't really fit my personality anyway, and I know it is not my job. I included the video here because I think the presentation of information about Noah's Ark is top notch.