DWDP - Gen 7: 10-12 The Flood and Scientific Speculation

A single sentence in Genesis 7 changes how we think about the Flood: the fountains of the great deep burst open before the rain ever fell. We start with that order and build a clear, humble path through the text—pinpointing the stated date, probing what “calendar” might mean, and following the thread back to creation where waters above and waters below shaped an ordered world. Along the way, we open Proverbs 8 to hear wisdom speak of springs before their appearing, widening our view of how Scripture interprets Scripture.

From there, we explore what could have happened without pretending anyone alive saw it. We walk through a plausible sequence: subterranean systems heated by Earth’s interior, pressure spikes that fracture the crust, a cascade of volcanic activity, and ash seeding a collapse of a water-vapor canopy into forty days of relentless rain. We avoid sensational triggers and keep the focus on models that align with the text’s structure. The refrain throughout is intellectual honesty—both skeptics and believers lean on assumptions, so we hold theory with open hands and the Word with both.

But the center is not mechanics; it is meaning. The Flood arrives because violence and corruption filled the earth, and the ark stands as a sign of judgment and mercy intertwined. We point from Noah to Jesus, the living Word revealed by the written Word, our true ark of safety and the light of life. As we look ahead to a final renewal by fire, the story of Genesis 7 becomes a call to walk in wisdom, seek the Author, and live ready.

If this conversation sharpened your thinking or stirred your heart, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thoughtful Bible teaching, and leave a review to help others find the show. What part of Genesis 7 reshaped your view today?

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Scripture Reading
• 1:21 Dating The Flood And Calendars
• 3:35 How The Flood Happened
• 6:06 Speculation, Science, And Humility
• 8:16 Waters Above And Great Deep
• 11:20 Mechanisms And Volcanic Chain Reaction
• 13:08 Spiritual Purpose And Final Exhortation
• 14:38 Closing Blessing And Resources

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:02

Welcome to More Than Medic, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr. Robert Jackson.

SPEAKER_02: 0:16

Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go get your brother and your sisters, and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr. Papa. Gather round, grab your Bibles, and let us look into the written word which reveals to us the living word which is our Lord Jesus Christ. Today we're at Genesis chapter seven, verse ten through twelve. It came about after the seven days that the waters of the flood came upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. After the seven days of either final preparations or mourning for Grandpa Methuselah, we don't know which it was we come to verse eleven. And God gives us the specific the exact calendar day that the flood came. The only problem for us is that we don't know what calendar is being used. The exact date was the second month, the seventeenth day of the month. Now that's a little Bible trivia that you need to remember. So when people ask you when did the flood occur, you can always say well it occurred the second month and the seventeenth day of the month. Now you just won't be able to tell them what calendar was being used, and in fact nobody really knows. Moses was the ultimate writer, the ultimate editor for the first five books of the Bible, even though Adam and his sons are the authors up until this point. So possibly Moses editorially amended the date later to correspond to the Jewish religious calendar. That's one theory. Or some believe that the calendar began with creation, and the flood occurred one thousand six hundred and fifty five years, one month and seventeen days after creation. However, this requires too many assumptions, such as that each named son in Genesis chapter five was born on the exact named birthday of his father, which is quite unreasonable. So that theory is probably not going to withstand scrutiny. Back in verse eleven. Also in verse eleven, the Bible tells us how the flood flood occurred. It's very precise. It says the fountains of the great deep burst open, and then second, the floodgates or the windows of the sky were open. So the first thing that happened was that the floodgates, or I'm sorry, the fountains, the fountains of the great deep burst open. So let's talk about that a minute. In the following discussion, I want you to recall what the judge in the courtroom in last week's lesson asked the plaintiff, Reverend Potter, in the great trial of the Word of God in New York City when he confidently asserted that there was no such thing as the Great Flood. What did the judge ask Reverend Potter? He asked him were you there? And Mr Potter, Reverend Potters, had to reply No, of course I was not there. More than that, he had no scientific credentials, and he was dismissed as an ineffective witness. But that question cuts both ways. Neither the evolutionary scientist who confidently assert that the flood is fiction and the scientific creationist who insist that it is biblical and scientifically plausible, they were not there either. They all rely on scientific postulates, scientific theories that stem from their underlying presuppositions. I want you to keep that in mind as we go through some of these discussions and remember that even the creation scientists disagree on how some of these things transpired. But in the end they are cordial and they shake hands after heated discussions because they realize that in fact none of them were there, and everything relies upon speculation. So let's discuss some of these theories, some of these scientific speculations. We already discussed in Genesis that God separated Genesis chapter one, that God separated the water above from the water below, creating the heavens, what you and I call the sky. The waters above consisted of a transparent water canopy in a vapor state that protected the planet from harmful radiation, it created a greenhouse effect on the entire planet that protected the planet and prevented storms, prevented rain, prevented cold temperatures. The entire earth was essentially believed to be a tropical paradise. Then the water below plural waters below were returned to the great deep. It was referred to as the Great Deep. This water was in the liquid state and visible in the great seas and rivers. They weren't produced by runoff from the rainfall, but emerged from the fountains or springs from deep within the earth. Now I want to refer you to a verse in Proverbs chapter eight. Proverbs chapter eight. And this is interesting because in Proverbs chapter eight, the Bible is referring to wisdom. And wisdom is speaking in these three verses. And wisdom is referring to how she existed in the very beginning. Proverbs chapter eight, starting at verse twenty two. The Lord possessed me wisdom, the Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way, before his works of old. From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs or fountains abounding with water. And you see, wisdom is telling us that she existed before the fountains of the deep, before the springs even existed, wisdom existed. Now how would the writer of Proverbs know that except by divine revelation? And here the divine revelation tells us that even way back in the very beginning there were fountains or springs of the great deep, and so we shouldn't dismiss this whole notion when the Bible tells us that there were fountains of the great deep. Creation scientists speculate, there's that word, that these subterranean springs were interconnected with the rivers and the seas and were heated by the earth's core, so that it ran in a continuous cycle as long as the earth's internal heat endured. Did you catch that word speculate once again? The creation of the flood was simple, simple in theory, but obviously not simple in its creation. The waters above and the waters of the great deep had to once again come together as they were in the very beginning. The one above had to precipitate, and the one below had to break its boundaries. So how did God do this? Once again we resort to scientific speculation. I'm going to omit highly unlikely suggestions, such as the Earth tilting on its axis or the Earth being bombarded by asteroids and meteorites, or a sudden slipping of the Earth's crust, or extraterrestrial space travelers setting off nuclear explosions deep in the Earth, or near miss by wandering planets or comets, and the resulting gravitational effects. On the other hand, that God could have miraculously or supernaturally created the waters of the flood and then uncreated these waters of the flood six months later. But this would have been unnecessary and highly unlikely. The Bible specifically attributes the flood number one to the bursting forth of the great deep, and then number two, the opening of the floodgates or windows of the heavens. So let's talk about that. The rupture or cleaving of the fountains of the deep was the precipitating event. For such a worldwide event to occur, there had to be a rapid surge of intense pressure throughout the underground system, probably caused by a rapid rise in temperature throughout the system. Now remember, this is speculation. The increasing temperature caused seismic and volcanic volcanic activity, fracturing the Earth's crust and causing the first fountain to crack open, further weakening nearby boundaries. Soon a worldwide chain was created, chain reaction was created, followed by cleaving open all the fountains of the deep worldwide. Volcanic eruptions followed, spewing magma and volcanic dust into the air, much like the Mount Saint Helena eruption that occurred in Alaska some years ago. Now this is important. The volcanic dust caused the waters above to condense and precipitate, causing a torrential downpour that lasted forty days as the entire water vapor canopy was erased. I'm sure the creation scientist will continue to research the physical phenomenon that caused the flood, but you and I have to remember that there was a spiritual reason for the flood. God brought the flood because of the corruption and the violence that was upon the earth at that time. The Bible also tells us that at the end of time God will destroy the earth once again, and this time with a fervent heat, and usher in a new heaven and a new earth. Now I want you to understand that I don't teach these lessons just so you will know about the Old Testament or about Old Testament characters or events like the flood. I teach these lessons so that you will know the author of the book, whom to know aright is eternal life. What do I say at the beginning of each podcast? Open your Bible and let's look into the written word, which reveals to us the living word who is our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the light of the world and the light of life. To know him personally is eternal life. He is our arc of safety. You're listening to devotions with Dr. Papa. I want you to remember that your doctor loves you, that Jesus loves you, and I pray that the Lord will bless you real good this week.

SPEAKER_00: 14:57

Thank you for listening to this edition of Morthern Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Medicine or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, Instagram, or web page at Jackson Family Medicine.com.