Does the Bible Say that Noah’s Flood was Global?

 One of the most common compromised positions is to claim that Noah’s Flood was just a local flood. Some try to connect it to events in the Black Sea, while others are ambiguous about it. So, what does the Bible really say about the extent of Noah’s Flood?

Genesis 7:11-24
11, In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12, And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13, In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
14, They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
15, And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
16, And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
17, And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
18, And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19, And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
20, Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
21, And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22, All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
23, And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
24, And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

If you look closely at these verses, you will see the repeated use of universal terms such as every and all. It does not say all the animals in the area where Noah lived died, there is no qualification. Furthermore, it says that “all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered” and that the mountains were covered with 15 cubits (about 22 ft.) of water. There is no way that even local mountains could be covered by 22 feet of water, and it simply refers to a local flood. Everything in this description says that it was a global flood.

Genesis 8:1-5
1, And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
2, The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3, And the waters returned from off the earth continually and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
4, And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
5, And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

The duration of the flood, and the fact that the ark landed in a mountainous area point to a global flood. If this had been some local flood even given 40 days worth of rain it would not have taken the better part of a year for the water to drain. Furthermore, the ark would have ended up in the lowlands, it probably would have been washed out to sea to eventually settle on a beach. Nothing in this description implies a local flood, but everything points to a global flood.

It is clear from reading the relevant passages, the Bible is intending to say that the Genesis Flood was global. In fact, as you read these verses it is clear that God is going out of his way to drive this point home. it is like He is saying, “Hey stupid it was a global flood.” There is really no other legitimate interpretation of what the Bible says. The only reason for claiming otherwise is that you think that atheists know more about the origin and history of the world than God does.

Many pieces of fossil evidence support this including the fact that 95% of all fossils are marine invertebrates despite being found dry land. This strongly suggests that at one time the continents were completely covered by water exactly what you would expect from a global flood.

References
The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings

Dinosaur Challenges and Mysteries: How the Genesis Flood makes sense of dinosaur evidence—including tracks, nests, eggs, and scavenged bones

The Global Flood: A biblical and scientific look at the catastrophe that changed the earth

After the Flood

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Why the Genesis Flood had to be a Global Flood.

Reconciling the Biblical account with uniformitarian geology, most often involves claiming that the Bible doesn't really say what it says. They have tried to argue that the Genesis Flood was just a large local flood. There problems with this idea are numerous.

If the Flood had been local the would be no reason for Noah would to build an Ark. God decided to send the Flood 120 years before it started so even on foot with all their live stock Noah and his family could have easily gotten to the other side of the world and so as to escaped any local Flood.


Even if God had Noah built the Ark for some symbolic reason, there would have been no reason for sending animals to the Ark. Noah would have only needed enough of his own live stock to start new herds. However the Ark was big enough to hold every kind of land vertebrate that has ever existed. This would have been overkill for a local Flood. In addition birds could have easily escaped a local Flood, yet they are specifically mentioned as being on the Ark.


The Bible says waters of the Flood peaked at 22 feet above the mountains, this would by definition be a Global Flood. Genesis 7.


A local flood would not affect people who did not live in the vicinity of the flood. That would make it useless as a judgment of man's sin.


God promised never to send such a flood again. There have been numerous local floods throughout history, so God would have repeatedly broken that promise.


In addition, any flood; in the Mideast; large enough to fit the Biblical account could not have been local because the area is just too flat. It would have had to have been Global.


In the late 1990's it was claimed that a local flood of the Black Sea was the Genesis Flood. This is just another local flood theory, based on some discoveries in the Black Sea. This flood is said to have resulted from an influx of water from the Mediterranean. The problem is that it does not fit the Biblical or extra biblical accounts. Also it could not have deposited the Ark anywhere near the mountains of Ararat. As of March 2003 it has been discredited.


The simple fact is that the Genesis Flood was global.