family continued, and mid-way through the journey’s seventh month, mountaintops became visible.12
In the middle of the journey’s tenth month, Noah removed the covering of the Ark.13 He waited, as the earth dried and vegetation spread.
In total, it was more than a year before God told Noah’s family and the creatures to leave the Ark the Creator used to save them from the Flood. However, God’s timing and provision were perfect. The animals could now survive outside and begin to fill the stark, vacant world that stretched out before them.
PRIMARY PASSAGES
Genesis 7:10–8:17; 2 Peter 3:5–7; Psalm 104:8
KEY VERSE
“. . . the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.” 2 Peter 3:6
WRAP UP
“Lord, it is hard to comprehend that as days became weeks, and weeks became months, and as the Ark moved in the storms, the ground far beneath the ocean’s surface broke apart and the continents moved. Thank You for bringing the Ark to rest atop one of the mountains of Ararat, and for keeping Noah’s family safe as more months passed and You sent wind to dry the land. They must have been so happy to watch from the Ark as grasses and flowers soon sprouted and spread. Thank You for the new start that You gave man after the Flood!”
1 At www.answersingenesis.org/articles/au/noahs-flood-and-judgment, accessed February 2017, Ken Ham and Dr. Terry Mortenson state, “2 Peter 3 predicts that, just as there were scoffers during Noah’s time. . . .”
2 Genesis 6:9 (Noah walked with God), Hebrews 11:7 (in holy fear Noah built the ark to save his family).
3 Genesis 7:11; Matthew 24:38–39
4 John D. Morris, “The Ice Age: Causes and Consequences,” Acts & Facts, 2009, 38 (8): 15 (www.icr.org/article/ice-age-causes-consequences/). Also see https://answersingenesis.org/geology/plate-tectonics/catastrophic-plate-tectonics-geophysical-context-of-genesis-flood/ by Dr. John Baumgardner, accessed February 2017.
5 Genesis 6:7 (“wipe away” per YLT), 6:17 (destroy). Also note that, “enormous tectonic upheavals on the pre-Flood ocean floor . . . would have caused massive tsunamis. . . . Add to this the fact that earthquakes often trigger volcanoes and we can readily see that the Flood was a world-changing catastrophe of incredible violence and destructive power.” Quoted from footnote 19 of Dr. Terry Mortenson’s online article, “The Fall and the Problem of Millions of Years of Natural Evil,” at https://answersingenesis.org/theory-of-evolution/millions-of-years/the-fall-and-the-problem-of-millions-of-years-of-natural-evil/). Also see or listen to Dr. Andrew Snelling’s article, “Five Mass Extinctions or One Cataclysmic Event?” at https://answersingenesis.org/geology/catastrophism/five-mass-extinctions-or-one-cataclysmic-event/.
6 See Dr. Andrew Snelling’s excellent article, “Five Mass Extinctions or One Cataclysmic Event?” at https://answersingenesis.org/geology/catastrophism/five-mass-extinctions-or-one-cataclysmic-event/
7 The Bible reveals in Genesis 1:9 that all water was originally together in one place. —logically yielding an original supercontinent as well. This single landmass is commonly called Rodinia by geologists. Computerized Flood modeling that utilizes global catastrophic plate tectonics as the basis for the rapid separation of the continental plates has been done by researchers. An extremely rapid, catastrophic continental breakup is wholly consistent with young earth geological models, but the relatively brief time necessary to accomplish the breakup makes secular geologists unwilling to seriously consider the model. / See also “Noah’s Lost World” by Dr. Andrew Snelling at https://answersingenesis.org/geology/plate-tectonics/noahs-lost-world/.
8 Genesis 7:19–22, 24–8:5. Also see “Biblical Overview of the Flood Timeline” at www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2010/08/23/overview-flood-timeline by Bodie Hodge.
9 Genesis 8:3–4 (“the mountains of Ararat”).
10 See the series of articles on geologic evidences for the worldwide Noahic Flood, written by Dr. Andrew Snelling. Links to all are at https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/geologic-evidences-for-the-genesis-flood/.
11 See “Where Was the Garden of Eden Located?” by ken Ham, at https://answersingenesis.org/genesis/garden-of-eden/where-was-the-garden-of-eden-located/ as accessed February 2017.
12 Genesis 8:4 says the “mountains of Ararate” (not “Mount Ararat”) and 8:5 states “the first day of the tenth month.” This was 224 days (about 7.5 months) into the Ark’s journey. See www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2010/08/23/overview-flood-timeline by Bodie Hodge.
13 Genesis 8:13. The first day of the first month was 314 days (about 10.5 months) into the journey of Noah’s family aboard the Ark.
—7—
THE RAINBOW PROMISE AND THE NEW WORLD
(c. 2348–2242 B.C.)
The century following the Flood was filled with extreme and rapid change.
More than seven months after the Ark ran aground on the mountains of Ararat,1 God told Noah to release the animals. Ample vegetation and an uninhabited new world waited.2 At last, the creatures followed each other out of the massive wooden vessel,
