Was Noah’s flood global or local?

Answer

The biblical passages concerning the flood indicate that it was global. Genesis 7:11 mentions that “all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.” Genesis 1:6-7 and 2:6 describe a pre-flood environment significantly different from our current one. From these and other biblical accounts, it is reasonable to speculate that the earth was once covered by a type of water canopy. This canopy could have been a vapor canopy or possibly rings, similar to Saturn’s ice rings. When combined with an underground water layer that was released onto the land «But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. », (Genesis 2:6), it could have led to a global flood.

The most explicit verses illustrating the extent of the flood are found in Genesis 7:19-23. Concerning the waters, “They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.”

In the above passage, we not only encounter the repeated use of the word “all,” but also phrases like “all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered,” “the waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet,” and “every living thing that moved on the earth perished.” These descriptions unmistakably depict the widespread nature of the flood.

Describe a global flood covering the entire earth. Moreover, if the flood was localized, why did God instruct Noah to construct an ark instead of simply instructing Noah to relocate and prompting the animals to migrate? Additionally, why did He direct Noah to build an ark spacious enough to accommodate all the various types of land animals present on the earth? If the flood was not worldwide, there would have been no necessity for an ark.

Peter also affirms the universality of the flood in 2 Peter 3:6-7, where he declares, “By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” In these verses, Peter draws a parallel between the “universal” impending judgment and the flood during Noah’s era, asserting that the world existing at that time was inundated with water. Furthermore, numerous biblical authors acknowledged the historical occurrence of the global flood (Isaiah 54:9;1 Peter 3:20;2 Peter 2:5;Hebrews 11:7). Lastly, the Lord Jesus Christ believed in the global flood and used it as a symbol of the impending destruction of the world upon His return (Matthew 24:37-39;Luke 17:26-27).

Numerous extra-biblical evidences indicate a worldwide catastrophe like a global flood. There are extensive fossil graveyards discovered on every continent and substantial coal deposits that would necessitate the rapid burial of vast amounts of vegetation. Marine fossils are unearthed on mountaintops across the globe. Various cultures worldwide possess some version of a flood myth. All these details and many others serve as proof of a global flood.