I probably need to go and take a look at that more carefully. In the past I have looked at the original language and found no real problems or additional definitions of original language that would make me think it only applied to a local event.
If you look at the word used to describe God sending a flood on the
earth, the Hebrew is
erets which can mean the earth, but more often it mean a land or region. Look at what God said to Cain in Gen 4:12
When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. But instead of being a fugitive and wanderer everywhere on earth, Gen 4:16
Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. The word for
earth in verse 12, and
land of Nod are the same word
erets. I think earth is a mistranslation in verse 12. God was not saying he would be a fugutive all over the earth, but in his own land. When he went to another land, he was able to settle down. What we also see here, just two chapters before the flood account is
erets being used to refer to regions instead of the whole planet.
Another important phrase for the global flood interpretation is 'under the whole heaven' Gen 7:19
and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. We read that from our 21st century perspective and think it everywhere inside the spherical atmosphere that covers our planet. But for people in the bible, the phrase referred to the sky they saw above their heads, everything under that sky meant from horizon to horizon.
Deut 2:25
This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.'
Who were these people God made tremble with fear? We read about them in Exodus 15:14-16
The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. 16 Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased. Under the whole heaven did not refer to Aztecs, San Bushmen or Maori, it simply meant from horizon to horizon across the whole of the promised land.
We find the same thing in Isaiah where the Medes, a people from what is now Iran, are described as coming from the end of the heavens. Isaiah 13:5
They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land... 17 Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. If you want to have fun with a translation, try translating 'the whole land' as 'the whole earth' or 'the whole world'.
Isaiah 13:5
They come from a world far away, from the end of the universe, the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole world
In addition Christ Himself talked specifically about the flood and the original language in greek He used specifically says the flood took "THEM ALL AWAY" . He used this narrative to compare the flood time with the end time condition of the earth and the fact that they were going about their business as usual lives until the flood came and destroyed their world and everyone in it except Noah and his family at that point. For reference read Matt 24:37-39.
Have a look at Luke's version. Luke 17:26
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.
27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot--they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.
In Luke's account Jesus uses both the flood and the destruction of Sodom to describe the coming judgement. Saying they were all killed does not mean it had to be a global flood, just total within the area flooded, just as the destruction of Sodom killed everybody - in the region
.
Please provide some examples of what you are talking about. In performing any kind of interpretation or exegesis of scripture one must use common sense. Clearly, scripture that has apocalyptic themes tends to have more symbology than scripture that doesn't.
God Bless
Jim Larmore
I like Ezekiel 16, it never suggests it is anything other than a straight forward literal account. It could be described as apocalyptic but so could Gen 2&3. Which brings us to the question of how you know when a passage is apocalyptic if it doesn't say, and how you know Gen 2&3 isn't. It certainly contains many of the themes we find in Revelation, tree of life, serpent, symbolic marriage, paradise. Don't forget Adam is also the Hebrew word for the human race so there is as much scope for symbolic people in Genesis as there is in Ezek 16 and Revelation.
The heliocentric and flat earth verses are never taken at face value by creationists, though there often is no hint given that they are speaking metaphorically. The classic example I suppose is Jesus' 'this is my body', most Creationists I have come across are Protestants who take its meaning symbolically. But Jesus never says that. They certainly don't take him literally when he tells us he is a door or that he is a shepherd and his disciples sheep.
I agree we need to use common sense, but that applies just as well to knowing from science that the world is 4.5 billion years old and life evolved, as it does to science having told us the earth is spherical and orbits the sun. The church had to change its interpretation of the geocentric passages when Copernicus show them their traditional interpretations were wrong. We need the courage to do the same thing with Genesis.