Wooo, did I miss the party?
I just want to point out a little belatedly that the word used in Genesis 7:22 for "dry land" (H2724,
charabah) is not the same word used in Genesis 1:9-10 for "dry land" (H3004,
yabbashah).
charabah goes on to be used to describe both little patches of dry land:
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. (Exod 14:21, ESV)
and global pieces of dry land:
For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. (Hag 2:6, ESV)
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The word used in Luke 2:1 is
oikoumene, an interesting one because it brings the idea of stewardship - so that naturally it was mentioned in the context of a census. Note again that this is not the same word used in 2 Peter 3:5-7! In fact, 2 Peter 3:5-7 uses two distinct words for world:
For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth (ge) was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world (kosmos) that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth (ge) that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (2Pet 3:5-7, ESV)
I believe this is not accidental. Earth is the physical object, the lump of rock spinning in space on which all of us live.
Ge is of course the Greek root word which gives us geology. So how did
kosmos become cosmology? That is because
kosmos carries along with it the idea of order.
Kosmos is not just the world, but the world specifically insofar as it is ordered by the actions of human creativity imitating the Creator God by virtue of our possessing the image of God. This is clear, for example, in John 3:16:
For God so loved the world (kosmos), that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, ESV)
Of course the Scriptures don't mean that God gave His only Son for a clod of rock in outer space; rather He gave His Son for all the people who live in that rock. The distinction is also clear here:
Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world (oikoumene), to try those who dwell on the earth (ge). (Rev 3:10, ESV)
The "world" is all people who live on the earth; the "earth" is just the particular clod of rock on which they dwell.
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So is it possible to interpret the Scriptures literally, and believe in a local flood? Surely! First notice that
charabah is used legitimately for localized patches of dry land. Notice that
eretz is also used legitimately for localized pieces of land; indeed, it is often used in phrases or constructions which speak of the
inhabitants of the land.
Secondly notice that Peter switches words in 2 Peter 3:5-7. When he speaks of the creation of the universe, and of its destruction, he refers to
ge, the physical clod of dirt; but when he speaks of the Flood, he refers to
kosmos, the world. Since this is the world which God so loved, and the world which we overcome (e.g. 1 John 5:5), it is legitimate to say that "world" is really a locution for the
inhabitants of the world.
So put yourself in the shoes of a Bible-believing creationist. (Not that the evolutionists don't believe the Bible. You just like calling yourself that because it makes you feel good, and it's true after all.)
You have just read Genesis chapters 1-5, which not only tell you that humanity has appeared on the scene very recently, but that they initially reproduced very slowly. (It took Adam and Eve 130 years to father three sons!) Where were they all? On the Euphrates floodplains, as the place names in Genesis 2 make clear.
Then you get to:
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Gen 6:11-13, ESV)
Which earth has been "filled with violence through them"? You're pretty sure that the early humans haven't had time to reach Australia or America yet, so how could those lands be filled with violence? No, you understand now that since the Flood was meant to punish and destroy all human violence, it only had to inundate all
human land - and based on what you have been reading, it is clear that here, at the start of human history, only the Middle Eastern Fertile Crescent was human land, and so only the Fertile Crescent needed to be flooded.
And voila! Indeed there are plenty of incidents in which the entire place was underwater for yoinks. You just need to pick out the most recent event (because hey, God promised He wouldn't do it again, right?) and there you go - Noah's Flood!
But haven't there been lots of local floods since then? Sure. Recently half the city of Brisbane was underwater. But here's the thing: was
all humanity in danger when Brisbane sunk? No, only the humans in Brisbane - and even then, most of them survived. So God has indeed fulfilled His promises. Never since Noah's Flood has He sent a flood, local or global, in which all humanity was imperilled and there was no reprieve in sight.