Dr Paul Allen

“And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” ( Genesis 9:11 ) When God gave Noah this promise, the world had just been through the devastating cataclysm that flooded the entire globe and destroyed all except those on Noah’s Ark. The world was fearful and barren and there seemed nothing to prevent another such flood from coming on the earth. Nevertheless, God’s promise—not only to Noah but also to the animals ( Genesis 9:9-10 )—has been kept for years. God later reminded Job of this promise when He told him that He had “shut up the sea with doors. . . . And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed” ( Job 38:8 , 11). The psalmist also referred to this covenant. When the whole earth had been covered “with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled. . . . Thou...

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553): Adam and Eve. Beech wood, 1533. Bode-Museum, Berlin (Erworben 1830, Königliche Schlösser, Gemäldegalerie Kat. 567) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) God ’s goal in all of His creative and redemptive work is to bring glory to Himself (Isa 43:7; cf. Eph 1:6, 12, 14). This is expressed in His creation mandate to Adam and Eve , in which He commissions man, as those uniquely made in His image, to rule over the earth in righteousness (Gen  1:28 ). Man is to bring glory to God by their manifesting His presence as His vice-regent throughout all creation. But immediately Adam and Eve fail in their commission. The serpent deceives Eve, Adam eats of the forbidden tree, and in that moment the human race is catapulted into spiritual death and damnation (Gen 3:1–7). The Seed of the Woman And just as immediately, God graciously promises that He will send the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent and undo the damage of man’s curse into...

English: Dead sea, panorama (1895) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) " God spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly." ( 2 Peter 2:5-6 ) These two verses speak graphically of two different kinds of terrible physical convulsions, both of which were divine judgments. The volcanic upheaval that sent fire from heaven pouring over the wicked cities of the plains was called an "overthrow" (Greek katastrophe, from which, obviously, we get our English word "catastrophe"). Great upheavals such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and hurricanes are rightly called catastrophes. But such events are only local or regional in extent and occur relatively often. There was one event, however, which was unique in all his...

A full-scale replica of Noah's Ark has opened to the public in the Netherlands . Stormy weather Monday could do nothing to dampen the good mood of its creator, Dutchman Johan Huibers . In fact, the rain was appropriate. In the Biblical story, God orders Noah to build a boat big enough to save animals and Noah's family while Earth is covered in an enormous flood. Huibers, a Christian, used books 6-9 of Genesis as his inspiration, following the instructions God gives Noah down to the last cubit. Translating to modern measurements, Huibers came up with a vessel that works out to a whopping 130 metres long, 29 metres across and 23 metres high. Johan Huibers's replica of Noah's Ark is 130 metres long, 29 metres wide and 23 metres tall.   (Rob Keeris/Associated Press) The ark has life-sized animal displays aboard, according to the attraction's website, and some live animals, including parakeets, parrots, pheasants, peacocks and rabbits. But the tigers gira...

English: Noah. Mosaic in Basilica di San Marco, Venice (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Make thee an ark of gopher wood . . . . The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits , the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits." ( Genesis 6:14-15 ) The Bible is a unified book with one Author, God , who uses words interconnected in specific literary ways to communicate His message. The Flood perfectly exemplifies how truth can be gleaned from careful study of literary clues in the text. Genesis 6-9 are unusual in their level of careful detail, compared to all the preceding chapters. In Genesis 1-5, God accounts for about 1,600 years of history with very little narrative detail. Yet God takes four chapters--a snail's pace--to set the stage for and describe the single year of the Flood. Several clues point us to the reason why: (1) The exclusivity of God's salvation : Only Noah and his family were saved out of an entire world of people that wer...