Scoffers Will Come but the Genesis Flood Lessons Stand True

One would not think that a flood several thousand years ago is a big deal, until the accounts of Matthew, 2 Peter 2-3 corroborate Genesis 6-8, which clearly enunciate why the event is critical to accept and understand. Scoffers will come, but the Bible stands true, and the coming of the end is marked as a parallel to what happened in the Flood. And what did the Flood do in brief? It was a worldwide one-year catastrophic event that was filled with volcanism, vertical and horizontal rapid tectonics, yielded the vast fossil record, and was immediately followed by a single ice age that took centuries to dissipate.

Here is a little story of part of the fossil record that was left that we had a chance to see:

The Flood was brought home again during a pleasant day in a beautiful area on a small island in Lake Sakakawea. I have collected marine fossils in abundance in West Virginia, and there are hundreds of places to get them around the world. Marine fossils comprise about 95% of the fossil record. Animal and dinosaur fossils are scarcer, but so are plant fossils. I had heard from relatives that plant fossils were plentiful on a little island in the dammed portion of the Missouri River, which is called Lake Sakakawea. The body of water is the third largest manmade lake in the US and the shoreline miles exceed those of the California coast. I was told of an abundance of plant fossils on a little island, which is a small distance from the southern shoreline and close to the dam for the lake. We set out to paddle with our friends and family. The children were as excited as us. In particular, I needed some plant fossils for exhibit and pictures for online resources. I was not disappointed.

Outcroppings of bent sedimentary rock on the island’s south shore showed the violence and upheaval that occurred during the Genesis Flood. Several places were strewn with petrified wood — from big pieces to tiny fragments. But near the ‘bent rock’ areas nearer the water line were fossilized plant leaves, stems, and small branches of trees or bushes in abundance and in plain view. It was truly a graveyard of the Flood laid bare by the receding waters at the end of the event. The area was laid bare again as the Corps of Engineers prepared the area to be dammed during the middle of the last century. Successive local and minor flood events would further erode the embankments of this small island, making the fossilized remains of a forest and vegetation easy to observe.

The children and grandchildren were so excited to help that I was overrun with shouts of glee as they found fossils and made their way to me so Grandpa could see what they had found. I stayed busy collecting, selecting, and taking photographs for three hours. Some samples are shown.

But what is really important? The Bible does not lie. Not only did the Flood occur as recorded in Genesis 6-8, but evidence of it is widespread in the fossil record. Rapid fossilization from the flood of soft tissue animals or soft vegetation (like leaves and small stems of plants) is a cogent reminder of the worldwide Flood. In a large scope, God’s oversight and judgement are rock solid. He is not playing games with mankind. Both the warnings of Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:37-39 and the admonitions in 2 Peter 2-3 underscore that the Flood event (recorded in the early chapters of Genesis) was meant to be remembered. The reality that scoffers will refuse any such notion of its truth is also mentioned in 2 Peter 3:3-4. Both Matthew 24 and 2 Peter 3 references speak of the parallelism between the Flood event and the return of Jesus Christ. So, the Flood event that occurred about 4500 years ago is a mark in the sand that God is serious about what He does and says.  The lessons in 2 Peter 3 go further. Verses 11-13 in the ESV version say this:

“What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of God…”

Verse 9 reminds the reader that God is patient, because He does not want any to perish.

So, God remains faithful for all who would turn to Him, repent of their sins, and be saved.

Readers, then, should be forewarned. The rejection of the worldwide catastrophic Flood that is recorded in Genesis carries some heavy weight — meant to be a marker beacon that the Bible is true in all respects and that God remains involved in our world, whether we acknowledge Him or not, though He yearns for all to come to Him and not perish.

So, the little trip to Lake Sakakawea was eventful for us but sobering. But so are the numerous reports from around the world of fossils, sedimentary rock over the earth, over 85 reports of partially fossilized remains of dinosaurs. All of these point to a catastrophic event that took place a few thousand years ago, just as the Bible says. Widespread evidence in the fossil record, characteristics of coal seams, giant canyons all over the world all point to the same thing: the widespread effects of the Genesis Flood. Finally, the current meaning of the Genesis Flood is clearly explained in the Bible.

Have questions? Download the free cell phone application and work through the biblical world view and its ramifications. There are good answers to origins and the Genesis Flood event that are admittedly contrary to naturalism and evolution. They comprise an entirely different picture. Find out why the Bible gives good answers and how the evidence of the earth around us shows the impact of the Genesis Flood, a key catastrophic event that was meant to be remembered.