God's Work with Planet Earth

God started Stage 1 of His work with Planet Earth by creating the solar system, the planet, and all life in this world. He started Stage 2 by nearly destroying everything He had created. Why? The answer might seem simple enough when you read the account in the Bible, but you might get different ideas by reading different Bible translations.

Also, Stage 1 wraps up in Genesis chapter 6, a time period of about 1,656 years, if we count out the genealogies given. Stage 2 lasted about 2,348 years, but this time period is covered in Genesis 7-50, and the whole rest of the Old Testament! So the scriptures give a LOT of detail about this time period, but they also point to, and give us clues about, Stages 3, 4, & 5.

Contrasts – Before & After

Humans can grow accustomed and take good things in our lives for granted. But we can also adapt and get used to bad or difficult things. When it’s all we’ve ever known, we probably don’t realize how badly damaged the planet we live on really is. At least compared to its original, freshly created state.

Before the Flood

• Year round perfect temperature across the entire globe, even at the poles (this is why they’re now finding evidence of civilization and tropical plants under Antarctic ice)
• Springs (Genesis 2:10) and mists (Genesis 2:5) watered the vegetation rather than rain. These springs were fed by “the fountains of the great deep” (Genesis 7:11)
• Land covered most of the planet, and the soil everywhere was very fertile (even after God cursed the ground in Genesis 3:17-19).
• There was still a vapor/water barrier above the Earth’s atmosphere (Genesis 1:6-7), which acted like a greenhouse to shield the planet and regulate the global climate
• Without drastic seasonal changes or harsh environments, the trees and plants had a year-round growing season, and they were incredible in size and beauty compared to what we have now
• Humans lived for hundreds of years (Genesis 5) and they were much taller and larger than we are (Genesis 6:4).

During the Flood

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” Genesis 7:11

The geological implications here are staggering!

• The massive water reservoirs heated by the molten core of the earth (which also helped regulate the global climate) blew up onto the surface of the earth
• At the same time, the “waters above” (Genesis 1:6-7) which protected the planet’s atmosphere, fell as torrential rain for 40 days (Genesis 7:12)
• During this process, the crust of the earth was “broken” into sections, some of which pushed together and rose up, creating mountain ranges like the Himalayas and the Andes
• Other sections sank back into the reservoirs which all that water had come out of, creating ocean floors
• The Earth became like a partially deflated volley ball, with massive dents and dips as well as high spots, creating the current conditions of oceans and seas covering 71% of the earth’s surface

After the Flood

• Without the molten core heated “fountains of the great deep”, or the water barrier above the atmosphere, the earth developed:
  • Ice covered poles
  • Hot, arid, barren deserts
  • Extreme seasons between the equator and the poles
  • Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, tsunamis
• The flood water movement washed away a lot of the fertile top soil, resulting in large jagged areas of bare rock
• Replacing the springs and mists watering the vegetation, rain from clouds now watered some areas more than others

Many places on Earth became hazardous to humans. Even today, when special preparations are taken and modern technology is utilized, it’s risky and dangerous to venture into certain areas of our planet. This is nothing at all like the original planet God had created.

It’s also worth noting that immediately after the Flood, lifespans began to shorten dramatically, and the changes to the earth/environment may have an impact on the speed of aging. I just saw recently that high altitude pilots and astronauts experience accelerated aging of skin cells, compared to people living at sea level.

Noah lived 950 years, his son Shem 600 years, Peleg and Terah just over 200 years, Abraham 175, Isaac 180, Jacob 147, Joseph 110, Moses 120. People today rarely live over 100 years.

Why did God turn His Creation Inside Out?

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5

“And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:13

“The end of all flesh”. Let the meaning of that phrase sink in. Humans were so dedicated to various self-destructive behaviors, they were headed toward extinction. God saw that if He did not intervene and do something, there would be no more “seed of the woman” for the Messiah to be born from, for the salvation of humans. Humans would have wiped themselves out, and you and I would never have existed.

We need to understand, this is not a cosmic egomaniac throwing a fit when humans didn’t do what He wanted them to, and drowning the world out of rage. This is a Creator, distraught and saddened (Genesis 6:6) and determined that humanity must get another chance.

All the wicked people were to be destroyed “with the earth”. As in “using the earth” itself, which accounts for the massive geological upheaval described in the beginning of this post.

“The earth is filled with violence through them”

How does this happen? There’s a lot of violence and crime in our modern world. During the period of the kings in Israel, it’s recorded that some of the kings killed other men stole their wives or property (violence, injustice, immorality). King David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), and yet he lusted, committed adultery, deceived, murdered, all because he couldn’t get his mind off of Bathsheba (2 Samual 11).

If sin can get a good man to do this in one instance, what if “the thoughts and intents” of most people’s hearts is “only evil continually”? The Bible says this was the condition in the world before the Flood. No one was safe, because once the strong destroy the weak, they turn on each other. And that only leads to annihilation.

How Noah’s Family was Saved

We probably don’t think about this when reading the story of Noah, but it’s a pattern that keeps popping up in the Bible. Jesus praying to God the Father for His disciples:

“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” John 17:15

In the Flood, the Exodus, even Jesus’ Second Coming which is still ahead of us, God doesn’t save His people from trouble, or prevent them from experiencing trials. Instead He saves them THROUGH trouble. He could have put a force field bubble around Noah and his family to protect them from the flood waters. But He told Noah to build a boat one and a half times the length of a football field over a period of 120 years.

That takes faith doesn’t it? To dedicate over a century to building a massive ship and stocking it with enough provisions to feed humans and animals for a year, when there’s no lake or sea nearby. And yet the people who listened and obeyed God were the ones who were saved.

I think there are a few reasons God commanded Noah to be so active and involved in the salvation of his family. First, it’s similar to the priests putting their feet into the Jordan River at flood stage (Joshua 3:15). It shows complete faith in God to walk right into an impassable obstacle not knowing how God will get you through.

Second, God doesn’t want to deal with us humans like pets in a cage. He wants to walk and talk with us, reason with us, help us grow in wisdom and understanding. “There’s a storm coming that will destroy all life on earth, but I will show you exactly how to get through it, and I will be with you the whole time in Spirit.”

In the Last Days

“Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.” 2 Peter 3:3-7, NLT

“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.” Matthew 24:37-39, NLT

The first time the Earth was cleansed, it was with water. The second time will be with fire.

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10

• “works that are in it” = anything that man has built. Cities, infrastructure, monuments, it will all “melt with fervent heat”
• We still have an atmosphere with oxygen that makes it possible for us to live, even if the “waters above” fell during the Flood. But the sky will be “dissolved, being on fire”. (2 Peter 3:12) when Jesus comes again to take His people out of this world.

This blog is called God’s Work with Planet Earth because it’s the Biblical story of God doing all these things to save humans from sin and bring them back to being part of His heavenly family. The things we see happening are supernatural and terrifying, but God has to deal with the sin that causes the destruction of humans. At some point He has to put an end to it, so that His people can live forever in safety, peace, and love.

We should not be choosing Him out of fear for the future, but recognizing His pure motives and goodness, how much He loves us and wants to save us from the mess we’re in and the direction we’re headed. “We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19