If it had not rained until after the great flood then rainbows "in the cloud," would be a new phenomena. They would not have existed before the flood if it had not rained since rainbows are created by the refraction of light passing through suspended water (rain drops). Others say that the rainbow existed before the flood when it rained, but that here they were associated with the covenant. This would be like bread and wine existing before the Passover of Christ but after the Passover these preexisting emblems took on new meaning.
2. There are Rivers mentioned in the Scriptures Whatever hydrologic cycle existed before the flood would have to produce enough water to feed these rivers (1).
3. The World was much different BEFORE the Flood than AFTER the Flood The earth was DESTROYED by the flood: "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. "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 6:11-13) Consider the following: -
Evidence points to the fact that, before the flood, the earth had a year consisting of 360 days as opposed to today's year which consists of a fraction more than 365 days. A comparison of the Genesis account, Genesis 7:24, 7:11, and 8:4, shows that five months consisted of 150 days. This would mean that the pre-flood days were slightly longer than the present 24 hour days. -
The great mountain chains and deep ocean basins were the result of the flood. "You covered it with the deep as with a garment, the waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled, at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. "They went up over the mountains. They went down into the valleys, to the place which You founded for them. (The marginal rendering of the NKJV and various other translations state that "the mountains rose up and the valleys sank down.") You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they may not return to cover the earth. " (Psalm 104:6-9) In other words the deep oceans and the mountains were formed after the flood. The present day oceans contain the former floodwaters and the continental land masse and mountains were pushed upward. -
The earth's axis TILTED. "Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants. "The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants . . . Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. . . . " . . . For the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is violently broken. The earth is split open. The earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard and shall totter like a hut. Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, and it will fall, and not rise again." (Isaiah 24:1, 4-6, 18-20) The earth before the flood had lush tropical forest and a large amounts of vegetation. Since the day were longer the temperature was warmer. After the flood the ice ages began and the earth's ecosystem changed. Before the flood there would have been less wind and atmospheric turbulence. Winds are caused by temperature differences cause by the tilt of the earth's axis, mountain systems, and ice caps. All of these cause unequal regions of hot and cold on the globe which produce the various winds. Therefore the pre-flood earth was warmer, had more vegetation, had smaller oceans, and had smaller or nonexistent mountains. 4. Before the flood few particles existed for water to condense aroundPresent day rain condenses around what are called condensation nuclei: "Some atmospheric particles . . . formed by the evaporation of water from droplets of sea spray, are natural and even beneficial atmospheric constituents. Very small particles called condensation nuclei serve as bodies for atmospheric water vapor to condense upon and are essential for the formation of rain drops." (2) If the earth before the flood had smaller oceans then the production of particles for water drops to condense around would be very small if not non-existent. Less atmospheric turbulence before the flood would also have led to few particles put into the air. After the flood, the change in weather patterns, the formation of condensation nuclei from oceans, increased volcanic activity and the increased wind systems would have produced rain. On the other hand, since the earth would have been warmer and laden with uncondensed moisture, there would have been an extremely efficient condensation cycle. Condensed water droplets would have been bigger and more commonplace. The earth's would have cooled very rapidly at night. This drop in temperatures would have caused a very large condensation cycle. The earth would therefore have been watered, not by rain or rain drops, but by a very heavy mist or fog each day (possibly at sunset and sunrise). |
