The Creation Week and the Age of the Earth (Part 2)

The Creation Week and The Age of the Earth I. There are four possibilities to explain the existence of the universe. A. The universe spontaneously emerged from nothing. Nothing does NOT produce anything. B. The universe is eternal. This is refuted by the law of entropy which affirms that all things are wearing out. C. The universe does not exist. This is insanity: the inability to cope with reality. D. A force greater than the universe brought it into existence. In other words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (GEN 1:1). II. There is only one explanation of the existence of the physical universe which agrees with all observation and logic. A. There was a time when energy was being concentrated, not dissipated, through a process not presently observed generated by a force greater than the universe itself. B. In other words, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (HEB 11:3). C. Then, something happened and energy began to decay. The Bible implies that this was the entrance of sin. ROM 5:12; PSA 102:25-26. D. We have not personally witnessed Divine creation. But we believe the testimony of God's word which declares it. Though we “walk by faith, not by sight” (2CO 5:7), it is not an ignorant, unsupported faith. 1. The creation itself declares intelligent design by the Creator. PSA 19:1; ROM 1:20. a. The special placement and axial tilt of the earth allow for the existence of liquid water without which life cannot exist. b. There is a supply for every need for the sustaining of life. c. Thus, God “...left not Himself without witness” (ACT 14:17). 2. The Biblical model of origins is seen to be entirely in agreement with the facts at hand. And, as time has progressed, God has supplied the scientific evidence to resolve the difficult questions of the present. 3. The Bible which describes the origin of the universe has shown itself entirely reliable in other areas of scientific observation or inquiry: a. Accurate descriptions of meteorological phenomena. ECC 1:6-7; PSA 135:7. b. Accurate description of the earth. ISA 40:22; JOB 26:7. c. Historical accuracy. Time and again, the people, places and events of ancient history described in Scripture have been later confirmed from other sources. d. Prophetic accuracy and fulfillment. The Bible stands alone in its never-miss prophecies of world events and especially concerning the coming, person and work of Jesus Christ. e. With such a record of reliability, acceptance of the Biblical record of creation is the logical thing to do. III. The entirety of the Divine revelation is built upon the testimony of creation, the entrance of sin, and the flood given in Genesis. A. These things show that God the Creator exists, that He is holy, that He will consume sinners and that He is merciful and able to save. 1. If there was not a literal, historical Adam created according to the literal, historical record of GEN 1-2, and who brought sin and death upon himself, his posterity and the creation itself according to the literal, historical record of GEN 3, then the gospel message of the need for the Second Adam (Christ) to take away sin and death is baseless. 2. If there was not a literal, historical global flood that consumed sinners, there is no basis for the anticipation of a future global destruction and consummation of sinners. 3. Consider the words of a leading 19th C. antiChrist humanist, Thomas Huxley. a. In his essay 'Lights of the Church and Science', Huxley states, “I am fairly at a loss to comprehend how any one, for a moment, can doubt that Christian theology must stand or fall with the historical trustworthiness of the Jewish Scriptures. The very conception of the Messiah, or Christ, is inextricably interwoven with Jewish history; the identification of Jesus of Nazareth with that Messiah rests upon the interpretation of the passages of the Hebrew Scriptures which have no evidential value unless they possess the historical character assigned to them. If the covenant with Abraham was not made; if circumcision and sacrifices were not ordained by Jahveh; if the "ten words" were not written by God's hand on the stone tables; if Abraham is more or less a mythical hero, such as Theseus; the Story of the Deluge a fiction; that of the Fall a legend; and that of the Creation the dream of a seer; if all these definite and detailed narratives of apparently real events have no more value as history than have the stories of the regal period of Rome — what is to be said about the Messianic doctrine, which is so much less clearly enunciated: And what about the authority of the writers of the books of the New Testament, who, on this theory, have not merely accepted flimsy fictions for solid truths, but have built the very foundations of Christian dogma upon legendary quicksands?” (Science and Hebrew Tradition, D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1897, p.207) b. Huxley denied the Genesis record but saw how inconsistent it was of Christians to harmonize evolutionary ideas with it: “I confess I soon lose my way when I try to follow those who walk delicately among "types" and allegories. A certain passion for clearness forces me to ask, bluntly, whether the writer means to say that Jesus did not believe the stories in question or that he did? When Jesus spoke, as a matter of fact, that "the Flood came and destroyed them all", did he believe that the Deluge really took place, or not? It seems to me that, as the narrative mentions Noah's wife, and his sons' wives, there is good scriptural warranty for the statement that the antediluvians married and were given in marriage: and I should have thought that their eating and drinking might be assumed by the firmest believer in the literal truth of the story. Moreover, I venture to ask what sort of value, as an illustration of God's methods of dealing with sin, has an account of an event that never happened? If no Flood swept the careless people away, how is the warning of more worth than the cry of "Wolf" when there is no wolf?” (Ibid, p. 232) c. Huxley then gives us a lesson on New Testament theology. He quotes MAT 19:4-5, and then comments: “If divine authority is not here claimed for the twenty-fourth verse of the second chapter of Genesis, what is the value of language? And again, I ask, if one may play fast and loose with the story of the Fall as a "type" or "allegory," what becomes of the foundation of Pauline theology?” (Ibid, p. 235-236) (1) And to substantiate this, Huxley quotes 1CO 15:21-22: “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (2) Huxley continues, “If Adam may be held to be no more real a personage than Prometheus, and if the story of the Fall is merely an instructive "type," comparable to the profound Promethean mythos, what value has Paul's dialectic?” d. Huxley understood what many Christians refuse to concede: one must either accept the Genesis record as literal and historical or trash the Genesis record by accepting evolutionary theory and long geologic ages: the two positions are irreconcilable. 4. If we can't trust Moses' words, we have no basis for believing Jesus' words. JOH 5:46-47. B. Christ and the apostles taught us to accept as literal, historical fact the events recorded in Genesis. MAT 19:4-6; LUK 17:26-30; ROM 5:12-19; 1CO 15:21-22; 2CO 11:3; HEB 11:3-7; 2PE 2:4-6. C. The literal record of Genesis is the foundation which establishes: 1. The entrance of sin. 2. The wage of sin. 3. The need for redemption. 4. The purpose for clothing. 5. The proper pattern of marriage: one man and one woman. 6. The seven-day week. D. Ponder what God requires us to believe about creation in GEN 1-2. 1. The first verse of the Bible refutes all of man's false philosophies about origins and the meaning of the world. a. It repudiates atheism because the universe was created by God. b. It repudiates pantheism because God is transcendent to all that He created. c. It repudiates polytheism because only one God created all things. d. It repudiates materialism because matter had a beginning. e. It repudiates dualism because God was alone when He created. f. It repudiates humanism because God, not man, is the ultimate reality. g. It repudiates evolutionism because God created all things. 2. God created by His word. PSA 33:6; 2PE 3:5. 3. God created the heavens, the earth and all their host in six, twenty-four hour days. a. The primary meaning of “day” as used to describe the creation days is, “The time occupied by the earth in one revolution on its axis, in which the same terrestrial meridian returns to the sun; the space of twenty-four hours, reckoned from a definite or given point.” b. The phrase “evening and morning” establish that a twenty-four hour day is under consideration. The Hebrew yom (S.R.N. #3117) with the phrase “evening and morning” (or its forms) appears 38 times in the O.T. Every time it means a literal, ordinary day. c. The numerical adjectives (first, second, third, etc.) further confirm this. “Yom” with a number attached appears 359 times in the O.T. Every time it means a literal, ordinary day. d. The plural form appears 845 times. e. In none of the above 1242 references does the word mean anything other than a literal twenty-four hour day. The context is clear. f. Why is it that accommodationists don't contend that “yom” can't be speaking of an ordinary day anywhere else outside of GEN 1-2? The answer is obvious: there is clearly no other place in the Bible's chronology to insert millions or billions of years. g. If the days of GEN 1-2 are actually eons of time, then how could Adam be formed on Day 6 and still be alive on Day 7, and yet said to live 930 years? GEN 5:5. h. The six creation days with a seventh day of rest following were the basis upon which God established the sabbath law. EXO 20:8-11. (1) God's six day work-week is a PATTERN for man's six day work- week. (2) The pattern breaks down if the six creation days are anything but normal twenty-four hour days. (3) Mind that EXO 20:8-11 makes clear that the ENTIRE creation was accomplished in the six days of GEN 1. (4) On the seventh day, God ended His work of creation and rested from ALL His work which He created and made. GEN 2:1-3. (5) These facts dismiss the notion of a primeval creation which preceded the six days and the notion of subsequent ongoing creation through evolutionary processes. 4. The Genesis account of creation requires us to accept a physically and biologically mature creation. a. The animals were created mature enough to multiply. b. Adam and Eve were created adults capable of fulfilling great responsibility and capable of multiplying. c. This highlights a great weakness in the various dating methods for determining the age of the earth, since the earth was created with the appearance of age. d. Jesus demonstrated this power to create a mature product without it having to develop through normal processes. JOH 2:1-11; 6:9-13. IV. Everything that God had made was originally very good. GEN 1:31. A. There was perfect harmony in the creation. B. Man was neither annoyed nor attacked by animals. C. Man was not a threat to animals. D. The multiplying of animals posed no environmental hazards. E. There were no destructive storms. F. Thorns and thistles did not choke the fruits of the earth. G. There was no death, no decay. H. If, on the other hand, the six days of GEN 1 were actually each eons of time during which evolutionary processes of survival of the fittest, death and burial occurred, then God must be saying that struggle, chaos, death, etc. are very good! V. The fall of man into sin explains the disharmony and destruction that is present within the creation. GEN 3. A. When Adam yielded to Satan, he lost his dominion and came under the servitude of Satan. ROM 6:16; EPH 2:1-3 ct/w JOH 14:30. B. The curse that came as a result of man's sin came upon man AND his environment. 1. Man as a species was sentenced to death. GEN 2:17; 3:19; 5:1-31. 2. That the serpent was cursed above all cattle and every beast of the field indicates that the cattle and every beast of the field were also cursed. GEN 3:14. 3. The woman was also condemned to pain in childbirth. GEN 3:16. 4. Sorrow and sweat were introduced into man's work. GEN 3:17-19. 5. The ground from which man derives his food was cursed for man's sake. GEN 3:17. 6. Now the whole creation groans and travails in pain together. ROM 8:19-23. 7. It must be noted that the current environment which is riddled with corruption, pain, bloodshed and death is so BECAUSE of Adam's sin. These conditions did not exist before that. 8. If the general theory of evolution is true or if Christian accommodationist theories of GEN 1 are true, then pain, bloodshed and death entered the creation long BEFORE man (Adam) existed. C. The condemnation of man explains the existence of entropy in the universe. 1. When man fell into the death process, the environment designed to support his life fell into the death process also. 2. The entropy in the environment is a great source of the sorrow in man's labor. D. There were obvious changes made in the environment in accord with the curse. 1. The serpent's body was changed. 2. A change was made in the woman's body concerning childbearing. 3. The plant kingdom also underwent a change so that it now brings forth thorns and thistles. 4. These changes do not constitute a new creation; they constitute transformations within the existing creation. a. God may very well, with a fore-view to the entrance of sin, have encoded this potential into the initial creation, only to be triggered by the entrance of sin. b. This may also explain how that initially benign creatures may have developed violent physical attributes and tendencies. 5. Evolutionary theory will not allow for such drastic, rapid changes of the environment. a. Evolution assumes that present gradual processes are the key to the past, that things have always happened as we presently see them (uniformitarianism). b. From this assumption is extrapolated the notion of long geologic age of the earth which is a core constituent of all evolutionary theory. c. This uniformitarian assumption is warned against in 2PE 3:3-4. d. Uniformitarianism asserts that the present earth is the result of slow, gradual processes that have been constant over billions of years. e. It rules out dynamic, large-scale catastrophe as being a factor in the formation of the present cosmos, earth's geologic surface or of fossils. f. What is the “big-bang” theory if not a large-scale catastrophe? g. Actually, many evolutionists do believe that catastrophes in the past dramatically altered earth's processes. (1) Such things as meteoric or planetary collisions and the like have been proffered in explanation of mass death and burial of species, the ice-age(s) or apparent changes in the polarity of the magnetic field. (2) There is one catastrophe which excellently accounts for much of the “mysterious” phenomena of our present world: a sudden, universal flood. This concept, though, evolutionists universally deny, as do many modern theologians. (3) To be specific, evolutionists scoff at a world-wide deluge ON EARTH. (4) Many evolutionists believe that on Mars, a planet on which the presence of any liquid water is still under investigation, massive global flooding formed the surface! (5) They also hold that the water was contained in huge underground reservoirs which broke up and flooded the entire planet tens of meters deep. (Michael Carr, US Geological Survey) (6) One wonders if they would have ever come to the same conclusion if the Bible had described Mars as being inundated by a global flood. h. Consider some of the difficulties that uniformitarianism cannot explain. (1) Limestone formations in caves are usually explained as having formed gradually over incredible periods of time. AA. However, under the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, stalactites had grown to five feet in less than fifty years. BB. Cave formations could easily be explained in just a few thousand years. (2) The magnetic field of the earth has been steadily decaying since it was first measured in 1835. AA. The half-life of its decay has been calculated at about 1400 years. In other words, every 1400 years, its strength is reduced by one-half. BB. If uniformitarianism is true, this process has always been going on at this rate. CC. Physicist Thomas Barnes has shown from careful measurements that earth's magnetic field would have been equal to that of a magnetic star 10,000 – 20,000 years ago. DD. The current flowing from pole to pole would have basically created a white-hot filament out of the earth. So much for multi-million year old fossils! (3) There are many phenomena which prove the erroneous premise of uniformitarianism, such as the rates of juvenile water production, the salinization of the seas, land erosion, top soil formation, polystrate fossils, Mississippi river delta formation, production of atmospheric helium, decay rate of earth's rotation, etc. i. Evolutionists determine the age of buried fossils according to the strata in which they are found. (1) But geology establishes the age of the strata according to the fossils embedded in it based on a fabricated geologic column which portrays a progression of rock layers and corresponding fossils, a theoretical chart which is not borne out by all the evidence. (2) This is circular reasoning at its best. E. The present entropic state of the pain-filled creation with all of its decay rates cannot be explained in a context of long geologic age / old earth uniformitarianism nor can it be something that preceded the entrance of sin by Adam. VI. Dinosaurs have been for many years some of the most powerful “evangelistic” tools in the shop of both the evolutionist and the accommodationist. A. The existence of fascinating fossils of unusual and/or immense (presumably) extinct creatures has captivated men for the last two hundred years or so. B. Because of the presupposition of long geologic ages, deep burial and uniformitarianism, it is assumed that these creatures must have died out ages before man came on the scene. C. There are various sites around the world where evidence of man exists in the same geologic strata as or even in deeper strata than dinosaurs. D. If a person believes the Bible, he had better conclude that dinosaurs and man have lived contemporaneously. ROM 3:4. 1. If God made ALL the creatures in the same week that He made man as GEN 1 declares, this conclusion is inescapable. 2. Even the “day-age” theorists must conclude that God created Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Brachiosaurus, etc. in the same time frame as man because all the land animals and man were created on the sixth day (GEN 1:24-31), then God had Adam name them. GEN 2:19-20. 3. God reasoned with Job to squelch his pride by reminding him of two formidable creatures which were obviously his contemporaries: behemoth and leviathan. JOB 40:15 - 41:34. a. These descriptions sound remarkably like giant dinosaurs (a word that was not invented until 1841). b. Leviathan appears to have been a fire-breathing monster. c. Impossible? Outrageous? Maybe not. Were it not for the fact that we presently witness the amazing capabilities of creatures like the bombardier beetle, firefly or electric eel, they might be relegated to the realm of myth also. VII. There are basically four accommodationist theories which have been advanced in order to wed Scripture to the geologic record (so-called). They are: Theistic Evolution, the Day-Age Theory, the Gap Theory, and the Progressive Creation Theory. A. Theistic evolution (T.E.) is a general term which includes varied theories of wedding evolutionary science to Scripture. 1. T.E. generally holds to a long age of the earth. But Scripture demonstrates that the earth is of recent creation. 2. T.E. maintains that God used evolutionary processes to create. a. Evolution supposes that one kind becomes another kind. But God said that things would bring forth “after their kind.” b. Evolution requires viciousness, waste, suffering and death. If this was the process which God used to create, how could God look upon this and pronounce it “very good” (GEN 1:31)? c. Scripture warns against such monstrous labeling. ISA 5:20-21. d. God is not the author of such confusion. 1CO 14:33. 3. T.E. generally accepts the sequence of events as outlined by the evolutionists' so- called geologic record. But the sequence of evolutionary development is totally irreconcilable to the Biblical record. Consider: The Biblical Record Evolution's Order Matter created by God Matter has always existed Earth created before sun & stars Sun & stars existed before earth Ocean formed before land Land existed before the ocean Light before the sun Sun was earth's first light Land plants earth's first life Marine organisms earth's first life Plants created before sun Sun existed long before plants Fruit trees created before fish Fish existed long before fruit trees Birds created before insects Insects existed long before birds Birds created before reptiles Reptiles existed before birds Man lived before there was rain Rain fell before man existed Man created before woman A female Homo sapiens was first Man uniquely formed in perfection Man descended from ape Man made in God's image Man just another animal Creation is finished Evolutionary “creation” ongoing 4. T.E. has sometimes theorized that where God says that He made man from the dust of the ground (GEN 2:7), this is a perfect summary of evolution: inorganic materials eventually evolved into intelligent life. But, if dust-to-man means evolution, what does rib-to-Eve mean? GEN 2:21-22. 5. “Christians who say God used evolution to bring everything including man into being have a real problem. If evolution is not occurring today (that is, if God is not “creating” through evolution), there is no basis to extrapolate into the past to say that evolution has ever occurred, as there is now no mechanism for it. In other words, modern evolutionary theory accepts that evolution is still going on (therefore, man must still be evolving!), so if a Christian accepts evolution he has to accept that God is still using evolution today. Thus, He is still creating. But God tells us that He finished His work of creating. This is a real dilemma for the theistic evolutionist.” (The Lie, Ken Ham, p.144) 6. If God created over millions of years involving death, the existing earth is not ruined by sin, but is as it has always been---as God supposedly intended it to be. So why then should God destroy it and create a new heavens and earth? 2PE 3:10-13. B. The Day-Age theory (D.A.) basically maintains that the days of creation in Genesis are actually great periods of time, thus allowing for uniformitarian geology and for evolution to take place. 1. Some D.A.s have gone to 2PE 3:8 to try to justify the idea of millions of years of earth history. a. Even if this taken as a divine equation, it still does not say that a day is a million years, only AS a thousand! b. The verse also says that a thousand years is AS one day, which cancels out the first equation. c. 2PE 3:8 is simply emphasizing that time is nothing to an eternal, timeless God. 2. If each of the days of creation was actually a great age, perhaps millions of years, how does one account for the fact that an abundance of plant life, including fruit- bearing trees, were created on Day Three, but would have survived for millions of years until the sun was created on Day Four? 3. If “day” means eons of time, then what does it mean where it says that Jesus Christ would be in the grave for three days and three nights? MAT 12:40. 4. If the “days” of GEN 1 actually mean great ages of time, this creates real problems when we come to EXO 20:11. 5. Adam was created on Day Six, and still alive on Day Seven and lived for 930 years after that (GEN 5:3-5). If Day Six was actually an indeterminate eon, this makes a mockery of Scripture and common-sense. C. The Gap Theory (also called the Ruin-Reconstruction Theory) maintains that there is a gap of great age, perhaps millions of years between GEN 1:1 and GEN 1:2. 1. This theory was first advanced by Thomas Chalmers (1740-1847), a Scottish theologian. 2. It was popularized in the footnotes of the Scofield Reference Bible of 1909. Dr. Scofield had a bent towards sticking gaps of time in Scripture where there are none. 3. Gap theorists basically hold to: a. belief in a literal view of Genesis. b. belief in an extremely long, but undefined age for the earth. c. an obligation to fit the origin of most of the geologic strata and other geologic evidence in their “gap.” d. an opposition to evolution. 4. Gap Theory teaches that: a. in the far-distant past, God created a perfect heaven and earth over which Satan ruled. b. the earth was populated by the “prehistoric” creatures of the geologic record and a race of soulless “pre-Adamite” men. c. Satan sinned and fell, bringing sin into the physical universe and provoking a judgmental flood and upheaval upon earth indicated by the waters of GEN 1:2. d. all fossils upon the earth date from this “Lucifer's Flood.” e. after “Lucifer's Flood,” God sometime later started the six days of creation which proceed from GEN 1:3. g. since God told Adam to replenish the earth in GEN 1:28, it is evident that the earth had been earlier plenished. h. the death that came from Adam was only spiritual death. 5. The whole theory is precluded by the fact that all the creation, including the heavens and the earth, was formed in the six-day period that the Gapper says followed the first creation and judgment. EXO 20:8-11. 6. The Gap Theory presupposes that God was looking upon the death and fossilized ruins of the first creation and calling it “very good” in GEN 1:31. As already noted, this creates serious doctrinal and ethical problems. 7. Gap Theory also concludes that death and corruption preceded the entrance of sin into this world by Adam. But Scripture makes clear that death (spiritual AND physical) came as a result of Adam's sin. Adam's sin was what brought death to ALL of the physical creation. GEN 3:17-19; ROM 5:12; 1CO 15:21; ROM 8:19-22. 8. By advocating death and bloodshed before Adam's sin, the whole gospel message is undermined. Bloodshed only happened AFTER Adam sinned. GEN 3:21. 9. Where does Scripture teach that anyone but Adam was given dominion over the earth? 10. Contrary to the idea that there were men (though soulless) before Adam, Scripture calls Adam the FIRST man. 1CO 15:45. 11. The Gap theorist must read GEN 1:2 “...the earth BECAME void...” instead of “...the earth WAS....void.” 12. The idea of fossils being formed from a world-wide Luciferian flood and upheaval (of which the Bible is silent) relegates the flood of Noah (of which the Bible speaks volumes) to a downgraded “also-ran” judgment by water. 13. The idea that “...replenish the earth” (GEN 1:28) means to refill the earth is simply wrong. a. Replenish: “To make full of, to fill, to stock or store abundantly with persons or animals.” b. The same Hebrew word translated “replenish” in GEN 1:28 is translated “fill” in GEN 1:22. 14. Jesus Christ and His apostles equate the beginning of the creation/world to the time of the first humans like Adam, Eve and their family, not some previous creation eons earlier which included male and female soulless men. MAR 10:6-8; LUK 1:70. D. The Progressive Creation Theory is “the hypothesis that God has increased the complexity of life on earth by successive creations of new life forms over billions of years while miraculously changing the earth to accommodate the new life.” (Dinosaurs and Hominids, audiotape [Pasadena, CA: Reasons to Believe, 1990]) 1. Progressive Creationism (P.C.) asserts that: a. the earth and universe are billions of years old. b. the days of creation were overlapping periods of millions and billions of years. c. God stepped in many times at punctuated intervals to create replacements or improved models of creatures. d. death and bloodshed have existed from the beginning of the creation and were not the result of Adam's sin. e. Adam's sin brought only spiritual death. Adam was created after the vast majority of earth's history of life and death had already taken place. f. the flood of Noah was not global, only local. g. nature is the 67th book of the Bible (hence, we interpret Scripture through the eyes of science). 2. The idea of “million-year” days was refuted earlier. 3. There was also no bloodshed, death and destruction before Adam. 4. However, a P.C. argues that plants would have had to die under the traditional understanding of GEN 1, since men and animals were to eat plants (GEN 1:29-30). And, the plants allegedly would have experienced bleeding and bruising. a. Plants would not necessarily have to die when eaten. Ever looked in a cow pasture? b. Plants do not suffer and bleed like animals do. Only a P.C. or someone with a tree-hugger mentality would think so. c. If there is no distinction between plants and animals, if both equally suffer, bleed and die in God's eyes, then why didn't God accept Adam's fig leaves to cover his nakedness? GEN 3:21. d. Likewise, why didn't God accept Cain's sacrifice of the fruit of the ground if the death of a plant equates with the death of a flesh and blood animal? GEN 4:3-4. e. If the death of plants equates with the death of animals, why did God only design to preserve that “...wherein is the breath of life...” (GEN 6:17; 7:21- 23), that is, animals? 5. If the flood of Noah was just a local event, then: a. why, with 120 years to relocate, did God tell Noah to build an ark for the preservation of humans and air-breathing animals? b. If the flood of Noah were only local, what then becomes of God's promise to never again flood the earth as He had just done (GEN 8:21; 9:11, 15), when sizeable local floods have continued throughout history? c. If Noah and his family weren't the only ones who survived the flood, would the terms of the Noahic covenant apply to the rest or not (GEN 9:1-6)? Would they be exempted from requiring capital punishment or from the restriction on eating blooded meat? d. If the flood of Noah was only local, what does this do the parallel that Peter draws from it to the final judgment (2PE 3:3-12)? Will most of the earth and its inhabitants be spared? 6. Nature is not a 67th book of the Bible. a. God points out lessons to us from nature (PRO 6:6; MAT 6:28), but determining ultimate truth cannot come from observing nature. ECC 3:11. b. Contrarily, looking to nature for God's will leads to idolatry and immorality. ROM 1:21-23. VIII. One must either accept the testimony of GEN 1-2 at face value without fanciful imports of man's wisdom and fallible science or reject the Scripture. The two concepts are irreconcilable.