The Flood: When the World That Was Perished

Al Felder
16 hours ago
5 min read

The story of Noah’s flood is one of the most well-known accounts in all of Scripture. Four of the first eleven chapters of Genesis are devoted to this single event—more space than is given to the creation week itself. Next to creation, the flood of Noah’s day is the most significant single event in earth’s history.

And yet, it is also one of the most attacked. Modern skeptics, driven by evolutionary thinking, dismiss the flood as myth because it conflicts with their claim that “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Pet. 3:4). But Peter said those who deny God’s past judgment are “willingly ignorant” of what truly happened.

In this post, we’ll walk through what Scripture says about the flood, why it happened, whether it’s even possible—and what it means for us today.

1. Why God Sent the Flood

Genesis paints a sobering picture of the world before the flood:

“God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5)

Humanity had exploded in number. When you add the genealogies of Genesis 5 and consider lifespans averaging about 912 years, mathematicians estimate the pre-flood population could have reached a billion people.

Two family lines emerge in the narrative:

Cain and his descendants – representing rebellion and ungodliness
Seth and his descendants – representing those who sought to follow God

Over time, the godly line compromised. “The sons of God” (those striving to honor the Lord) began to intermarry with “the daughters of men” (those walking in sin), and the influence of wickedness spread. Righteousness became the exception rather than the rule.

God’s response was decisive:

“I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.” (Gen. 6:7)

Yet in the midst of this dark verdict, a ray of hope appears:

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Gen. 6:8)

Noah was an island of righteousness in a sea of corruption. Because of his faithfulness, God granted a 120-year probationary period. During that time, Noah built the ark and preached righteousness, warning people of coming judgment. But when the rain finally fell, only Noah and his family entered the ark.

2. Could the Ark Really Have Held All Those Animals?

Critics often mock the idea that Noah could have gathered and housed “two of every kind” of land animal. But when we actually apply the biblical details, the account proves reasonable.

Kinds vs. Modern Species

Scripture speaks of animals according to their kind, a broader category than today’s scientific term “species.” For example:

Noah did not need to bring two wolves, two coyotes, two dingoes, two huskies, etc.
He needed a breeding pair from the dog kind, from which today’s variety could easily arise.

The same is true for other animals. The number of original “kinds” is much smaller than the number of modern species.

The Ark’s Capacity

God gave precise dimensions:

Length: 300 cubits (~450 feet)
Width: 50 cubits (~75 feet)
Height: 30 cubits (~45 feet)

That’s roughly the storage space of 520 railroad boxcars.

Estimates suggest Noah needed room for somewhere between 16,000 and 35,000 animal kinds; using the high estimate and counting males and females, that’s about 70,000 animals. Advanced physics students at Leicester University even tested these figures and concluded that this number does not exceed the ark’s capacity.

When you remember that:

Only land-dwelling, air-breathing animals were aboard
Many animals could have been young, smaller specimens
Food and water storage used the enormous lower decks

…the ark narrative is not only possible—it’s efficient.

3. Evidence That a Global Flood Really Happened

If a world-engulfing flood truly occurred, we would expect to find evidence—both historical and geological. We do.

Flood Legends Around the World

Anthropologists who study ancient cultures report that over 500 flood legends exist worldwide. Civilizations separated by oceans and language families still tell stories of:

A worldwide flood
A favored family was saved in a boat
Animals preserved
The sending out of birds to find land

This is precisely what we would expect if all post-flood peoples descended from those who survived on Noah’s ark and later scattered from Babel (Gen. 11:1–9). They carried the memory of the flood with them.

The Fossil Record: A Monument to Catastrophe

Evolutionists rely heavily on the fossil record to support their timelines of “millions of years.” But the evidence actually points to rapid, large-scale burial:

Many fossils are preserved in “action poses”—fish in the middle of eating other fish, animals giving birth, creatures frozen mid-movement.
These details indicate sudden death and rapid burial in sediment, not slow, gradual processes.

In addition:

Marine fossils are found on every continent, including high in the Himalayan Mountains and deep in desert regions like the Sahara and the American Southwest.
Vast layers of sedimentary rock—containing similar fossil groups—extend across continents, with flat, featureless boundaries between layers, not the expected signs of millions of years of erosion.

All of this is perfectly consistent with the biblical description of:

“the fountains of the great deep” breaking up and “the windows of heaven” being opened (Gen. 7:11).

In short: the world that then was… perished (2 Pet. 3:6).

4. The Flood and the Age of the Earth

The global flood poses a devastating threat to evolutionary timelines. If such a catastrophe occurred:

It would completely reshape Earth's geology.
It would compress the “millions of years” assigned to fossil layers into a single, year-long event.

This is precisely why many evolutionists deny the flood at all costs. If the flood stands, their entire system collapses.

But Peter said scoffers would deliberately ignore this very event:

“For this they willingly are ignorant of… the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” (2 Pet. 3:5–6)

5. A Changed World—and a Coming Judgment

The world before the flood was very different:

A globally warm climate
No major weather fronts colliding to produce violent storms
The earth watered by a mist, not by rainfall (Gen. 2:5–6)

The flood marked the end of that world and the beginning of the one we now know—a world marred by:

Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Hurricanes and tornadoes
Eroded landscapes and shifting continents

These natural disasters are not random accidents; they are ongoing reminders of God’s judgment on sin and previews of a greater judgment yet to come.

Peter ties the past flood directly to the future:

“The heavens and the earth, which are now… are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment.” (2 Pet. 3:7)

God once judged the world with water. He will one day judge it with fire.

6. Noah’s Ark and Our Only Hope

Noah’s ark was more than a massive ship—it was an act of grace. God provided a way of escape. For 120 years, Noah preached and prepared. The door stood open.

But when the rain began, only eight souls were saved.

Today, Christ is our ark of safety. The same God who judged the ancient world has provided a new and living way of salvation through His Son. As in Noah’s day, judgment is certain—but so is mercy for those who respond in faith and obedience.