Yet the text of Genesis specifies
that God’s ultimate goal was to destroy all
of humanity in a manner that would
include the natural order along with it.
Since it was the extent of human
sin and wickedness which moved God to destroy the entire human race (Genesis 6:5-8) excepting Noah and his family, and since
humanity had yet to spread out across the entire
world (Genesis 11:1-9), it was not necessary to God’s purpose that the flood
should extend farther than the limit of human habitation at that time. These insights do not, of course, prove that
Noah’s flood was limited in extent. But
they do provide context for our reflection on the reality of the over forty
instances where the Bible specifies the extent of the flood with the words
“all,” “every”, and everything,” as in “all the earth” (Hugh Ross. “Global or Worldwide Flood: The Scientific Evidence.” Navigating
Genesis. (Reasons to Believe, 2014) p.145).
What did these statements mean in terms of the frame of reference of Moses
the writer?
Hugh Ross identifies six examples
of world-wide events as described by
that vocabulary in both Testaments of the Bible. First, Genesis 42:5,6 states that “all of the earth” (meaning peoples
subject to Egypt’s sovereignty or its influence) came to Egypt to buy
bread. Second, 1 Kings 4:34 says, “Men
came from all peoples to hear the
wisdom from Solomon, and from all the
kings of the earth” (that is, from surrounding lands, and as far south as Ethiopia). Third, in Luke 2:1 Caesar Augustus decreed
that “all the world should be
enrolled” in a census (that means the geographical extent of the Roman Empire). Fourth, Acts 2:5 states that “there were
dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven” (which would have been limited to the
Roman and Parthian empires). Fifth, in
Romans 1:8 the Apostle Paul celebrated that the “faith” of the inhabitants of Rome
“was proclaimed in all the world”
(meaning within much of the Roman
Empire). And sixth, In Colossians 1:6
Paul celebrated that the Gospel was bearing fruit in the whole world (which, again, means a portion of the Roman Empire
(p.146).
To be continued…
