WHERE DID ALL THE WATER GO?
Psalms 104:8
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them
“There can’t possibly have been a worldwide Flood. Where would all the water have gone after the Flood?” This is a common objection to belief in the biblical account of the Flood of Noah’s time. Did the water drain away, or evaporate?
This misconception is because our society is very Western-centered. As a child, growing up in Britain, all pictures of the Earth would have London at their center. This is, after all, where the 0ยบ longitude line is! In America, most similar images would show the United States at the center. But what if we center our image on the Pacific Ocean? Then we will see a hemisphere almost entirely made up of ocean. This reminds us that nearly three quarters of the Earth’s surface is water. What if all the existing water on the Earth could be spread out? French diver and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau used to say:
Were the crust of earth to be leveled—with great mountain ranges like the Himalayas and ocean abysses like the Mariana Trench evened out—no land at all would show above the surface of the sea. Earth would be covered by a uniform sheet of water—more than 10,000 feet deep!
This agrees with what the Bible says in Psalm 104:8.
The mountains rose, the valleys [or deeps] sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
The rising of the mountains and the lowering of the ocean deeps, at the end of the Flood, easily explains where all the floodwater went. It didn’t go anywhere. It is all still on planet Earth.
We worship You, Lord, the King enthroned above the Flood; enthroned as King forever. May You give strength to Your people, and may You bless Your people with peace. Amen.
Psalms 104:8
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them
“There can’t possibly have been a worldwide Flood. Where would all the water have gone after the Flood?” This is a common objection to belief in the biblical account of the Flood of Noah’s time. Did the water drain away, or evaporate?
This misconception is because our society is very Western-centered. As a child, growing up in Britain, all pictures of the Earth would have London at their center. This is, after all, where the 0ยบ longitude line is! In America, most similar images would show the United States at the center. But what if we center our image on the Pacific Ocean? Then we will see a hemisphere almost entirely made up of ocean. This reminds us that nearly three quarters of the Earth’s surface is water. What if all the existing water on the Earth could be spread out? French diver and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau used to say:
Were the crust of earth to be leveled—with great mountain ranges like the Himalayas and ocean abysses like the Mariana Trench evened out—no land at all would show above the surface of the sea. Earth would be covered by a uniform sheet of water—more than 10,000 feet deep!
This agrees with what the Bible says in Psalm 104:8.
The mountains rose, the valleys [or deeps] sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
The rising of the mountains and the lowering of the ocean deeps, at the end of the Flood, easily explains where all the floodwater went. It didn’t go anywhere. It is all still on planet Earth.
We worship You, Lord, the King enthroned above the Flood; enthroned as King forever. May You give strength to Your people, and may You bless Your people with peace. Amen.
TWO LIQUIDS CALLED WATER
Genesis 2:10
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers
Popular science information websites sometimes reveal fascinating facts. The Science Daily website recently published an articled suggesting that water is not one, but two liquids.
One would have thought that we knew everything that there was to know about water. It covers 70% of the Earth�s surface. Up to 60% of the human body is made up of water. It is essential for life, and we are familiar with it in our everyday life, in ponds, streams, rivers, lakes, and so many different bodies of water worldwide.
However, we are also familiar with the fact that water has many anomalous properties, which set it apart from other liquids. A team of researchers at Sweden�s Stockholm University have discovered, using X-Ray analysis, that there are two different arrangements for water molecules in liquid water, especially at low temperatures, just above the melting point of ice. We know that if water had a melting point, consistent with the small size of its molecule alone, its melting point would be very low. However, water molecules associate together, in different formations, because of the so-called hydrogen-bonding between molecules. Apparently, at low temperatures, this can cause such a high association between molecules, that the liquid, or at least portions of it, can become a thick, viscous liquid, just as it freezes into ice.
That such a seemingly simple material can still have properties for us to research shows something of the creativity of God. At once simple and highly complex, molecular and inter-molecular arrangements in water cause this common, yet mysterious liquid, to do so many things for us, that we tend to take for granted.
Thank You, Father, for Your gift of water to us. You word describes cold water as something that refreshes a thirsty or weary soul. Thank You that You made this unusual material so well. Amen.
Genesis 2:10
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers
Popular science information websites sometimes reveal fascinating facts. The Science Daily website recently published an articled suggesting that water is not one, but two liquids.
One would have thought that we knew everything that there was to know about water. It covers 70% of the Earth�s surface. Up to 60% of the human body is made up of water. It is essential for life, and we are familiar with it in our everyday life, in ponds, streams, rivers, lakes, and so many different bodies of water worldwide.
However, we are also familiar with the fact that water has many anomalous properties, which set it apart from other liquids. A team of researchers at Sweden�s Stockholm University have discovered, using X-Ray analysis, that there are two different arrangements for water molecules in liquid water, especially at low temperatures, just above the melting point of ice. We know that if water had a melting point, consistent with the small size of its molecule alone, its melting point would be very low. However, water molecules associate together, in different formations, because of the so-called hydrogen-bonding between molecules. Apparently, at low temperatures, this can cause such a high association between molecules, that the liquid, or at least portions of it, can become a thick, viscous liquid, just as it freezes into ice.
That such a seemingly simple material can still have properties for us to research shows something of the creativity of God. At once simple and highly complex, molecular and inter-molecular arrangements in water cause this common, yet mysterious liquid, to do so many things for us, that we tend to take for granted.
Thank You, Father, for Your gift of water to us. You word describes cold water as something that refreshes a thirsty or weary soul. Thank You that You made this unusual material so well. Amen.
CAIN TILLED THE GROUND
Genesis 4:3-5
In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.
As a child, attending Sunday School, and listening to so many disconnected Bible stories, I was confused by the account of Cain and Abel. In particular, I found it strange that God accepted Abel�s offering, but not Cain�s. There didn�t seem to be a reason. I remember asking my Sunday School teacher, who didn�t know either. �Maybe Cain wasn�t very nice in the way that he gave his offering,� she suggested.
But that can�t be the case. Cain offered the fruit of the ground, when it was harvested. This was probably the first and best of the crops. Surely God would be pleased with the best. How can we possibly know whether Cain offered the crop with bad grace?
Part of the problem was that my Sunday School teacher did not believe that the account of Cain and Abel was genuinely historical. It was more of a legend to her. But, years later, when I had accepted that Genesis was literally true, I realized that the answer was there in the text. Cain brought the best that he could offer, but the best that we can offer is not good enough, because we are sinners. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
Abel brought a blood sacrifice. He did not raise sheep for food, because meat was forbidden us, until after the Flood. Abel�s offering recognized his sin, and the need for atonement. Cain�s offering was given insufficient, because we cannot earn our way to God. We need the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
We know, Lord God, that the best that we can offer is not good enough. Thank You, therefore, for the perfect sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ref: Taylor, P.F. (2009), Cain and Abel: Worship and Sacrifice, (Toutle, WA: J6D Publications), pp17-20
Image: Ben Peter Scotton, commissioned by the author for his use
Genesis 4:3-5
In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.
As a child, attending Sunday School, and listening to so many disconnected Bible stories, I was confused by the account of Cain and Abel. In particular, I found it strange that God accepted Abel�s offering, but not Cain�s. There didn�t seem to be a reason. I remember asking my Sunday School teacher, who didn�t know either. �Maybe Cain wasn�t very nice in the way that he gave his offering,� she suggested.
But that can�t be the case. Cain offered the fruit of the ground, when it was harvested. This was probably the first and best of the crops. Surely God would be pleased with the best. How can we possibly know whether Cain offered the crop with bad grace?
Part of the problem was that my Sunday School teacher did not believe that the account of Cain and Abel was genuinely historical. It was more of a legend to her. But, years later, when I had accepted that Genesis was literally true, I realized that the answer was there in the text. Cain brought the best that he could offer, but the best that we can offer is not good enough, because we are sinners. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
Abel brought a blood sacrifice. He did not raise sheep for food, because meat was forbidden us, until after the Flood. Abel�s offering recognized his sin, and the need for atonement. Cain�s offering was given insufficient, because we cannot earn our way to God. We need the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
We know, Lord God, that the best that we can offer is not good enough. Thank You, therefore, for the perfect sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ref: Taylor, P.F. (2009), Cain and Abel: Worship and Sacrifice, (Toutle, WA: J6D Publications), pp17-20
Image: Ben Peter Scotton, commissioned by the author for his use
THE PROPHECY OF ABEL
Luke 11:49-51
�Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation."
Jesus described Abel as a prophet. He referred to all the prophets who had been killed, �from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah� (Luke 11:51). Prophecy refers to that forthtelling, which comes from the Holy Spirit. The words of the prophet are the words of God. Prophecy can sometimes, though not always, be predictive.
However, although Cain had a few things to say in conversation with God, there is no recording of any words of Abel at all, let alone any words of prophecy. So what was the prophecy of Abel?
Abel was the world�s first murder victim. If you accept the early chapters of Genesis to be historically true � which you should � then there had been no previous human death. If evolution were true, then there would have been previous deaths, so Abel�s death was nothing significant. In a word, the death of Abel is only significant if it really was the very first human death.
God said to Cain, �The voice of your brother�s blood is crying to me from the ground.� The prophecy of Abel was his shed blood. His blood poured out onto the ground points to the much more important blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be poured out on the ground for our sins. In Hebrews 12:24, we read, �You have come� to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.�
Thank You for the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross to atone for our sins�and not just to cover them, but to wash them away completely. Amen.
Ref: Taylor, P.F. (2009), Cain and Abel: Worship and Sacrifice, (Toutle, WA: J6D Publications), pp32-35
Image: Ben Peter Scotton, commissioned by author for his use
Luke 11:49-51
�Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation."
Jesus described Abel as a prophet. He referred to all the prophets who had been killed, �from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah� (Luke 11:51). Prophecy refers to that forthtelling, which comes from the Holy Spirit. The words of the prophet are the words of God. Prophecy can sometimes, though not always, be predictive.
However, although Cain had a few things to say in conversation with God, there is no recording of any words of Abel at all, let alone any words of prophecy. So what was the prophecy of Abel?
Abel was the world�s first murder victim. If you accept the early chapters of Genesis to be historically true � which you should � then there had been no previous human death. If evolution were true, then there would have been previous deaths, so Abel�s death was nothing significant. In a word, the death of Abel is only significant if it really was the very first human death.
God said to Cain, �The voice of your brother�s blood is crying to me from the ground.� The prophecy of Abel was his shed blood. His blood poured out onto the ground points to the much more important blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be poured out on the ground for our sins. In Hebrews 12:24, we read, �You have come� to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.�
Thank You for the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross to atone for our sins�and not just to cover them, but to wash them away completely. Amen.
Ref: Taylor, P.F. (2009), Cain and Abel: Worship and Sacrifice, (Toutle, WA: J6D Publications), pp32-35
Image: Ben Peter Scotton, commissioned by author for his use
PLEASE VISIT MY WIFE'S WEBSITE. SHE RUNS "YOUNG LIVING" WHICH PROVIDES ALL NATURAL OILS THAT CAN BE USED INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY INCLUDING A DIFFUSER WHICH PUTS AN AMAZING ODOR IN THE AIR. THIS PRODUCT IS SO AMAZING AND KNOW THAT YOU WILL GET YEARS OF ENJOYMENT FROM IT. GO TO HTTP://WWW.YOUNGLIVING.ORG/CDROSES
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.