If Noah’s Flood Was Local, Why Didn’t Noah Just Pack up and Walk Out?
Photo showing how deep the Mesopotamian Valley is, in some areas, compared to surrounding mountains.
If Noah’s Flood Was Local, Why Didn’t Noah Just Pack up and Walk Out?
Steve, if the whole world wasn’t flooded during Noah’s flood, as you claimed in your recent commentary, why didn’t God just tell Noah to pack up and go somewhere else? Why all the work building an ark? Why not have all the animals move to another part of the world temporarily? Why are there so many bone graveyards all over the planet? Why are there huge bone graveyards found at extremely high elevations? — Richard
Steve’s Answer:
Richard, our God is a God of signs, warnings and examples. I’ll get to that in just a moment. But first, let me have a crack at answering your question directly.
Yes, you’re correct, God could have simply told Noah to “pack up and go somewhere else.” And He could have directed the animals to move to another part of the world, as well.
And then He could have flooded that great Mesopotamian Valley where the hybrid descendants of Adam lived, and wiped out everything that was left.
And that would have been that, right?
This certainly would have eliminated the need to build an ark and to take two of every living creature onboard.
But stop and think about it for just a moment. What would have happened if Noah and his family had indeed packed up and left that valley?
They were certainly well-known by everyone living in that valley, if only because they were so different from everyone else, being the only Adamic family left who hadn’t mixed with the fallen angels and their “giant” progeny (Genesis 6:9), and become fierce and strong hybrid superhumans with decidedly evil tastes (Genesis 6:4-5).
We’re told in II Peter 2:5 that Noah was a “preacher of righteousness.” In other words, he was the only one left who stood up before the people and preached against mixing with the fallen angels and their “giant” progeny.
Noah was 500 years old at the time of the flood, so he’d been preaching against the hybridization for a very long time, as had his great-great grandfather, Enoch, hundreds of years before him (who the fallen angels unsuccessfully consulted with, asking him to intervene with God on their behalves, according to the Book of Enoch). But ultimately it dwindled down to just Noah’s family being the only ones left with a pure Adamic bloodline, and the others had all become hybrids.
So if Noah and his family had simply packed their suitcases (so to speak) with clothing, loaded them onto some ox carts along with food and goods for the whole family, and left that valley where the descendants of Adam and Eve lived, it would have caused quite a stir among the population, and would have resulted in much speculation about why he and his entire family had packed up and left.
Some folks, having heard his daily preaching and warnings for years on end, might have even tried to follow him out of that valley, figuring something bad was about to happen.
And what would have happened had God caused all of the animals to suddenly follow suit, and leave that great valley, as you suggested?
Many of those animals constituted the very food the people ate. Others were the beasts of burden they used for farming and other daily chores.
In fact, the Book of Enoch tells us the superhuman hybrid “giants” (progeny of the fallen angels) had become so ravenous, and so numerous, they were in the process of devouring the animals as fast as they could.
So if the animals had all started leaving that valley, the hungry “giants” would have simply followed them, for food, much as the American Indians followed the buffalo herds wherever they went.
That of course would have saved the superhuman hybrids from the flood of that great valley and negated God’s plan to protect the bloodline that Christ was ultimately to come through — Noah’s bloodline.
Plus, it would have negated God’s own word:
Genesis 6:7: “And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”
God won’t break His own Word. So by His own Word, He couldn’t send the animals out of that valley. He had already vowed to destroy them.
So why, then, if the flood was not worldwide (which it wasn’t), did God have Noah build that ark rather than just walking out of that valley?
It’s simple: God was focusing the attention of the hybrid descendants of Adam and Eve on Noah. He was using Noah’s ark-building as a living sign to the people. In essence, he was using Noah and his entire family as living signs of what was to come upon them for their great wickedness.
Size of Mesopotamia
It’s important to understand that the Mesopotamian Valley where they lived was some 45,000 square miles in size (about 300 miles long and 150 miles wide) — larger than the size of the state of Tennessee.
Think about that, and you’ll understand why an ark was needed. God was going to flood nearly 45,000 square miles of territory situated in a relatively deep farming valley where the descendants of Adam and Eve lived at that time. It’s estimated that some of the cities in that valley, at that time, had as many as 50,000 to 80,000 people living in them.
So Noah’s ark was a wonderment to the people living in that great Mesopotamian valley. It was a sign that focused the attention of the hybrid multitudes directly onto Noah and his family…and more importantly, onto their message from God.
“Why is this crazy man and his crazy, do-gooder family building this huge ship?” the progeny of the fallen angels would have been asking.
And as they came around to stare at this great sign (i.e., the ark) as it was being built, Noah would have stood up and preached to them about the righteousness of God and the unrighteousness of their actions in mixing with the fallen angels.
Signs, Warnings and Examples
As I stated at the very beginning, our God is a God of signs, warnings and examples.
Think back to Ezekiel’s day, when Ezekiel was prophesying of the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the king of Babylon.
In several cases, for long periods of time, God used Ezekiel as a living sign to the people about the utter destruction that was going to befall Jerusalem and its people at Nebuchadnezzar’s hand, and why.
As it’s written:
Eze 12:1 The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,
Eze 12:2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.
The people of Israel wouldn’t listen to God, nor pay attention to His Word.
Eze 12:3 Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house.
God is telling Ezekiel to act out going into captivity to Babylon. He’s telling Ezekiel, in essence, to put on a stage play right in front of all of the people, showing them what’s going to happen to them if they don’t repent of their sinfulness.
The phrase “Prepare thee stuff for removing” means “pack your bags with everything you own, as if you’re going into exile.”
The phrase “remove by day in their site” means do this in broad daylight, right in front of them, so they’ll see it clearly.
And the point of God asking Ezekiel to do this was “may be they will consider,” i.e., maybe they’ll look at what Ezekiel is doing, understand it, and repent of their evil and stiff-necked ways.
Eze 12:4 Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.
Here, again, God is telling Ezekiel to act out going into captivity in the sight of the people.
Eze 12:5 Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.
Eze 12:6 In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.
God was using Ezekiel as a living sign, to show them what was about to happen to them when the king of Babylon took them into captivity.
Eze 12:7 And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.
Likewise, Noah did as God told him and built an ark in the site of the people.
Yes, God could have carried Noah and his family to the top of a mountain and kept them safe. But He’s a God of signs, warnings and examples, and He uses His faithful servants to carry out those signs, warnings and examples, even when He knows in advance that the people won’t listen.
He gives them fair warning nevertheless, just like He’ll do during the Millennium teaching period, knowing that many folks will nevertheless still follow Satan at the end, and go into the lake of fire.
Eze 12:8 And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
Eze 12:9 Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?
Eze 12:10 Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.
Eze 12:11 Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.
God says to Ezekiel, essentially, “When the children of Israel ask you what you’re doing?” demonstrate to them that they are indeed going into captivity. Let them know you’re a living sign from me about what’s soon going to happen.
And God allowed the children of Israel to convict themselves of their unrighteousness by their ignoring of that sign, just as the wicked hybrids in Noah’s time ignored the sign of the ark being built in their sight, and ignored Noah’s preaching of righteousness.
Eze 12:12 And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.
And yes, this living sign actually came to pass, exactly the way God displayed it through the prophet Ezekiel. The royalty of Jerusalem later tried to escape the siege of Nebuchadnezzar by digging a hole in the outer wall of the city in a vain attempt to escape, just as Ezekiel demonstrated, at God’s behest, that they would.
The point of Ezekiel acting as a living sign to the people was that once they actually saw what Ezekiel warned of, coming to pass, they’d know that their idolatrous priests had prophesied to them falsely, and that God’s Word was true.
Likewise, in another instance, God directed Ezekiel to act as a living sign for one year and thirty days. As it’s written:
Eze 4:1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
In the sight of all of the people, Ezekiel was directed by God to draw the boundaries of the city of Jerusalem on a large tile.
Eze 4:2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
Ezekiel was then commanded by God to pretend to lay siege against the city he’d drawn on the tile.
You might imagine Ezekiel pushing dirt up against the large tile as if building mounds around the city like a besieging army would, and even making the miniature battering rams he was told to place around the tile, representing the siege that would come.
Eze 4:3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Once again, Ezekiel’s miniature building project was a living sign to the house of Israel that the siege of Jerusalem was coming, regardless of what their false prophets said to the contrary. Nothing could stop it.
And, by example of the iron pan, the children of Israel were told they should set their faces against Jerusalem for its sins, rather than embracing it, for the Lord Himself had decreed its destruction.
(This is also prophetic of how God expects us to distance ourselves from Jerusalem when the antichrist and his fallen angels are ruling over the world from there, in the final days of this flesh earth age.)
Eze 4:4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
Eze 4:5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
The house of Israel would be punished for a grand total of three hundred and ninety years, so God had Ezekiel act out this siege for three hundred and ninety days, as an example to them of what was to come if they didn’t repent.
You can only imagine what the people of Israel thought as Ezekiel acted out this “siege” of Jerusalem, day after day, for a year and one month, before their very eyes.
Eze 4:6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
The house of Judah was to be punished for forty years from that point, so Ezekiel had to act out that punishment, as well, for forty days, one day for each year of punishment that was to come.
Eze 4:7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
Eze 4:8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
Eze 4:9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
Eze 4:10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
Eze 4:11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
Eze 4:12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
Eze 4:13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
So for 390 days plus an additional 40 days the prophet Ezekiel acted as a living sign to the people of Israel that God’s wrath upon Jerusalem was coming at the hand of the king of Babylon.
There are many other places in the Bible where God had His servants act as living signs to His prophesied actions. Joshua 4:4-24 comes to mind. Isaiah 20:1-6 comes to mind. And there are others.
Luke 11:30, for example, tells us that Jonah was a “sign to the Ninevites,” and that Christ Jesus was a sign to the people of Israel at His first advent. Everything He did was a “living sign” to them that the Messiah had come and the prophesy had been fulfilled.
Luke 11:30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
The bottom line is that our God is a God of signs, warnings and examples. And yes, Noah and his family building that ark in the very sight of the wicked hybrids was another living sign from the Almighty.
Bone Graveyards?
Finally, you asked “Why are there so many bone graveyards all over the planet?” and “Why are there huge bone graveyards found at extremely high elevations?”
The answer is simple:
While Noah’s flood was not worldwide, the great flood that took place during the first earth age was indeed a global one.
St. Peter spoke of this great worldwide flood in II Peter 3:5-6, stating, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished…”
This was not Noah’s flood, for no one is “willingly ignorant” of that flood. The three major world religions all teach Noah’s flood. The ancient mystery religions and pagan religions all taught it, going back many thousands of years. And even ancient Chinese historical literature speaks of a great flood witnessed from afar by Chinese explorers.
No, this was quite a different flood altogether. It was during this worldwide flood in the first earth age that the dinosaurs, and, in fact, all living creatures, died (hence, the bone graveyards you asked about).
Jeremiah chapter 4 tells us that not even a single man or bird survived that great flood in the first age. As it’s written:
Jer 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
“Void and without form” means everything was destroyed. Even the stars of the heavens were no longer lit. That’s because God destroyed what was going on, on earth. And He destroyed what was going on, in the heavens, as well. (This is why so many planets, for example, look like battle-scarred war zones.)
Jer 4:24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
Jer 4:25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
This was not Noah’s flood. In Noah’s flood, eight men survived, and there were certainly birds, as Noah released ravens and doves as a means to determine whether or not the flood waters had receded.
Jer 4:26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
God used that great flood of the first age to destroy everything on this earth.
That flood took place at the time of Satan’s rebellion, in which one-third of God’s children were deceived into following the wicked one, and rejecting God.
And that’s why archaeologists find so many “bone graveyards” dating back hundreds of thousands of years.
Yes, God flooded the entire earth in that first age, long before Noah’s time. And He started over with this flesh earth age, making each of us go through the flesh one time, and one time only, to decide for ourselves whether to love God, or love the “god of this world” (II Corinthians 4:4), who is Satan himself.
If you’re unfamiliar with this topic, unfortunately, there’s not room enough in this commentary to explain it. But a good Bible study you might want to read on this subject would be: Three World Ages: Understanding God’s Creation from Beginning to End.
Regards in Christ,
Steve Barwick
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