Local+Flood

SLF = __**Local Flood Theory**__ =

The Local Flood Theory is the theory that the Great Flood in Noah's days was not a world-wide, but a regional event. Some will say that this theory couldn't possibly be true, since the Bible clearly states in Genesis 6:13, //"So God said to Noah, 'I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.'"//

But does it really mean that God meant to flood the //entire// world? Well, it sure sounds like it. But if you look at the original Hebrew translation of the passage, the phrase for "all the earth" is translated from the words "kol erets". "Kol" meaning "all", and "erets", which can mean "earth", "land", "ground", or "country". These two words are used later on in the Bible, but they don't always refer to the land itself, but the people in it. Take for example, Psalm 33:8, //"Let all [kol] the earth [erets] fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him."// Here we can see that the passage was talking about the //inhabitants// of earth, not the planet itself. Also, in Isaiah 14:7, it says, //"The whole [kol] earth [erets] is at rest and is quiet; They break forth into shouts of joy."// By saying "they" it's seems to be referring to people, right?

Also, //"Kol erets"// usually seems to refer to //local// regions//.// Not the entire planet itself. For example, in 2 Samuel 24:8 it says, //"So when they had gone about through the whole [kol] land [erets], they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days."// They hadn't gone all over the planet, just Palestine. So was the entire earth really flooded? Remember, they all spoke one language at this time, so they probably hadn't spread out all over the planet yet.

Then again, why wouldn't God have just told Noah and his family to move out of that region? It's not like they were pressed for time or anything. In Genesis 6:3, it states, "And the LORD said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.'" But God sometimes asks people to do seemingly odd things. Like when He told the Israelites to march around Jericho 7 times before He would destroy the city's wall, or when He specifically asked Moses to speak to the rock to make water burst from it, and then He punished Moses because Moses hit the rock instead.

So was asking Noah to build an ark a test of faith? Noah probably had a lot of people mocking him for building the ark, so it would certainly prove to be a difficult test of his faith. Then again, why ask Noah to bring all of those animals on the ark if there were plenty more in the world that weren't that region? Genesis 6:17 says, //"I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish."// Were all of the animals in the world gathered in that one region like humans most likely were? Even if they were, what about the plant life? There is also proof that there was at one time a global flood. For example, there have been fossils of marine found life in mountains all over the world. How would that have happened if the flood had been in one place? Yet, somehow deserts formed after such a huge flood. So which is it? Did the flood cover one part of the earth, or the entire earth?

**__Sources:__**
-The Bible

-http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/localflood.html