I believe what God has revealed in the Scripture.  I believe all of it.  I certainly believe Jesus will physically return to the earth one day.  I believe God created everything in six literal days.  And I believe Noah built an ark to protect himself, his family, and two of every kind of animal species upon the earth.  They needed this protection because God caused water from above and water from underneath the earth’s surface to flood the entire surface of the earth.  Water levels rose about 20 feet above the highest mountains. If you are a Christian and you don’t believe that, you don’t believe the Scriptures.  It really is that simple.  While it is certain that there will be unbelieving people who scoff at us for such beliefs (just look at Ken Ham’s Twitter feed), such treatment shouldn’t come from brothers and sisters in Christ.

The flood of Noah’s day was a supernatural event.  I cannot understand it, but I believe it.  God could have slowed the metabolism of the animals, for instance.  Fresh water could have been gathered from the torrential downpour and stored.  The biggest attack leveled by skeptics and unbelievers is that the flood of Noah’s day was not universal but localized.  John Whitcomb wrote an online article titled Universality of the Genesis Flood.  Here are some salient points from that article:

1. The Bible teaches that it took 31 weeks for the flood waters to recede to the point that Noah and his family could leave the ark.  It doesn’t take 31 weeks for a localized flood to recede.
2. If the flood is not universal, why the need for an ark?  God could have led Noah to a place on earth where there would be no flood waters.  The need for an ark indicates that the flood is universal.
3. 60 times the Bible’s accounting of the flood uses universal terms like all and every.  While these terms may be limited at times, one must study carefully the context.  Here the terms overwhelming apply contextually to a global flood.
4. The rainbow indicates that God uniquely and supernaturally destroyed the earth with water at a point in time during Noah’s day, but that He will never do so again.  Local flooding happens all the time.  So, we conclude that God promised that a universal flood would never happen again.

Some believers are ashamed of accounts such as this in the Scripture.  They fear the very ridicule that Noah faced.  Yet Noah continued to persevere in his obedience before God.  There’s a lesson in that for us.  As overwhelming and as difficult as things can be, we must continue to press on.  God comforts us with His promises just as He comforted Noah with His promise.  A preoccupation with Christ and His love and gentleness is all that we need to endure the ridicule and unkindness of others.

The flood’s upheaval reminds us of the unchanging nature of God.  He is the only One we are able to depend upon.  He is the only One who will never fail when it comes to His promises and His judgments.  The focus of the Genesis account of the flood is upon those who remain at the end of God’s universal judgment.  There is much death, decay, and destruction in our world today.  If we remain focused upon the world, we won’t understand what we need to understand.  Our focus and preoccupation must be upon Jesus Christ.