Maybe God Misplaced The Schedule

When did the global flood end?

HUMANIST QUESTION:Genesis 8:4 reports that, as the waters of the flood receded, Noah’s ark rested on the mountains of Ararat in the seventh month. The very next verse, however, says the mountaintops could not be seen until the tenth month.

What is the best first step? Look at what the verses actually say. Here they are:

In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. - Genesis 8:4-5

Carefully read what the above says. Can you see why there is no contradiction? Remember, words are important, and reading scrip-ture without reading our biases into scripture is important.

Maybe this one is so easy because I live on the coast. What happens when a ship gets into shallow water? It is called run-ning aground. The bottom of the ship contacts the bottom of the river (or channel, or bay, etc.) and the ship becomes stuck. Is the ship still in the water? Yes. It is surrounded by water, but it is resting on solid ground under the water. It is stuck.

Noah's ark was huge. As the flood waters receded the bottom of the ark contacted one of the mountains of Ararat. The ark stopped floating, but it was still surrounded by water. It took anoth-er eight to ten weeks (approximately) for the water to recede enough such that the tops of the mountains became visible. There is no con-tradiction here.

I am going through all of the "contradictions," in the order they are presented on the humanist web site. I am tempted to skip some, such as this one, because they are so easy to answer. However, if I did that someone would complain I skipped it because it could not be explained. Therefore, I will answer every one... no skipping allowed.

There is no contradiction here.

Here is the next question, which is a little more difficult to answer because to answer this one knowing some Hebrew is helpful.

Genesis 8:13 describes the earth as being dry on the first day of the first month. But Genesis 8:14 informs us the earth was not dry until the twenty-seventh day of the second month.

Click here for the answer.