The letters of Noah’s name will help remind us of four facts about the Flood which indicate that it was global in nature.

 

N - Next Judgment Comparison

It is clear in Matthew 24:36-39 (also Luke 17:26,27), that Jesus believed Noah to be a real historical person. It is also clear that Jesus believed the entire world was judged by a flood during Noah’s lifetime and that a future judgment is coming just as surely as it is obvious that the first judgement occurred.

 

O - One-time Event

In Genesis 9:8-17, Scripture tells us that the Flood was a one-time event. God says, “A flood will never again destroy the earth.” If a flood which has destroyed the earth can be interpreted as a localized flood, then God has not kept His word, because there have been floods on a regional scale in recorded history. The fact of these great regional floods is additional evidence that the Flood of Noah’s day could not possibly have been a local flood involving merely the Mesopotamian valley.

 

A - Ark Needed

Genesis 7:3b tells us the purpose for Noah’s ark was “to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.” If the Flood was localized to any extent, then the ark was not necessary because the animal “kinds” it was specifically designated to save could have easily saved themselves by moving to a safe place in another part of the world. It is also possible that they wouldn’t have needed to go anywhere because other members of their kinds would most likely be living in parts of the unflooded earth. This makes God’s instructions to Noah pointless if the Flood was really local.

 

H - Hebrew Language

The language of the Bible referring to the Flood is very clear concerning it’s magnitude. Here are a few examples:

Genesis 6:17, “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.”

Genesis 7:4b, “I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”

Also see (Genesis 6:7,12,13,17; 7:3,7,19,21-24)

 

It’s hard to believe that any reasonable person could read these verses and envision a local flood. Those that do must certainly place extra-Biblical sources above Scripture.

 

Christ’s comparing the Flood to the next worldwide judgment, the promise of it’s uniqueness, the necessity for an Ark, and the language of Scripture all make it clear that the Flood was a worldwide judgment.

It’s hard to imagine what it must have felt like for the eight people in the 450 foot-long ark to be the only people left on a completely water-filled earth, but that's exactly what God's word says happened.

"Christ’s comparing the Flood to the next worldwide judgment,

the promise of it’s uniqueness,

the necessity for an Ark, and the language of Scripture all make it clear that the Flood was a worldwide judgment."

"And the Lord said, 'I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.”

Genesis 6:7 (NLT)