According to the National Weather Service, the Tittabawassee River in Midland reached major flood stage (24 feet) on Tuesday morning when the river was measured to be 28.25 feet at 10:15 a.m.
At the time of this writing, there have been no reported deaths, and all of us here at ICR pray that number remains the same, but what is our response when floods like this happen?
In the present situation, thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate from their homes as the waters are rising, and get to a place of higher ground, or to one of the shelters that have been set up by the Michigan government.1
But what if the flood was much worse? What if there was no higher ground to reach, because the whole world was encompassed by the rising flood waters?
We find the record of such a flood event in the book of Genesis 6-9 when God sent the waters of the Noahic Flood to wipe out everything. Genesis 6:7 says,
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.”
In the events of the Noahic Flood of the Bible, there was no hope for anything on the entire planet, except for the 8 people that were allowed on the ark and the animals that God told Noah to bring with him.2 Genesis 7:20 says: “Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.” Fifteen cubits is the equivalent of about 22.5 feet. There was absolutely nowhere for anything alive on the face of the earth to flee from the encroaching floodwaters.
After the floodwaters had passed from the Noahic Flood, God made a promise to Noah, his family, and all of his descendants that He would never flood the entire earth again. Genesis 9:11 says, “And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.”
As terrible as the flooding that is happening in Midland County, Michigan, is right now, we can find hope through it that God is true to His promises, and that he will never flood the whole earth again.
References
1. Governor Whitmer Declares State of Emergency for Midland County. MI Newswire. Posted on Michigan.gov May 19, 2020, accessed May 21, 2020.
2. Genesis 6:18-22
*Benjamin Trotman is Guest Services Associate at the ICR Discovery Center for Science & Earth History.
