THE GENESIS FLOOD: PETER'S COMMENTARY

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. The Genesis Flood

a) The book of Genesis describes a great flood which destroyed the world. Only four women and four men survived. The four men were Noah, and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and the women were their wives. The question occasionally arises as to whether this flood was universal or local. Did it cover Planet Earth entirely, or the vicinity of Mesopotamia only?

b) Memories of a great flood are world-wide. Those originating in the vicinity of Mesopotamia are closest to the Genesis account (for example the second tablet of the Babylonian Epic of Gilmesh). It is moot as to whether a world-wide or local flood is indicated by these facts. We must rely on the Genesis account.

c) Various statements in the Genesis account show the flood to be universal. Here is one of the statements and see what light it sheds on the question.

2. Peter’s Commentary

a) Peter's commentary on the Genesis account confirms that the flood was universal. Peter says that in the beginning God, by his word, made the heavens and earth out of water and in water. However that created world was later deluged with water and perished under water. This Peter believes. Furthermore, Peter warns that the heavens and earth that emerged from that flood will also be destroyed, not by water, but by fire. We will then live in a new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:3-7, 10-13).

b) In Peter's view, the flood was as extensive as the heavens and earth of the original creation, and of the present world. There is no reason for us to understand the Genesis account of the flood differently to Peter. It should be no surprise to us that Peter understood the Genesis account of the great flood in this way. We have seen no fewer than seven reasons, from the account itself, for understanding it as Peter did. The flood was universal.

The End ...