The last couple of mornings have been cool giving us a hint of fall in the air. This is a welcome relief from the hot summer that is coming to a close. I love the change in the seasons. I don’t think I would want to live in a climate that was pretty much the same all year long. The cool fall mornings are refreshing and as I write this blog long before sunrise I am anticipating my morning run in the fresh air.
Of course any seasonal change also reminds me of Genesis 8:22, While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night, shall not cease.
So in spite of those preaching global warming, I can be assured the seasonal changes are here to stay. That is, as long as the earth remains.
It is very interesting to note where in scripture this verse appears. Chapters 6 and 7 of Genesis give us the account of the Flood. Chapter 8 is the coming out of the ark for Noah and his family. Many devotional blogs await us in these 3 chapters. The last verse of chapter 8 is our verse in focus this morning.
For our consideration this morning, I need to leave our topic momentarily.
Sometime ago there was a discovery in the frozen Arctic region. This wooly mammoth was found frozen in the ice. Upon closer examination of this ancient beast, it was found to have undigested vegetation in its stomach. What could possibly be the explanation for this? Of course this is just one of hundreds of similar questions. For example, near where I live is a creek bed that is famous for producing shark’s teeth and we live hundreds of miles from the ocean. How can this be?
But for our focus this morning, how did the wooly mammoth come to be located so far north? How did it die? How could it be preserved so quickly that even the food in its stomach was preserved as though it had been quick frozen? I have yet to hear a reasonable scientific explanation for these questions other than the original science book, that is the bible.
The Great Scientist may give us our answer here in Genesis 8:22. Creation scientists believe that prior to the flood, the earth was surrounded by a water vapor. This vapor produced a greenhouse effect for the entire globe that warmed the whole earth. No region would have been too hot or too cold. The entire earth was a tropical region. As a side note, this shield may also explain the long lives of humans in early Genesis. The vapor shield could prevent damaging suns rays from coming through the earth’s atmosphere.
Genesis 7:11 makes a reference to the windows of heaven being opened to begin the flood. Maybe this is a reference to the vapor shield collapsing to the earth as rain. It is after the flood that we find the reference to the seasonal changes, i.e. summer and winter. Maybe prior to the flood there were no seasonal changes. The seasons change because of the relationship of the earth to the sun and the earth’s tilt. With the vapor barrier acting as a shield, the effects of the relationship to the sun would have been greatly reduced.
If this explanation is plausible, consider this. Prior to the flood we had a tropical environment over the entire earth. The wooly mammoth was feeding in the earth’s northern tropical area. The flood would have caused instant death. After the flood, with the vapor shield now gone, the Arctic area would have quickly frozen preserving the wooly mammoth in ice.
This is a very reasonable explanation to the question. I look forward to eternity’s revealing to us all the answers to questions such as these. Until then I rest in the assurance that it all fits into GOD’S master plan. But for now, my plan is my morning run in this cool air!