The Bible as Science: Earthquakes, Famines, and Floods

Earthquakes strike without permission. Crops fail with too little rain or too much. Floodwaters rise past every forecast and every promise of “control.” We take those realities for granted, but we don’t often ask what they mean. We’re calling them warning signals, and we’re tying that warning to one of the most argued-about events in the Bible: Noah’s flood.

We continue our “Bible as Science” theme by pushing back on the modern reflex to dismiss Scripture with “science, falsely so-called.” We walk through why physical disasters get our attention when spiritual appeals do not, then we lay out three major signals people can’t fully command: earthquakes, famine, and floods. Along the way we talk about food security, daily bread, and the sobering limits of human planning when God withholds rain or sends it in torrents.

Then we turn straight to Genesis and the global flood debate. Pastor James W. Knox confronts the claim that the flood is mere tradition and introduces a courtroom-style way to think about evidence: ancient documents without marks of forgery, preserved in their proper repository, deserve to be heard unless the objector can prove otherwise. From there we begin a science-based argument using ethnology, pointing to widespread flood traditions among living peoples and why shared details across cultures matter. We close with a striking Polynesian account that echoes key elements of Noah’s story, including a vessel, a remnant, sacrifice, and a rainbow sign.

If you care about Bible and science, Christian apologetics, evidence for Noah’s flood, or why disasters wake up a sleeping culture, press play and lean in. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the message.

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Transcript

Welcome And Series Setup

0:07

Welcome to the Preaching the Cross Radio Podcast, featuring the radio ministry of Pastor James W. Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of Deland, Florida. Our prayer is that these half-hour Bible study programs bring the lost to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and enable the saved to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior. Now here's your host, Pastor James W. Knox. All right now, a very pleasant good day to each and every one of you. I'm Brother James, and I greet you once again in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And I welcome you to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast, the Ministry of the Bible Baptist Church of Deland, Florida. And we are so very happy that you've tuned in to the program today. We are just about to throw strike three right past the modern critic of the Word of God, who uses an appeal to science, falsely so-called, as an excuse or an alibi, never a reason, as an excuse or an alibi for rejecting the Word of God. On this series of broadcasts, which we have titled the Bible as Science, we have discussed with you already the perfect agreement which exists between true science and the pages of the Holy Bible. We have showed you that there are things contained in the Word of God concerning science that could not have been written by someone with a working knowledge of the science of the day in which they were written. These matters are so superior, so far advanced of the science that was known in the days of the Bible writers, that these matters had to be given by inspiration of God. We have also discussed the existence of so-called modern science in a very ancient book, this book, the Bible, several thousand years old, containing scientific facts that were unknown until this present generation. And we have discussed with you Jonah and the whale and Noah and his ark, and have shown conclusively under all of these headings that anyone who rejects the Bible by saying it is not scientific is simply testifying to the fact that they are not at all familiar with either the contents of the Bible or the contents of true science. Because there is no contradiction to be found whatsoever between the Holy Bible and true science.

Turning To The Flood

2:43

Now we're going to talk today, begin today, and it'll take us several broadcasts to get through this. But we're going to talk about the flood. We've talked about the arc, but we are going to talk about the flood. No modern railroad would consider itself in operating condition without a full, efficient system of mechanical signals. As you speed along the right of way on a modern railroad at night, the brilliant lights flash like scentillating jewels in rapid sweeps of color, telling the story of safety or danger. Green for promises of peace and red for death and danger. The signals are there to be observed and obeyed. Now I believe that the omnipotent Godhead has a signal system in this world in which we live. Credit God with at least as much intelligence as a railroad superintendent, and you must see that God does not expect his people to rush headlong through the night, which leads to eternal day, without signals by the right of way. A physical voice is the only one to which man gives heed. It may very well be that when there is a threatened collapse in the moral world, God sends physical disaster as a warning sign. Since man will not heed a spiritual plea, but is very tender in the care of his flesh, it is sometimes necessary to send disaster to call man back to the path of duty.

Earthquakes As A Warning Signal

4:08

In the providence of God, there are three signals that men ought to heed. The first is the earthquake. No human power can control, bring about, or prevent earthquakes. If you've ever been in a city that was shaken by tremors, if you've ever seen the wreck of some of the finest dwelling places and business buildings the ingenuity of man can devise, you would take notice. In a few seconds, while the hearts of sleepy folks stand still with terror, while no human hand could possibly aid them, the great concrete structures crashed and shattered to ruins in the street below. Many of you will remember the pictures of the interstate highway system that collapsed in California not long ago as a result of a great earthquake. During these times, men and women grab their babies, flee blindly for shelter, they know not where. No human power can stay an earthquake, or even warn of its coming. It is a red light from God flashing an urgent warning. And I believe it is a solemn admonition from God, the God who rules this world, and when moral collapse threatens, this physical warning is given.

Famine And Daily Dependence

5:26

Secondly, famine is another spectre that stalks the footsteps of man which no human power can control. Diversified farming, rotation of crops, animal husbandry, scientific distribution of harvests all must fail without the providence of God. A man may plant, but the result is largely out of his hands. If God withholds the rain, the seeds will not grow. If God sends too much rain, the seeds will not grow. There is no clearer evidence of man's dependence upon his maker than this. We feed from God's hand. If all the crops of all the world were gathered into one central storehouse and the whole human race were put upon starvation rations just enough to keep them alive, every edible thing would be consumed within ten months. I'm gonna say that again, that's an amazing truth. If all the crops of the world were gathered into one central storehouse and the whole human race were put on starvation rations just enough to keep them alive, every edible thing would be consumed within ten months. If in that time God withheld the rain, if in that time God obscured the sun or flooded all the fields, life would perish from the face of the earth. We talk about men being far away from God. My friend, the whole world must stay close to God. And the farthest you could possibly get away from him is maybe a year. Now these things being so, it must be conceded. It must be conceded. These are indisputable facts. These things being so, our generation has seen as great a folly as ever was committed by supposedly intelligent men, disregarding every warning of history, ignoring every tragedy of past generations, and gambling not only the destiny, the prosperity, and the welfare, but the very life of an entire race of people. Certain blind leaders are willfully destroying the very necessities of life. In the godless philosophies of economy that are called planned economy, men ruthlessly slaughter food animals, they're ploughing under the growing grain, they have hired blinded yeomanry to allow their fields to lie idle. It's incredible. The things that are going on around the world in in this matter, this business of controlling agriculture. You know, you can't help remembering that once seven years of plenty in the mightiest land then existing were followed by seven years of great hunger and famine. Now God has nowhere promised that he would never again send famine upon any nation. If the heavens should once more turn to brass, and the rains refused to fall, so that the specter of hunger stalked throughout our once prosperous lands, we would have no just cause of complaint against God. You see, He has desired to send us more than we can use. And it may be well to remember this in case tragedy and dearth come upon us in the place of prosperity so foolishly promised, that you have no control over whether or not you eat tomorrow. I don't care how much money you've got, I don't care how well off your nation is, I don't care how prosperous economically you may think yourself to be. Jesus advised you to pray each and every day for your daily bread. Because, my friend, if God doesn't feed you, you will starve. There is no question about that. If God Almighty doesn't put food on your table, you will not eat. That's just an absolute fact. Now, famine is a danger signal from God. When moral collapse threatens in the spiritual world, this red light of death and danger sometimes flashes to bring men back to a sense of obligation to God.

Floods Beyond Human Control

9:51

The third major tragedy that man cannot entirely control is flood. Why, in 1993, the United States of America stood appalled when its Midwestern region was inundated by the most incredible flood to take place in at least a century and a half. There was nothing they could do about it. They couldn't stop the rain, they couldn't stop the mounting of the waters, they could not stop the destruction and the flooding, they could not stop the ruin of homes and property and cities and towns. There was nothing they could do but stand back and watch in awe and amazement and hope that Mother Nature would have mercy upon them. And as long as they kept looking to Mother Nature for mercy, the rain continued to fall, the hand of God continued to punish, and the severe judgments of God continued to be felt by a nation that refused to recognize God. All the weathermen, all the satellites, all the forecasts, all the scientific devices, all the advanced modern knowledge of our day and our generation, couldn't keep one cloud from forming, couldn't prevent one rain shower from falling, couldn't prevent one tributary from rising, could not prevent one home from being flooded when God sent the rain. I'll tell you, that water begins to come in, sweeping with that dull moan that creates terror in the most stalwart breast, swirling brown waters with irresistible force, destroyed some of those beautiful edifices that have been constructed by human hands. And still our government talks about flood control. It's remarkable. Like earthquakes and famine, a flood comes from circumstances beyond the control of man. Dams may be built to hold back the waters, but dams break. In fact, the most disastrous flood anyone ever saw occurred when a dam that men called perfect broke with a sudden strain of waters from a cloud burst. Many lives were lost, homes were destroyed, ranches literally swept away, livestock drowned. Floods are warning from warnings from God. It may well be that when danger threatens in the moral world, God himself flashes these red lights of warning in the physical world because the physical voice is the only voice that men will hear. Now the Bible the Bible repeatedly states that earthquakes, famine, and floods are acts of God. The insurance companies of the 20th century, in all their modern scientific wisdom, refer to these disasters as acts of God. I appreciate God getting a little recognition, but you know an amazing thing how men are? A beautiful, bright sunshiny day, perfect temperature, nice cool breeze blowing, that's Mother Nature. But a destructive storm that takes lives and damages property, that's called an act of God, you understand? That's the mentality of our world today. Anyway, sometimes these storms are punitive. Sometimes they serve as an admonition. But in either case, they're beyond the control of

Noah’s Deluge And Human Unbelief

13:26

man. Now the deluge of Noah is a case in point. Without a doubt, this was the most disastrous catastrophe that ever struck this present world in which we live. And it came because, as the Bible says, God looked and saw that every imagination of the heart of man was only evil continually from his youth up. Now God spoke his warning to them through the prophet Noah for possibly as long as 120 years. But the sin and self-confidence of the people was so deeply rooted that they laughed at both God and the prophet, and the result was death and destruction. Now I know what some of you are thinking, I know what many of you have been taught by your father the devil to say. The flood of Noah's time was merely traditional, and you can't build a case on tradition. I've heard college students uh magpie repeat this kind of nonsense for years. I've been told that the entire book of Genesis was pure tradition in Hebrew folklore, and that there never was a flood. Ain't it amazing? It took him four years of study to learn something like that in a college. Took forty minutes to tangle him up in the fallacy of his arguments, and yet he'd still hang on to his position. Well, after all, he'd paid for it, he'd studied hard and worked hard to become an infidel, so I guess you can't expect the fellow to give it up too quickly. But I've heard otherwise intelligent people say the same thing in many places, but none of them has ever been able to prove their case. The flood of the day of Noah is not tradition, it's a fact, and it stands today scientifically attested.

A Courtroom Standard For Evidence

15:24

Now there's a law covering the presentation of evidence in civil courts that is extremely applicable to this argument. This law is expressed in these words. I'll give it to you from one law book. Documents purporting to come from high antiquity and bearing upon their face no evident marks of forgery, if found in the proper repository, are deemed by the law to be authentic and credible, and the burden of proof, to the contrary, devolves upon the objector. That's very, very important to the vibe of leaving Christian. Let me give that to you again. Documents purporting to come from high antiquity and bearing upon their face no evident marks of forgery, if found in the proper repository, are deemed by the law to be authentic and credible, and the burden of proof to the contrary devolves upon the objector. Now, the documents containing the record of the flood are part of the Old Testament. Their history can be traced back in an unbroken chain of records to the 15th century before Christ. These documents bear upon their face the strongest evidence of authenticity and credibility, and have been received by every generation in turn as not only reliable but infallible. In fact, some of the shrewdest intellects at the command of infidelity have again and again sought to assail the historic value of these documents, and always without success. Now the proper repository for religious records, in the sense intended by the law, would be in the church. The proper repository for military records would be in the Department of the Navy of the Army. The proper repository for naval records would be in the archives of the Secretary of the Navy. In the legal sense, the proper repository for records of real estate transactions would be the county courthouse. In exactly that sense, the church is legally recognized as the proper repository for ancient documents dealing with the things of religion. So, unless some new evidence is discovered, which will unqualifiedly prove beyond any legal doubt that the writings of the Old Testament are forgeries, they have a legal right to stand in a court of law and be received at their face value. However, so sure are the proponents of Genesis that the records are credible, that they are willing and ready always to accept the burden of proof and dispute with the objector by the presentation of evidence that cannot be gainsaid. The historicity of the flood account in the book of Genesis can be established beyond question by evidence from three recognized branches of modern science. The mass and detail of this evidence is so overwhelming that books can and have been written upon this very subject. So, in the space of time that we have on these radio broadcasts, we're just going to summarize the evidence of these three sciences. Now,

Ethnology And Flood Traditions Worldwide

18:51

the first of these sciences, which establish the credibility of the record of the deluge, is the science of ethnology. This is the science which deals with living races, with their customs and racial origins, and with the peculiarities that distinguish one race from another. Ethnologists are agreed upon two basic principles. One is that when widely isolated peoples have in common a body of tradition and belief, that common possession establishes relationship or common ancestry. The other conclusion is that when widely separated peoples all have a common tradition or belief in a certain past event, that common consent of tradition establishes the fact that there was some historical occurrence as the basis of this belief. No ethnologist would gainsay the fact that every living race which has been made a subject of study does have an account of the flood that occurred in the day of Noah. If the biblical account is true, this fact can easily be accounted for, as all living races came by lineal descent from the sons of Noah who were saved with him in the Ark, and they handed the same story down to their descendants in all its essential details. Some of these races have progressed and developed since the sons of Noah gave them birth, and others have degenerated, but they all retain their accounts of the flood. Now, for the student who's interested in this subject, there are no less than thirty-eight separate racial records that may be consulted among people and races who are living today of this large number of independent witnesses, only two the Egyptian and the Scandinavian records fail to coincide absolutely with the biblical account of destruction by water. The Scandinavian records give a partial destruction by water, and the balance by direct action of the gods, which is understandable. In this same list of records, carefully reviewed, only five of these present nations have some other traditional method of the rescue of the remnant than by the ark, with some original details. Now, of this number, one of these nations makes no record of the salvation of the human seed, while three others confirm but partially to the scriptural account. Three of these records fail to mention the preservation of animal life, while one other has only a partial correspondence to the record given in Genesis. Again, in this long list of independent evidences, the Ark, in all except three cases, landed on a mountain. Only four of these records contain no statement as to the birds being sent out to bring back the survivors the welcome news of the recession of the flood. Three of these records again say nothing of the divine favor which dwelt upon the survivors, while only two of them failed to record the worship of the same remnant when they came to the Forth from the ark. So it is it is overwhelmingly stated. If you take 38 separate racial records of the flood, every detail of the biblical account is contained in at least 33 of those 38 records. That can't be chance, that can't be accident, that cannot be coincidence. It's manifestly impossible to give all these details, but let me give you a few.

Polynesian Parallels To Genesis

22:36

The Polynesian record closely parallels the biblical account. On those uh islands, their folklore traditions are very well collected. There is the Fornander collection of Hawaiian antiquities and folklore, published by the Bishop Museum. In volume six, number two, third series, part two, there is given the ancient Polynesian account of the flood. The hero of the account is one Nu, pronounced Nuu, a close approach to Noah. In obedience to the commands of a god, Nuu built a large vessel with a house on it. It was called Wa Hulau. In this craft, accompanied by his wife Lili Noi, he rode out the deluge in safety. When the flood subsided, the three gods, Cain, Ku, and Lono, entered the ark and told Nunu to get out. He did so and found himself on a top of Mount Ma Kei on the island of Hawaii. He dwelt in a cave there and called the cave after his wife Lili Noi, and the cave remains as proof to this very day. When Nuo left the ark, he took with him a pig, coconuts, and awa as an offering to his god. Note that the ark must have contained animals, and he follows the action of Noah in sacrifice. As he left the ark he looked up and saw the moon and thought that it was the face of Cain, so he offered his pig, coconuts, and awa to the moon. Cain, the god, was very angry and came down to punish him. The path he came down was a rainbow, and when Nu explained his mistake, the god went back to heaven over his rainbow path, but he left the rainbow as a sign of forgiveness. Now, isn't it remarkable how close this parallels the Genesis account? As a matter of fact, this man is said to have had three sons, but all the rest of the human race died in the flood. That's the Polynesian account. You think they had a Hebrew Bible over there in the Polynesian Islands? I don't believe they did, but I believe they had a common ancestry with Noah. By the way, where'd that man get his name for his wife in that story? Noah, that's the New Testament spelling of Noah. Well, that's just one account, and we're going to give you several more, but not today. Oh,

Where To Listen Next

24:55

we'd like to, we just can't do it. We're out of time. Thanks for tuning in today. Join us every weekday for another episode of the Preaching of the Cross Radio Podcast. For hundreds of hours of in-depth expository Bible teaching, please visit our YouTube channel, James W. Knox Sermons, our sermon audio page, Bible Baptistland, or our website, Bible BaptistLand.com. Until next time and throughout eternity, may Jesus Christ be praised.