Genesis 7:17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. 18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
The Flood was a catastrophic event. It was a mighty display of God’s power and His hatred for sin. It also represents His covenant love towards His people, for He saved Noah (“a righteous man” Genesis 6:9) and his family. This catastrophic event resulted in the rapid burial of “all flesh…that moved upon the earth” and created most of the fossils we have discovered.
I recently came across an article in Scientific American that discussed a mass dinosaur burial ground in Madagascar. The authors attributed the preservation of the fossils to mudflows.
But how were the animals’ bodies preserved, many of them so exquisitely? Biological remains tend to fare poorly at the ground surface, where scavengers hold sway and the sun slowly but inexorably bleaches even the largest of bones until they splinter and eventually turn to dust. When long-term preservation in the fossil record is at stake, burial should occur as soon as possible after death. Indeed, it could be argued that from a fossils’ perspective, rapid burial is the single most critical key to immortality. [1]
There is actually not much debate between evolutionists and creationists on how fossils are formed. As the author of the article stated, animals dying on the surface of the ground decompose and become meals for scavengers. They don’t ordinarily turn into fossils. Besides that actual fossils themselves, there are numerous examples that demonstrate fossilization is due to a quick process. One of my personal favorites is an ichthyosaur that was “fossilized while giving birth.” [2]
Evolutionists and creationists tend to agree how the fossils were made – rapid burial. What they disagree on is the cause of the rapid burial. Creationists see the global flood as creating most of the fossils in the record. Evolutionists do not believe in this global flood so they tend to rely on local flooding events, such as the one described in Scientific American. Their commitment to naturalism and uniformitarianism will not allow for the revelation of the catastrophic global flood nor will it allow the evidence that supports it to be acknowledged.
If evolution were true, all sedimentary deposits would be found in small areas with few or no fossils. It really takes catastrophic, continent-covering flooding such as Noah’s flood to produce vast horizontal sheets of fossil-rich layers; and that is what is found piled on top of the pre-Flood rocks at the Grand Canyon. Running underground, these layers of Flood rock stretch for thousands of square miles across much of North America! [3]
May God open the eyes of those who oppose His Word, which is the only infallible source of history and provides the only firm foundation for scientific endeavor.
Image via Wikipedia
1866–1870 engraving by Gustave Doré (1832–1883), entitled “Le Lâcher de la colombe” (“The dove sent forth from the ark”).
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[1] Rogers, Raymond R., and Krause, David W., “Tracking an Ancient Killer”, Scientific American Feb. 2007: 51.
[2] Sarfati, Jonathan, Refuting Evolution, Green Forest: Master Books, 1999, pg. 107.
[3] Parker, Gary and Mary, The Fossil Book, Green Forest: Master Books, 2005, pg. 29.
