No 16

(The Canopy Protection)

In the Bible, when we read about people living 800, 900 years on earth, we have difficulty in grasping this concept to the point of even saying to ourselves: “Were these real years like ours today?” When the flood occurred, the Bible tells us that “I will cause it to rain forty days and forty nights and every living substance that I made will I destroy from off the face of the earth”(Gen 7:4b). As we have seen before, on day 2 of creation, God separated the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament (Gen 1:7). A thick blanket of water vapour covered the earth at this time; creation scientists have concluded that it wasn’t water because that would have created a surface temperature (too hot) on the earth and unsuitable for humans. Therefore God let the waters of the fountain of the deep and the windows of heaven empty themselves to the point that the highest mountain was covered over with 15 cubits of water (Gen 7:29, 8:2). Why did people live so long before the flood? They were protected from the harmful rays of the sun because after the flood, the normal age for humans dropped to 120 years (Gen 6:3). Modern science today does not understand the aging process in humans; all they know is that we grow old and there is nothing we can do about it. Possibly a minor extension has been seen due to drugs and medical advances but the general consensus is that our bodies wear down and eventually expire. Aging and death is part of the curse of sin and no one can slip by. Knowing what comes after death is described in the Bible and the Christian message is to inform all who have ears to hear that our soul is eternal and, inevitably, there are only two places where we will end up – in heaven with God or in hell with Satan.