God's Broken Promise

One of the common claims by young earth creationists is that if Noah's Flood were a local flood, then God has broken his promise many times. According to The Answers Book, chapter 10, "If the Flood were local, God would have repeatedly broken His promise never to send such a Flood again. There have been huge 'local' floods in recent times: in Bangladesh, for example, where 80% of that country has been inundated, or Europe in 2002."(Footnote 1) Is there any truth to this claim? Do the local floods we see today constitute a breaking of the covenant God made with Noah? First, let's read the covenant in Genesis 9:8-15. 8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9 "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. 11 And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be shut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 And it shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, 15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh." To answer this question, one must look at exactly what the covenant says. First, who is the covenant with? This is contained in verses 9-10. Clearly, it was made with Noah and his sons, and their descendents. It was also made with every living creature that is with Noah. At the end of verse 10, God extends it to "even every beast of the earth." There is no question who the covenant is with, however it is interesting that God makes a distinction between the living creatures with Noah (with every living creature that is with you), and the rest of the creatures (even every beast of the earth). Why would God make this distinction? If all the animals were killed, and Noah had all the survivors on the ark, then it was useless to extend the covenant beyond the ark's inhabitants. This indicates that the flood was local, and there were animal populations outside of the inhabitants of the ark. If every living thing were on the ark, the term "even every beast of the earth" gives no additional meaning to the text. But what is the exact covenant? This is in verses 11 and 15. 11 "And I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be shut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." 15 "and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh." The key term to examine is "all flesh." What is the meaning of this term? This is tied to the beginning of the ark story, where God stated the purpose of the Flood. Morris and Whitcomb in their book, The Genesis Flood, (Footnote 2) say the purpose of the flood was to destroy both man, beast, creeping things, and birds. The key is in Genesis 6:12: And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. (KJV) The purpose of the flood was to wipe out this corruption. The main meaning for the Hebrew word for flesh in the Flood chapters, b