The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 198

science Is now hclcl to teach exactly the opposite. The extinct volcanoes of Langue- doc ancl Auvergne are believed to have been in operation long anterior t-0 the time of man's appearance on the earth, the remains of extinct animals being found among thoir scorim; and yet the lava cones are in many instances as perfect as when fir11t thrown up, while the clross lies loose upon their sides, which it is scarcely supposable would be the case had they been subjected to any cataclysmal immersion such as is presupposed in the Deluge. But here the mistake is that of imagining the Noachic Flood to have been of any such violent torrential character. On the con• trary, the Scripture narrative represents the waters as having risen and subsided slowly, and the whole phenomenon to have been of such a kind as, while destroying human life, to effect comparatively little change upon the face of nature; and, besides, careful scientific observers have declared that the volcanic scoriai in question is not so loose as is sometimes alleged (Smith's 'Bib. Diet.,' art. Noah). 3. Zoological. This refers to the difficulty of accommodating all the animals that were then alive. So long of course as Raleigh's computation of eighty-nine distinct species of animals was accepted as correct, the task impoBed upon apologists was not of a very formid- able character. But of mammalia alone there are now known to exist 1658 different species, thus making about ~000 ancl upw~rds of individual~ (the clean beasts being taken in sevens or seven pairs) that requued to be stalled in the ark; and when to these are added the pairs of the 6000 birds, 650 reptiles, and 550,000 insects that are now recognised by zoologists, the difficulty is seen to be immensely increased. An obvious rem11rk, however, in connection with this is that there is a tendency among modern zoologists unnecessarily to multiply the number of species. But in truth a prior difficulty relates to the collection of these multitudinous creatures from their respective habitats. If the entire surface of the globe was submerged, then must the fauna belonging to the different continents have been conveyed across the seas and lands towards the ark, and reconducted thence again to their appro- priate settlements in some way not described and impossible to imagine; whereas if the inwidated region extended (through the subsidence of the earth's crust) to the Mediterranean on the west, and the Indian Ocean on the south and east, it is apparent that neither would this difficulty have proved insuperable, nor would the collection of the animals have been rendered unnecessary, the devastated country being so wide that only by preservation of the species could it have been speedily replenished. III. The CONCLUSION, therefore, seems to be that, while Scripture does not impera- tively forbid the idea of a partial Deluge, science appears to require it, and, with- out ascribing to all the scientific objections that are urged against the universality oE the Flood that importance which their authors assign to them, it may be safely affirmed that there is considerable reason for believing that the mabbul which swept away the antediluvian men was confined to the region which they inhabited. Ver. 23.-The Deluge. I. A STRIKING TESTIMONY TO 'l'HE DIVINE FAITHFULNESS. 1. In respect of threatenings agai11,st the wicked. Whether the faith of Noah ever betre.yed symptoms of we.vering during the long interval of waiting for the coming of the Flood it is impossible to say ; it can ecnrcely be doubted that the men who for six scoro years had seen the sun rise and set with unwearied regularity, that had watched the steady and continuous movement of nature's laws e.nd forces through- out the passing century, oftentimes exclaimed, "Where is the promise of his com- ing, for all things continue as they were from the beginning?" And yet God kept hie word, and fulfilled his threatening. "The flood came, and took them all nway" (Matt. xxiv. 39). Cf. the Dh•ine threntenings against Babylon (Jer. Ii. 33), against Tyre (Isa. x.xiii. 12), against Jerusalem (2 Kings xxi. 13; Jer. xxvi. 18), against the Jews (Deut. xxviii. 49). Let impenitent sinnerij thereby be reminded that there is one more word of doom which he will yet cause to come to pass (Pa. ix. 17 ; 2 Thess. i. 8; 2 Pet. iii. 10). 2. In respect of promi,ses to the saints. At the same time thllt he foretold to Noah the destruction of his licentious and violent contemporaries, he distinctly promised thut he would establish hie covenant with Noah, and preserve both him and his o.mid the genera.I overthrow. And that too he implemented in duo time nnd to the letter. Let the saints then learn to trust the preciollll promises of God  122 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [err, vn. 11-24.