I have always been taught the flood of Noah’s time was a worldwide flood.

But I am hearing it was a local flood.

Was my Sunday School teacher wrong?

No need to worry, your Sunday School/Second Hour teacher is correct. Let’s look at God’s Word, the Bible for an accurate account of history.

God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah,” I am going to put an end to all people for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.”

Genesis 6:12-13

God, being a holy God is also a God of judgement. God cannot be holy without also being a God of justice. The passage clearly reads all the people on earth. But there’s more, read on.

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

Genesis 6:17

This is about as plain as it gets. The Bible clearly teaches the flood in Noah’s day was a worldwide flood. But there’s more, read on.

The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. Every living thing that moved on the earth perished – birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarmed over the earth, and all mankind.

Genesis 7:20-21

God made a promise not to destroy the earth with a flood again. As a sign he gave us the rainbow as a reminder. If Noah’s flood were local, then God’s promise is a lie because there are still local floods all over the earth.

Here are some interesting questions for people who believe in a local flood. Why did Noah have to take birds on the ark? Why didn’t they just fly to a safe area? In fact, why did Noah have to take any of the animals? They could have migrated to areas not affected by a local flood. Why did Noah even bother with an ark? God could have told them to move away because he was going to destroy the people of that area with a local flood.