Flood
I think most people don't like the Flood story, because it reminds them that not only does God exist, but that He will also hold people accountable (judgment). The Flood was a worldwide judgment on mankind.
Here's what Jesus said about the Flood:
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
- Matthew 24:37 (KJV)
Scientists can't make any sense of the Flood. They think that somehow God is restricted to the laws they observe. Whereas the reality is that this is God's Universe, and He can change it at will, in other words how else can we explain that Jesus walked on water, and came back from the dead?
There is so much to talk about with the Flood story, but I'll try and stick to a few key points that will hopefully strengthen your faith.
And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
- Genesis 6:19 (KJV)
So the key word here is "kind" (thousands), not species (millions). So two dogs, two cats, etc. People that have done the math on this, have confirmed that there was indeed plenty of room for all the animals and their food on board the Ark. Coming out the Ark the animals would then re-populate the Earth, and adapt to the climate. For example, a bear might become a polar bear, or a brown bear, etc.
Some people think that only the rain caused the flood, but the majority of the water most likely came from the fountains of the deep. There are vasts amounts of water hidden underneath the surface of the Earth that would support this theory.
- By Wilhelm Thomas Fiege / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
- Genesis 7:19 (KJV)
Note that the pre-flood Earth didn't have any of the mountains we do now - just hills. So that would reduce the need for the amount of water on the Earth significantly.
Many theories have been written about how God did all this, but I'm not convinced we'll ever figure that out exactly. I mean, there was also an ice age (book of Job), mountain formation, movement of mountains, earthquakes, receding water levels, dividing of the Earth (continental drift), disappearing land bridges, tilting of the Earth's axis, etc. These are just some of the things we need to look at and consider. In the end we can only ever really observe the aftermath of God's Judgment, and yes we can certainly tell that we went through a cataclysmic change of epic proportions, in a very short period of time.
Rapid formation of layers as shown in the geographic column (fossils, etc) prove that the Flood really happened. Everything is all mixed up.
In some cases we find polystrate trees still standing up as they're being buried.
- By Michael C. Rygel / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
A great example of rapidly receding waters is the Grand Canyon.
- By Paul Hermans / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
One of the most fascinating things for me is exactly how many civilizations around the world know the story of Noah and the great Flood. They knew this had happened, so it certainly wasn't just some story to them.
There has been plenty of discussion about where the dinosaurs (people first called them "dragons", till about 1841 when it was changed to dinosaurs) sometimes) fit in with the Flood story. From the geographic record we know they existed before the Flood, so therefore they must also have been on the Ark (perhaps in their teens). Plenty of room for this no worries. The question is what happened to them, as most of them are obviously extinct now. I say most of them, because some dinosaurs are still alive today, e.g. rhinoceros (comes from rhino-saurus), hippopotamus, massive whales, etc.
- By International Rhino Foundation / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
There have been many accounts of people killing these large animals, e.g. knights going on crusades to kill dragons, etc. So I imagine they would have just died out naturally.
There are also vast amounts of depictions of dinosaurs on rocks (and cave drawings, etc) all over the world. How is it they were able to draw these creatures with that kind of accuracy, when we only recently are able to do this by taking the skeleton, and have some computer add the muscles and skin to it, to come up with an guess of what they looked like. The people that drew these pictures must have known them first hand, as they didn't have this kind of technology back then.
The book of Job mentions a dinosaur as well, e.g. the behemoth (most likely a brachiosaurus).
- By Nobu Tamura / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5
It is clear that the global Flood was a judgment on mankind, and there are many lessons to be learned from it. God clearly loves us very much, but will not strive with mankind forever, and will bring about judgment as He sees fit. And so shall it be in the last days as well. Like a thief in the night Jesus will come.
- By Ajor933 / Wikimedia Commons
Now, for the really cool stuff - they have actually found Noah's Ark on the mountains of Ararat (East Turkey).
- By Armineaghayan / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Check out this aerial photo from the late 1950's.
- LIFE Magazine (5 September 1960)
The Ark was eventually found and confirmed to be the Ark by Ron Wyatt in 1977.
- By Ron Wyatt / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
The Ark, made out of wood, had been petrified and had also collapsed on itself.
The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
- Genesis 6:15 (KJV)
The measurements of the Ark were exactly those of the Bible.
In the Ark they found man-made metal rivets used for creating the framework/structure of the Ark.
- By Ron Wyatt / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
When using radar, a clear pattern of rivets can be seen.
- By Ron Wyatt / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Not far from the Ark massive anchor stones were found that were used to stabilize the Ark during rough seas.
- By Ron Wyatt / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
To learn more about anchor stones, please click here.
Here's a model of the Ark based on Ron Wyatt's observations. It's a high-tech Ark that was build using pre-flood technology.
- By Ron Wyatt / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
It's absolutely unbelievable that the Ark was recovered like this at all. God had obviously kept it safe for all those years. For us to see today, and to strengthen our faith.
I strongly believe that God reshaped the Earth during the Flood, and told us to spread out, to give us time. Because, just like with Babel, once people get together, their wickedness increases tenfold. A bit like today really...
- By Ron Wyatt / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
There are about 270 accounts of the Flood worldwide (God has made sure people would remember His judgment).
Proof of the flood is everywhere.
God will hold us accountable.