CHRISTIANS -- -- How did God prevent rain? Where was all the precipitation preceding the "Great Flood"?

Question

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070608161715AARDa90

Apparently it's "good theology" to assume that there had been absolutely NO RAIN before the Great Flood. Is that true? If so, how do you suppose Yahweh prevent precipitation for so long and why?

Also... how did the plant life survive?

Third eye, I think it's a pretty good question, actually. Because of this question I now know that some Christians believe that mist came out of the ground and kept plants alive before the flood. I didn't know that before.

Of course I'd STILL like to know how God prevented precipitation before the flood. How did Yahweh do that? Oh, and why.

Jweston, you're right, I should've used the word "rainfall". I'm sorry to have confused you so badly.

Answer 1

Okay Cool-you can do better than that. It is a common belief that there was no rain before the flood, mainly because at the flood is the first mention of rain. Now, how God did anything is beyond human comprehension. But......water the plants...

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
Gen 2:5-6 (KJV)

Answer 2

There was no rain,but a mist went up from the earth and watered.Genesis 2: 5-7.
Do you know we have more water underground then we do above ground?Also there was a "water canopy" encircling the earth,very heavy with water.One of the reasons ,besides a perfect pure environment,that people lived so long was there was no direct sunlight because of the canopy(called the "firmament above").That's also why carbon dating doesn't work well it needs whatever is tested to have been exposed to much sunlight.Notice after the flood,now they can see a rainbow(they never could before) and now that there is direct sunlight,man's lifespan begins to shorten every generation ,with sun exposure and a more polluted environment and genepool.By the time you get to Abraham,you've gone from a 900 year span to 130 years.By the time we get to David,1000 years later it's down to an average of 70.When God caused the flood.Not only did all that water fall down but "The fountains of the deep broke open".
That was all that underground water.There were high hills at the time but all this 'breaking up" and " coming down"caused the mountains to rise.Remember,it rained 40and 40 but the flood lasted about 150 days if I remember right.It isn't as far fetched as people think,especially if ,as Jewish tradition says,all the animals were babies driven to the Ark by their parents.Then they would scamper off leaving the cubs and pups and such.So what you had was an extermely humid environment.Even fossil jungle plants have been found in the Sahara desert area.

Answer 3

Well, since God, being omniscient and omnipotent, created *everything*, I suppose he had no trouble preventing rain! As to where all the water was before the Great Flood, consult Genesis 1:6-8.

In Genesis, 2:6, it is stated, "but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground -" and "A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters." Genesis 2:10.

All references are from the New International Version of the Bible.

Later: I agree with "kay", I also like "coffeenut's" insight!

Answer 4

How do you know that there was no rain? Maybe there was no rain on the land. Thunderstorms happen all the time over the oceans. Plus you are assuming that the writer knew what was happening world wide. Most likely and logically, rain was occurring over the oceans and in other parts of the world. But there was a drought in the area where Noah was. But if all the precipitation of the world was held, it would be in the air. Air becomes supersaturated with water all the time. We call that fog. Eventually if you supersaturate air enough it will produce rain.

I think that God did this to give time to the people to repent. God gave them time to repent and see Noah building the arc. Perhaps if they all repented they would have been saved from the flood.

Answer 5

don't you remember in school when you grew plants in a bottle without any water? condensation, it said the dew came up on the land and watered the plants.
Genesis 1:7 their came to be an expanse between the waters above the earth and those below or on the earth.
Their was ponds and pools and even seas it says. So there was huge water clouds above the earth that kept the temperature even much like the states that are bordering the coast line. This great water canopy kept out the suns burning rays and kept the earth an even temperature that is why tropical plants was found still in the mouths of woolly mammoths in the anarchic. It happened suddenly and the land was thrown into an ice age. As tons of water dropped and continents ripped apart. Genesis 10:25

Answer 6

Before the flood there was no rain. There was a mist that would come up from the ground to wter the plants. Think about a grassy field in the early hours of the morning and you can see the morning dew on the grass. This is how the plants were nourished.

Answer 7

there are some places today where plants get watered only from the rising and falling of waters underground. in more desert places, many plants roots go quite deep.

and that's the way it was in the watering of all plants before the flood.
Genesis 2:6
"a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground."
.

Answer 8

God created the water to well up from the ground to feed tha plants. read Genesis 2:5-7

Answer 9

don't know that i assume that..does the word say there was no rain prior to the 40 days etc..??? Don't recall....the flood was sent primarily for the region of the middle east where the offspring of the fallen or nephilim were present..giants cant swim and they all drowned except for the ones that lived on other continents and the subsequent second influx of the fallen after the flood during the time of the exodus....the earth/eretz was flooded but the flood was sent to the 'cosmos' or a region for a specific reason...this is why the native americans, chinese etc..have the flood narrative...they survived on the mountains until the mass of the flood passed and receeded....

Answer 10

Oh my goodness, doesn't anyone on this board read the actual Bible? lol you folks come up with real doozies!

"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened."

The water didn't just come from the sky, it came from the ground too. Hope this answer helps you understand, it came straight from the Bible.