Question

If the Flood was universal (Hugh Ross, Davis Young and others say differently), then it would have included Mt. Everest - approximately 29,000 feet above sea level - which also would have been covered with water (Gen. 7:20). That is a lot of water. Where did it all go?

Answer

The biblical record is more concerned about "the who" of the flood rather than "the where" of all the water after the flood. While we do not know the height of the highest peaks during the flood (tectonic plate movement during the flood could have resulted in taller peaks after the flood) and thus do not know the volume of water involved, the water problem is addressed: "But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.... the water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down" (Gen. 8:1-3). We know the waters receded, not only by our own observation today, but as referenced by Isaiah as well (Isa. 54:9). So God ordered the waters and then ordered them to their rightful positions (compare Gen. 1:1-7 to Psa. 104:5-9). While God does not tell us all the mechanics of how this was accomplished (adjusting the earth's topography, evaporation, etc.), it was accomplished.

Answer by Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr.

Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div. is the Theological Editor at Third Millennium Ministries (Thirdmill).