“Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” Genesis 9:11

When the rain stopped and the land was drying out, Noah and his family and the animals went out of the ark. They built an altar and offered sacrifices to God to thank him for his loving care over them.

No one had seen a rainbow before the flood, for the sun’s rays could not come directly through the watery envelope around the earth. But when the envelope broke, the sun shining through the fine vapors caused a beautiful rainbow—the first one ever! It was a symbol of God’s promise to Noah and to all mankind that the whole earth would never again be overcome by a flood of water. Genesis 9:13, 15

Many changes were brought about by the flood. Genesis 9:2 tells of the first time that the animals feared man; Genesis 9:3 that animals could be killed for meat. And in Genesis 9:21 we are told that grape juice changed to wine. Noah had not expected this.

Science tells us that the earth had been like a greenhouse. It had been damp and warm and the same temperature everywhere. The flood caused great changes—around the North and South Poles the weather turned exceedingly cold, and around the equator the weather became hot.

It happened rapidly. An antelope was eating green grass in northern Siberia. Suddenly the water around it turned into ice and the antelope froze to death. When it was found, green grass was still in its stomach—undigested! In the same way, a huge creature was found imbedded in ice with vegetation still in its mouth and stomach. Hundreds of elephant tusks have been found in the same area even though today it is a place where grass cannot grow and these types of animals cannot live.

This sudden huge downpouring of water produced the great ice fields and ice mountains of the arctic regions. The movement of the glaciers cut deeply into the earth’s surface causing tremendous changes. This is referred to as the Ice Age or Glacial Period by scientists.

The Bible is precious to us because it is the Word of God, but it is also remarkable because it is the world’s oldest textbook.

The first rainbow was not seen until after the flood because light could not break through.