with DR. J , RICHARD CHASE / DR. CHARLES L. FEIHBERG
Q. Nampa, Ida. — “Is it true that before the flood there wasn’t any fermented wine? I can find no men tion of drunkenness in Genesis be fore the flood. What does Luke 17: 26-27 mean?” A. This concerns what’s known as the “canopy” theory. This idea is that a series of rings around the earth contracted perhaps because of a gravitational pull or some other geological upheaval. This provided a special covering over a large portion of the earth, which, according to exponents of the theory existed for some time. This prevented the full strength of the sun’s rays from reaching here without first being filtered through a great icy canopy. This was especially true of those rays which produce death or fer mentation. It is further held that this gives us the explanation as to why men before the flood lived for so many years. There was no break down of the flesh due to the neptunic rays of the sun. This is an over simplification of the theory which some people hold on. In carrying this a step further, the fountains of the deep were unstopped, and the waters came up from within the earth. As the heavens were opened, this great canopy plunged upon the earth. Geol ogists have found in Siberia a large herd of prehistoric elephants. The remarkable part is that these ani mals have been encased in ice for millenniums. The event happened so suddenly that the vegetation they had been eating was still undigested 12
when they were frozen solid. They were caught in this great deluge of ice and water which which is a pos sible explanation as to how those ani mals, which were semi-tropical and tropical, got there. It may be that Noah after the flood raised grapes and put the juice aside as he had done before the deluge. Now, how ever, the rays of the sun did their damage. Noah could have been total ly unaware of the fermentation pro cess. Luke 17:27 means that these people simply lived profligate lives. It doesn’t specifically say that they drank fermented wine. Their only thought, as in our present age, was for themselves and personal gratifi cation. Note further that our Lord took two ages to indicate times that could be likened to His coming again. They were the days of Noah and Lot. In Noah’s case it was a time of im piety and carnal secularism. The peo ple were s tr ic tly materialistically minded. The times of Lot, however, cdn be described as base impurity. Q. Lincoln, Kans. — “In Genesis 81: 8U, we read that Rachel had taken the images from her father and hid den them. What were these objects? Is there some lesson to learn from them?” A. Archaeologists have thrown some light on this transaction between Jacob, Laban and Rachel. Jacob had to leave quite rapidly because he saw the face of his father-in-law which wasn’t as friendly as it had been. God greatly blessed Jacob, in spite
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