Running Head: EARTH SCIENCE AND THE MIRACLES IN THE BIBLE 1 My original post: Earth Science and the Miracles in the Bible The event that interests me is the Parting of the Red Sea. I think that the Red Sea’s waters parted because of the sea and land breezes. The breezes are in the form of strong winds that carry moisture and dry air over water masses and land (Tarbuck, Lutgens, & Tasa, 2018). In Exodus 14:21 (The New King James Version), it says that strong East winds moved over the waters separating the seas. As the winds moved over the waters, I think they were strong to an extent they led to the seawater parting ways. As the Israelites crossed, they believed that it was a miracle from God. The winds were land breezes that carry dry air over the sea. As they moved over the water, they carried some water from the sea. The land breezes could have blown along a shallow part of the sea or near the beach. Hence, making it easy to push the waters and expose the land. References Nelson, T. (1982). The New King James Version. Thomas Nelson. Tarbuck, E. J., Lutgens, F. K., & Tasa, D. (2018). Earth Science [15th ed.]. Pearson/PrenticeHall. Posts to respond to: Post #1 – E At first glance, the narrative of Job’s loss of family and property seems to result from rather extraordinary events: “fire…fallen from heaven” and a “great wind from the wilderness” seeming the most unlikely (Job 1:16, 19). However, verse 16 could be describing EARTH SCIENCE AND THE MIRACLES IN THE BIBLE 2 a lightning strike (Leathes, 2015). Lightning may strike in a single location, but it can cause damage and injury to multiple living things at once (Schmidt, n.d.). Verse 19 could be describing a tornado, which is certainly a “great” force of “wind,” since the winds of a tornado can reach nearly 300 miles per hour (Tarbuck & Lutgens, 2018, p. 591). Tornadoes frequently destroy houses, and the great force it applies to objects can easily cause fatalities to those in the vicinity. A person’s ability to escape would simply depend on that person’s location at the time of the strike. If these catastrophic phenomena described in the book of Job are viewed as meteorological events, it seems less strange for these events to occur in close temporal proximity to each other. Whatever storm systems may have been in the area could easily have produced both a devastating lightning strike and a destructive tornado within a short time span. References Leathes, S. (n.d.). The book of job. In Ellicott, C. J., Ellicott’s bible commentary: Volume 1. Delmarva Publications. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/job/1.htm Schmidt, A. (n.d.). How a single lightning strike can claim many lives. AccuWeather.com. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/how-asingle-lightning-strike-can-claim-many-lives/350705 Tarbuck, E. J., & Lutgens, F. K. (2018). Earth science (15th ed.). Pearson. Post #2 – T In Genesis 41 (and various other scriptures) the bible refers to a seven-year famine in Egypt. According to the bible famine was often put upon the people for various reasons, including a EARTH SCIENCE AND THE MIRACLES IN THE BIBLE 3 judgment from God, but was not uncommon to have derived from natural instances such as droughts. This judgment in Egypt lasted for seven years and is known as the seven-year famine. The famine was so bad that starving people had resorted to eating unclean animals, dung, the dead and even their own flesh. Genesis 41:30 "And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land." This famine is now seen to have been caused by a drought and scientist have found evidence from mud deposits in the Nile River that suggests a change in the climate. It is suspected that dwindling rains in the Ethiopian Highlands would have put a hindrance on the Egyptians and their reliance on the Nile River for a major water supply. Without the same amount of water supply, this could have put a major strain on food growth. Scientist fear that the same kind of climate changes could happen today, and it would be much more devastating. The bible even references to droughts and famine that will happen again the last days in scriptures from Matthew and Revelations. cited: https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/hbd/f/famine-and-drought.html https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17323271-800-how-egypt-was-felled-by-faminein-2180-bc/ https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/famine-and-drought-in-israel https://biblehub.com/genesis/41-54.htm
Purchase answer to see full attachment