The Rocks Cry Out

An old friend invited me years ago to attend an Institute for Creation Research (ICR) field event at the Grand Canyon. One highlight of the trip was hiking into the canyon with an ICR scientist who interpreted what we saw from the perspective of a catastrophic flood. We hiked about a mile down the Bright Angel trail, and stood looking into the vast chasm at miles of perfectly horizontal, multicolored sedimentary layers. What was not visible was the Colorado River snaking along the bottom of the canyon. At this stop, he asked us what we thought. Do the rock layers tell a story of eons of time and the slow erosion of a little water, or of a short period of time and a lot of water – namely, a worldwide flood?  

Beyond doubt, the evidence read from the rocks tells the story of the latter — a catastrophic megaflood. The rocks reveal the enormity of the global flood, layer upon terrible layer. The canyon itself displays the destructive carving by receding floodwaters. “Today’s flow rates [of the Colorado River] simply don’t have the power to push 1,000 cubic miles of rock and debris all the way out to the Pacific Ocean.” 

I asked one man what his first impression was when seeing the Grand Canyon. He was a “glass-half-full” kind of guy, and he said his first thought was of the grace of God to save Noah and his family (and a great many animals). I’m more of a “glass-half-empty” person, and I told him that my impression was a little more somber. I see the power of a holy God to judge sin. If I had been fittingly affected, it should have caused me to tremble more than I did. Then it occurred to me that the initial impression of the Grand Canyon should remind us of both: the immense power of a holy God to judge sin and his grace in rescuing a few from that judgment.

. . . if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly . . . (2 Pet 2:5)

So this is what happened in the past, but according to Peter, the same pattern will happen in the future: a worldwide judgment — this time by fire — and the rescue of a few.

. . . the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Pet 3:12-13)

I’m not like Paul or Peter. I easily forget. If you’re like me, you may be tempted to say, “Where is the promise of his coming? . . . all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Pet 3:4). Take time to look at road cuts and exposed geology where you live. The sedimentary rock you’ll likely see is evidence that the land was once inundated with water. The limestone is often full of fossils, not deposited under ordinary conditions, but laid down rapidly and in chaotic disorder.

The rocks cry out of past furious judgment and tender mercy. And they remind us that something far greater — more terrible and wonderful — approaches.

¹ Institute for Creation Research, “Grand Canyon: Exposing the Flood,” by Tim Clarey and Brian Thomas, Park Series article, January 2021, ICR.org.