The excess flood water didn't leave the planet — it receded from the land and now fills the seas and ocean basins that the flood itself formed.
Les Feldick shows from Genesis 8 that after 150 days the waters "abated," "returned from off the earth continually," and were "flowing to the sea" as they decreased (Clip 3). He also stresses that the flood was so cataclysmic that today's mountains, rivers, canyons, and ocean beds are all the result of it (Clip 7). The result is the present planet, where roughly 75-80 percent of the surface is water (Clips 4, 6).
Genesis 8:3 — This verse records the waters returning from off the earth — the scriptural basis for where the flood waters went.
Genesis 8:5 — Shows the waters decreasing continually as the earth dried and the seas received the water.
Genesis 1:7 — Establishes that a portion of the earth's water was originally placed above the firmament — the source of the flood waters Les describes.
Genesis 1:7 says that at creation God made the firmament and "divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament." Scripture thus locates a portion of the earth's water above the atmosphere from the very beginning. The flood record in Genesis 8 describes what happened to that water. Verse 3 says "the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated." Verse 4 then places the ark "upon the mountains of Ararat," and verse 5 adds that "the waters decreased continually until the tenth month... were the tops of the mountains seen." The text does not say the water was taken back up into the sky; it describes the waters returning and decreasing. Finally, Genesis 9:11 records God's covenant: "neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth," with the rainbow given as the sign in verse 13. The water was never again to be used as the instrument of worldwide judgment.
Les Feldick explains that the flood water came from what God had arranged back at creation. In Genesis 1, the earth was covered with water; God took a portion of that water and suspended it above the atmosphere as a "vapor belt," leaving the rest in the seas (Clip 2). When the flood came, that vapor belt came down along with the water of the seas, and "it all came back down and covered the planet totally" (Clip 1). As for where the water went, Les points to Genesis 8: the waters "returned from off the earth continually," reached their peak at 150 days, and then ran "to the sea" — the waters were "flowing to the sea now" as they decreased (Clip 3). That receding water did not vanish; it settled into the ocean basins that the cataclysmic flood itself formed. Les emphasizes that "everything that's on the scene tonight, everything, our mountains, our rivers, our canyons, our Grand Canyon, our ocean beds, everything is the result of Noah's flood" (Clip 7). The result is the planet we know today. Les notes that about 75-80 percent of the present earth's surface is water (Clips 4, 6) — the flood waters that once covered the land now fill the seas and oceans. And God promised it will never be used to destroy the earth again; the next renovation will be by fire and cosmic forces (Clip 0).
Les Feldick explains that the flood water did not appear out of nowhere. In Genesis 1, God divided the water that covered the planet, moving half of it above the atmosphere as a "vapor belt out here in space" and leaving the rest to form the seas (Clip 2). When the flood came, that vapor belt came back down on the earth along with the water of the seas, and "it all came back down and covered the planet totally" (Clip 1).
Les walks through Genesis 8:3-5, where "the waters return from off the earth continually." At the end of 150 days the waters were abated — they had reached their peak — and from that point they were "running to the sea." Les emphasizes the wording of verse 5: "The waters decreased continually. Oh, they're flowing to the sea now" (Clip 3). The receding water went somewhere — it ran into the seas.
Les says the flood was not a quiet rising of rainwater but a cataclysmic event so great that the whole planet "erupted instantaneously," removing all evidence of the pre-flood civilization (Clip 5). As a result, "everything that's on the scene tonight, everything, our mountains, our rivers, our canyons, our Grand Canyon, our ocean beds, everything is the result of Noah's flood" (Clip 7). He also notes that the pre-flood world had far more land than today's 75-80 percent water-covered planet (Clips 4, 6).
No. Les points to the covenant God established with Noah after the flood: God would never again destroy the planet with water, and He gave the rainbow as a sign — something that could not exist before the flood because it had never rained (Clip 0). Les adds that the coming renovation of the earth will instead be accomplished "with the forces from within" — volcanoes, earthquakes, cosmic disturbances, and meteorites — to prepare the earth for the coming kingdom (Clip 0).
Covenant: No More Worldwide Flood
Les points to the rainbow as God's ongoing reminder that the flood was literal and that God will never again destroy the planet with water; the next renovation will be by fire and cosmic forces rather than a flood.
The Source of the Flood Waters
Les explains that the water which flooded the earth came from what God had separated at creation — part of the original ocean waters had been lifted into the atmosphere and, at the flood, came back down over the planet.
The Vapor Belt Above the Atmosphere
Les describes how God divided the waters in Genesis 1, suspending half above the atmosphere as a vapor belt which would later come down on the earth at Noah's flood.
Waters Flow Back to the Sea
After 150 days the waters abated, the ark rested in the mountains of Ararat, and the waters continually decreased as they flowed toward the sea — showing where the excess water went.
The Present Earth Is Still Mostly Water
Les notes that today between 75 and 80 percent of the planet's surface is water, leaving only a small habitable land area — the flood waters still cover most of the globe.
The Flood Was Cataclysmic
Les stresses that the flood was not a quiet rising of water but a cataclysm that removed all evidence of the pre-flood civilization and began to recede only after the waters peaked.
Pre-Flood Land Area Was Greater
Les explains that before the flood there was far more land; today 75-76 percent of the surface is water, so the excess flood water accounts for the present ocean-covered planet.
Ocean Beds Formed by the Flood
Les teaches that today's mountains, rivers, canyons, and ocean beds — the places where the excess water now sits — are all the result of the renovation that took place during Noah's flood.
Genesis 1:7: And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Shows that from creation a portion of the earth's water was placed above the atmosphere — the source of the flood waters Les describes.
Genesis 8:3: And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
The key verse answering the question: the waters returned from off the earth continually and were abated after 150 days.
Genesis 8:4: And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
Places the ark on the mountains of Ararat after the waters began to recede.
Genesis 8:5: And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
Confirms the waters decreased continually until the tops of the mountains were seen.
Genesis 9:11: And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
God's covenant that the waters of a flood would never again destroy the earth.
Genesis 9:13: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
The rainbow as the sign of the covenant that the earth would never again be destroyed by a flood.
The water never left the planet. Les Feldick shows from Genesis 8 that the waters returned from off the earth and flowed to the sea, settling into the ocean basins that the flood itself created. Today the earth is still roughly 75-80 percent water.
Les explains that at creation God divided the waters covering the earth, putting half above the atmosphere as a vapor belt and leaving the rest in the seas. That vapor belt came down at the flood, so the water that covered the planet was the earth's own water returning.
Yes. In Genesis 9 God established a covenant with Noah that He would never again destroy the planet with water, and He gave the rainbow as the sign. Les adds that the next renovation of the earth will be by fire and cosmic forces, not water.
Watch the Teaching: The Curse of Canaan & Origin of Races: Genesis 9 Bible Study