Could the antediluvian period have ended with a population of 9 billion at its peak? If the population reached over a billion, there would tend to be massive logistical problems in feeding and caring for the population (clothing, housing, jobs, etc). This indicates that this belief would be false, especially since they did not have the technology we have today.

 

Had their population reached over 10 billion at the end of the antediluvian period, they would have required similar technology as we have today (rail, refrigerated shipping, sophisticated farming methods, fast and reliable communication, etc). Though these ages may not be correct, the effects of sin on age is remembered. For example, http://www.ldolphin.org/popul.html and http://www.ldolphin.org/pickett.html go overboard.

 

Colin J. Humphreys agrees with this findings of mine in the Spirit when he responded so beautifully, "I am sure you are correct and there were not 10 billion people at the time of the flood. My own view is that the very large numbers in the book of Genesis were often based on symbolic numbers.  These numbers had a special meaning to the writer and the original readers, but we may have lost this meeting today.  For example, the numbers 3, 7, 12 and 40 occur regularly in the Bible and clearly have a special significance.  In the early chapters of Genesis the number 60 also occurs frequently.  it may not be a coincidence that the number 60 also occurs frequently in ancient Mesopotamian literature. With best wishes. Colin".

 

Do you think, Colin, that this could refer to 185 groups in 1000 so that each group would equal 1000/185=5.4 men on average per group? It seems unlikely that that many could die in one night given population sizes for even such a thing as this does not happen in the wars of our population today. One thousand in one day seems reasonable. How pervasiveness do you think this numbering problem exists throughout the OT? "That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian troops" (Isaiah 37.36). Colin writes, "Concerning the 185,000 Assyrian troops, I have not looked into this in any detail to see the Hebrew words actually used, but it does seem to me, in principle, likely that it refers to 185 troops, because the word for "thousand" is also the same word as the word for "troop". If the troop size was about 10 people, this would mean about 1850 men were killed. As you say, this seems much more reasonable. I suspect this numbering problem in the OT is quite pervasive. It is curious that translators have not understood all of this! (Colin)".

 

The Cane and the Snake

 

Colin writes, "There is a book by Zimniok (Van der Voort, 1992) that describes how snake-charmers manipulate cobras that still have their fangs. Some helpers are essential for his trick. These men distract the snake's attention, while one of them approaches it from behind, grabs it, caresses/strokes it a few times and finally presses its neck on a certain spot. The snake will then stiffen immediately and change into a staff in the hand of the snake-charmer. This catalepsis will continue a while, after which the man will throw away the snake. Then the snake will revive and show its characteristic threat behavior (Zimniok, 1984, page 95)".

 

All miracles in Exodus have been naturally explained except where the cane turns into a snake. This is not mythology. It comes from the efforts of snake charmers that we all know about in India to get a snake to stank up virtually straight. The spiritual benefit to teach us is that we don't all know all the answers, and God can do some things in creation we are not aware of. A key point of awareness is that God's foreknowledge knew that man would fall, and that God applies nature in connection with man's sin to deal with man's hostility to Him so that these physical matters will be used in precise timing to help men of God and hinder men not of God; including, turning the inanimate into the animate (for did we not come from dust?), still beyond the scope of our understanding. Man came from dust, and so God shows us the cane, that God can change the inanimate to animate and back again. Yet this is still not a satisfying answer; we may be able to discern even more the meaning behind this matter.

 

I was having really good prayer. Exceptional. Then in prayer, I asked the Lord what do you want me to do for you? Then He said, I already showed you in the Bible. More than just implying for me to read further, deeper, and more. Then I asked a question that I was never satisfied with in my own answer. I asked, what about the stick turning into the snake? I said, "stick", "stake", "stick", "stake". Then I said "stake", "stake", "stake". Then it hit me, putting these two words together, God was marking his stake, to begin the 10 plagues, that would take place with the Pharaoh and subsequent Exodus.

That might be what we call progress in prayer. Yet I was still left asking another question. How can you turn the inanimate into animate so quickly? Before I thought He was telling us to appreciate that he can do such things just as we come from dust. But I still needed more. I asked, but Lord, I feel you want to tell me something more. Prior in prayer the Lord said to me: men did not live to be 900 years old. I asked, but why did you say 900 years then? He said, it is because man does not appreciate me so I say it is 900 years when it is only 90. I asked the Lord isn't that a fib? No answer was given.

 

I came back to the stake, stick and snake. Next, came the most amazing revelation, which really, if you think about it, is not that amazing at all, just like the other miracles in the book of Exodus which are not that amazing, except when you first think about them and have no explanation how they could have occurred, so we called them miracles. The miracle of it all is really in the timing of it all, not in the natural occurrence that happen consistently in nature already. What was it that I realized? I know how the stick turned into a snake. I know it. Through and through. The only problem is I don't know how to prove it, but I do know someone who has the talent to find the proof, and that is Colin J. Humphreys, for that is his expertise to find examples of such occurrences. How did the stick turn into a snake? You know when you look off into the distance and the horizon wiggles, which happens when there are fumes of natural gas, even that toxic hallucinogenic gas that came out of the temple cited in Miracles of Exodus mistaken for a spiritual experience. Why can't this happen by simply throwing a stick down on the ground, and if the fumes or other gaseous element is present, it would make the stick look like a snake that is wiggling, but when you brought it back up off the surface to hold it upright, it looks as it did before.

That is the answer. Now, how do we prove it? Wow eh? Such a simple answer just like all the other answers in Exodus. I still need an answer to my question why God fibbed on the ages? It seems to me that He is willing to let a fib in to say we need to appreciate our real condition which is more important than outward memories and records even when they are not exacting. If we have another memory of a past event, that may in fact be better if it will allow us to accept the reality of NOW. The problem is I just made this up, and I don't believe it. What I believe is that men changed the Bible to give the impression of the influence of sin on age. God does not exaggerate, but man does, and that is why you see this exaggeration as the more likely explanation.

All of this is coming together nicely. Even the other day I heard on the news of some examples of men who were really caught in a blue whale and came out alive so this easily explains John spending 3 days in the belly of a fish. How do you prove the effect of gaseous fumes that would be present causing the stick to look like a wiggling snake when thrown on the ground? That same condition would have to be present both back in median and in Egypt since this trick of sorts was done in both places. How did that white powder trick happen in Moses' pocket?

 

Colin Humphreys writes to me (Feb, 2005), "I think your suggestion of the cane turning into a snake by means of gas fumes and appearances is very interesting. I remember that a few years ago I was walking up the volcanic Mount Etna in Sicily. I suddenly noticed there was a shimmering column of air just in front of me. I only noticed it because the rocks behind it seemed to be moving around themselves. It was all caused by a small volcanic vent in the ground, only and inch or so across, that I could easily have stepped on. When I put a piece of paper across this hole it instantly caught fire, so I think your suggestion is very good". A thought came to mind that if the cane was hollow and wind blew through it, it could additionally produce a hissing sound if placed horizontal with the wind.

 

Troy Brooks