“What a picture we have here, do you agree?” King asked as he looked at those who sat at the table with him, studying through the Book of Genesis. “We are coming to a place along Route 66 that is a picture of salvation. God is going to cover Noah and his family as they enter into the ark. He saves them from the Flood. The ark covered them, sheltered them, just as the blood of Jesus covers us and saves us from an eternal separation from God.” He put his hands together and referred to his notes spread out before him. “Now…let us look at the first ten verses of chapter 7. Who would like to read this passage?”

Fuller cleared his throat. “I’ll take it, David.” He turned to his Bible and read Genesis :1 - 10. “‘And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.’” He sat back and nodded thoughtfully. “Those are some very strong instructions to follow for a man who was six hundred years old.”

Shiva nodded his head. “You mean ‘heavy’.”

Fuller nodded as well. “Yes, Marc. That, too.”

“The point to understand here is this,” King began, “…Noah received his instructions from God and he followed them to the letter. After these precise instructions were followed, then came the Flood.”

“And this Flood covered the entire earth, didn’t it?” Staci inquired. “I mean…I know it does, it says so in the Bible, but I just can’t seem to comprehend such a thing. Imagine a world where there is no land.”

Fronk nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah! Hey, I guess if we were to be living on a world where there was nothing but water, we would call it Waterworld, wouldn’t we?”

“We’re talking about fact,” Fuller told him, “not fiction, William.”

“Let’s continue forward, then,” King replied. “I believe we can learn much about the next passage of scripture in chapter 7. Michael…please read the next passage.”

Lenox read Genesis 7:11-24. “‘In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.’”

“Now…” King leaned forward. “There is much to cover from this passage. There is so much detail here that we do not want to miss any of it. We can make note of the Flood, Noah and his family entering into the Ark, the animals by twos and also the things that creep on the ground.”

“Bugs?” Erin asked curiously.

King shrugged. “Perhaps. Snakes also creep on the ground.”

“Eww,” Staci commented.

“We can also take note that everything other than those on the Ark were destroyed in the Flood. Everything. Man, cattle, everything that took breath died. Cities were destroyed. And the Ark - I do love the way this is recorded in the Bible - was lifted up above the earth. In other words, as the waters increased, the Ark rose higher.”

“That’s a lot of water,” Barrington said with a nod.

“Yes…but where did all of this water come from?”

“Rain,” Staci said confidently. “And lots of it.”

“Are you certain?” King asked.

Staci regarded him. “Why do you say that? Do you know of another place where the water came from? Didn’t God cause it to rain for forty days and forty nights?”

King nodded. “Yes.”

“But you’re saying the water came from some place other than the rain?” Shiva wanted to know. “Where?”

“If I had to guess,” Barrington replied thoughtfully, “I’d say it came from underground. The rain caused it to fill up and it pushed out from the earth.”

Lenox nodded. “Seems like a logical analysis.”

Fronk blinked at him. “Thank you for your astute observation, Mr. Spock.”

Lenox just looked at him.

King said, “The point is that the waters of the Flood were not just rain alone. Look at verse 11 again. ‘…the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.’ What do you suppose it means by fountains?”

Erin gestured toward Barrington. “It’s what Albert said about the waters coming from underground. Like Yellow Stone Park and the geysers.”

“A fountain is a natural source of flowing water from underground,” Fuller began. “Along with the heavens pouring out the rain, there were also vast amounts of underground water which was brought to the surface because of the rain. An example of ‘fountains of the great deep’ is the Ogallala Aquifer in North America which covers approximately 175,000 underground square miles from South Dakota to Texas. The water depth reaches over 1,000 feet in places.”

King nodded. “You know…there are both physical and spiritual fountains. You have mentioned one physical fountain, Darren, but there are others. What fountains can be found in the Bible?”

“If you have to think about it,” Lenox replied, “I’d say that there was a fountain in the Promised Land.”

King nodded again. “‘For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills. 1’” He smiled. “I’d say you would be correct, my brother. Another example of both physical and spiritual fountains will be the time of transition after the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, when He comes to usher in the Millennium. ‘The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim. 2’” He paused. “Who is responsible for these fountains? Who gives such blessings in abundance? Who is the great Provider? ‘I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. 3’ God does it all.”

“Isn’t there another way to look at fountains?” Lenox asked. “Or to be specific, a fountain of life? Seems to me that once again, our study is taking us right to the very heart of it all. Because Jesus is the Fountain of Life. He said that ‘whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 4’ There can be no other fountain.”

“Amen, brother,” Barrington agreed.

“Yes, Jesus is the Fountain of Life,” King said with a nod. “His blood paved the only way to salvation. His blood is the only covering for us, just as the ark was the only covering for Noah, and his family from the Flood. As we continue along Route 66, we begin to see that the waters do recede and mankind once again begins to multiply. This beings us to chapter 8 of Genesis. Let’s take a look, shall we?”

1 - Deuteronomy 8:7
2 - Joel 3:16 - 18
3 - Isaiah 41:18 - 20
4 - John 4:14