Hugh Ross

They were staying in one region, disobeying God's command to multiply and fill the earth, and even built a city in a huge tower so they would not be scattered over the face of the earth.

And God knew that was a prescription for runaway evil.

His plan all along was there would be multiple nations that would have to compete with one another

for citizens, which would act as a check against a government oppressing its citizens.

You know, if one nation oppresses too much, they get up and leave and go to another nation.

And so God forcibly scattered humanity over the face of the earth.

And now we got four methods that enable us to give accurate dates for when those happened.

The remains of humans, their artifacts, evidence for when they were cooking,

because humans can't survive unless they're cooking and preparing their food, and then the genetic models, and they all come in with consistent dates from when those events happened.

Absolutely.

Because, um,

You know, humans before the flood had the potential to live past 900 years.

And it tells us that Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters besides Cain, Abel, and Seth.

I mean, at a minimum, they were having 120 children.

And all the rest of the couples likewise.

So when God told Adam, multiply and fill the earth, he could have done it in his own lifespan.

What stopped that from happening is what we see in Genesis 4.

murder began to run out of control.

And so I've calculated in my book, Navigating Genesis, that the murder rate in the days before the flood was above 90%.

In other words, at least 9 out of 10 people died as a result of being murdered by their fellow man.