Many “experts” view the Biblical flood account as a myth. However, the recent discovery of an ancient tropical world at Mazon Creek in the US state of Illinois is enlightening: 

“More than 300 million years ago, Illinois was a very different place. Instead of cornfields and prairies, the land lay in the tropics, teeming with swamps, rivers and shallow seas.

Today, that ancient world is preserved in the world-renowned Mazon Creek fossil beds, where researchers recently reexamined a massive collection of more than 300,000 fossils and uncovered a breakthrough. It turns out the area (near modern-day Coal City, Illinois) once hosted three distinct ecosystems, each with its own unique animal and plant life.

“This was a fun project that kind of came about in a weird way,” said Dr. Jim Schiffbauer, professor at the University of Missouri and a co-lead on the study.

Oddly enough, the latest discovery got a helping hand from the coronavirus. Initially started by retired geologist Gordon Baird, who spent decades collecting Mazon Creek fossils across Illinois, the project got a fresh boost from a group of students stuck at home during the pandemic. The group, looking for creative ways to study paleontology virtually, set to work digitizing all of Baird’s records.”—-The Weather Channel Website, August 25, 2025

The Bible records the global flood of about 4,400-5,500 years ago in Genesis chapters 6-8, when:

“For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits. Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.”—Genesis 7:17-24 NIV

This global cataclysm caused major changes to the earth itself and its atmosphere and climate, and resulted in catastrophic loss of plant, animal, and human life on earth. While modern science doesn’t acknowledge, or factor in, the Biblical flood, scientists have discovered extreme climatic and anthropologic changes that took place on earth long ago. More and more evidence from discoveries, such as the Mazon Creek fossil beds, suggests that the entire earth prior to the Biblical global flood  had a mild tropical climate .

The Son of God, Jesus Christ, referred to “the flood,” “in Noah’s day” (Matthew 24:37-39 NLT) as a historical fact. Why? Because he knew that it really happened! He saw the flood “from heaven” where he lived prior to coming to earth (John 6:38).  The apostle Peter wrote under inspiration that:

 “God . . . did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others”—2 Peter 2:4,5 NIV

“God . . . brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood”—2 Peter 3:5,6 NLT

God’s Word, the Bible, consistently presents “the flood,” “in Noah’s day,” as being global, as well as being a historical fact. Although the estimated time period is different from the Bible’s, scientific discoveries are consistent with what the Bible describes of the global deluge and its results.