Noah’s Flood, Part 2: Ancient Technology
In 1952, archaeologists opened an undisturbed tomb in China. The tomb dated to the Jin dynasty. A skeleton in the tomb was encircled with a belt on which were about 20 pieces of metal, four of which were nearly pure aluminum. Aluminum is not an easy metal to extract from its ore. Modern aluminum plants use a process of electrolysis to obtain metallic aluminum. It appears that the Chinese were able to isolate aluminum from its ores 1500 years or more before modern science discovered a practical method for doing it. This is from a book by William Corliss, Archaeological Anomalies: Small Artifacts.1
In 1900, a sunken ship was discovered in the Aegean Sea that dates to before the time of Christ. On the ship was found a box. There was much corrosion from being underwater for so long. The mechanism inside was a jumble of gears and dials inside of a metal box originally made of bronze. It is called the Antikythera Mechanism because it was found near the island of Antikythera.
In 1950, Derek de Solla Price, Yale University science historian determined that it was some sort of calculator. Then in 1974, gamma-radiography became available, and allowed Price to peer inside the mysterious box. And guess what he found? An extremely complex mechanism with more than 30 high quality bronze gears. This is a model of the device that Price found inside. He concluded that it was designed to compute solar and lunar cycles, aiding ancient sailors for navigating the seas and making maps. After a model was created and began to function, scientists found that the mechanism was actually a planetarium, accurately showing the astronomical positions of the sun, moon and planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. It was an analog computer, and modern gear making technology today would have a difficult time matching this.
About 4,000 years ago, the Inca civilization built pyramids. Guess what was happening in Egypt 4,000 years ago? Same thing. The Inca, along with the Egyptians, had complex engineering and technology to build these great structures. Now, all of these were of course after the flood. We don't have hardly anything to show as far as objects or structures before the flood, except what we find under the ground, such as fossils. But this shows us evidence that mankind had great ability and intellect long ago, rather than a picture of caveman thumping around.
Let us go back to before the flood to see how God's people separated themselves from sinful man. From the book From Eternity Past, “For some time the two classes remained separate. The race of Cain, spreading from their first settlement, dispersed over the plains and valleys where the children of Seth had dwelt. The latter, in order to escape their contaminating influence, withdrew to the mountains and there maintained the worship of God in its purity” (White, 41) (red letters my emphasis). In the end times, we are warned to flee where? To the mountains. Great Controversy, 626 or Last Day Events, 259. Now I want to mention that there is nothing magical about the mountains. They do not have the power to ward off evil. Ellen White is stating that evil will be found in the cities and places of sinful influence, whereas remote places far away from evil influences and government authority would be safer for God's people to be sheltered. And there is an end time work to be done in the cities, as God directs us to be in the world, but not of the world (John 17:14-19).
From Spiritual Gifts Vol 3., “Seth was of more noble stature than Cain or Abel, and resembled Adam more than any of his other sons.... Those who honored and feared to offend God at first felt the curse but lightly; while those who turned from God and trampled upon His authority, felt the effects of the curse more heavily, especially in stature and nobleness of form....” (White, 60) (red letters my emphasis). By beholding, we become changed. By beholding God, Seth not only was holy inside, but also appeared more holy on the outside, like Adam, than did Cain. What about today? Do God's holy people appear more healthy, more holy, more pure? God's children take after Him. God's people are made in the image of God, even though we have sin in this world, we can have a smile of love and health, and holiness on our faces. But, the separation did not last forever. Eventually, an unholy mixture occurred between the holy line of Seth and the unholy line of Cain.
“But in the lapse of time they ventured to mingle with the inhabitants of the valleys. “The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair.” The children of Seth displeased the Lord by intermarrying with them. Many of the worshipers of God were beguiled into sin by the allurements constantly before them, and they lost their holy character” (From Eternity Past, White, 41) (red letters my emphasis). Up to recently, many people have concluded that the “sons of God” referred to divine beings (aliens) or angels. But the context of this passage in Genesis chapter 6 does not support this interpretation. The sons of God refers to the holy line of Seth, and the daughters of men refer to the unholy line of Cain.
Today, we see a similar unfolding of events as what happened in Noah's day. Jesus Himself, spoke of the end times as “it will be in the days of Noah”. There will be continual evil upon the minds of man. There will be eating and drinking, marriage and partying. Now there is nothing wrong with eating, drinking, and getting married, for God created all these. But what Jesus is referring to here in Matthew 24 is that man does not recognize that God is the one who provides all this, food, drink and marriage, and man has denied there is God, and they continue living their lives without God.
“That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes,” Matthew 24:39 (NLT).
Through history and science, we conclude that humankind has been devolving. But the good news is that we will all be made immortal, at the sound of the trumpet, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52). Always remember, that you were created in the image of God, with His character of love and mercy in your heart!
1 https://anomalyarchives.org/collections/files/corliss-william-roger/