Mervin, I apologize for the delay in answering, but have again some deathliness for contributions and papers.
In any case, I think this thread is now entering a highly interesting phase, and I thank you, as well as @Jay313, @Jon_Garvey, and @Bill_II for accepting to discuss in detail the issue of “Hyperbole vs. Miracle” as means to explain Noah’s Flood.
Jay’s reference to Acts 2:16-21 is undoubtedly relevant:
Peter’s teaching here has to be seen in the light of 2 Peter 3:5-10, where the Apostle explains what “the great and glorious day of the Lord” means:
5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.[…] 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be burned up.
So Peter here and in 2 Peter 2:4-10 is elaborating on Jesus teaching in Matthew 24; 25: 31-46, and Luke 17: 20-37 and explaining more in detail the meaning of Jesus’ prophecy about “stars falling out of the sky to earth”.
The phenomenon of “earth reserved to fire”, and “the earth and everything in it will be burned up” acquire in the light of today’s science an astonishing precise meaning. Indeed the earth is supposed to be engulfed by the Sun when this becomes a red giant (see for instance this Wikipedia article). Similarly for the phenomenon of “stars falling out of the sky to earth”: The “existence of collisional trajectories of Mercury, Mars and Venus with the Earth” has been mathematically established (see for instance this Nature). That “the earth was formed out of water” fits rather well with the chronology of the universe: Between about 10 and 17 million years after the Big Bang the universe’s average temperature (273 - 373K) was compatible with liquid water.
From this it follows that Jesus’ prophecy about the End Times is nothing other than the prediction of ordinary natural phenomena. However these phenomena would be extraordinary ones, that is “miracles” if they happened say in year 3,500 AD.
Similarly, Peters explanation about Noah’s Flood (“By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed”) amounts to state that the Earth at about 3,000 BC miraculously returned to the stage of 17 million years after the Big Bang.
Quantum physics tells us that there are NO “inexorable laws of nature” but only probabilistic rules. Accordingly there is no law forbidding the sun to become a red giant in 3,500 AD or the Earth reverting to water at 3,500 BC.
In this sense Jesus in Matthew 24; 25: 31-46, and Luke 17: 20-37 is clearly referring to the Flood and the End Times as miracles.
Now Bill_II pertinently remarks:
Well, this is the case in most miracles: Which traces do we have of Jesus’ Resurrection or His Ascension to heaven? Which traces do we have of Pentecost or even the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and sojourning 40 years in the wilderness? In fact only reports of trustworthy eyewitnesses.
I dare to refer to again to the Miracle of the Sun in Fatima (Portugal) on October 13th, 1917 (see The Washington Post) because it is particularly clarifying about how miracles ordinarily work: In this case 70’000 people gathered at Cova da Iría perceived the sun whirling and as falling down to earth, while 2 billion outside all over the planet didn’t perceive anything extraordinary. The only signs we have demonstrating this miracle are the reports of many eyewitnesses.
This shows that God likes to act according to the Principle of Parsimony also when He performs extraordinary things. So during the miracle there are two parallel worlds: in one world people perceive the miraculously event, while in the other things are perceived according to the usual patterns. At the end of the miracle the two worlds merge again, and the only remains proving the miracle are reports of eyewitnesses.
This explanation is also supported by Pentecost: Peter’s speech is understood by different observers in different languages (a Multiverse!) . In most miracles the same “speech” of God is understood by different observers in different ways.
In the case of the Flood all Image Bearers involved in the event experienced the Earth returning to the stage of 10-17 mya after the Big Bang, and all of them went drowned excepted Noah and his family. After the miracle the only remains of the event were the reports Noah and his family let to his descendants. What Noah perceived as Ark was nothing other than “the region outside Sumer”, that is, almost the whole planet: Indeed it was an Ark with a big under-roof!
Actually this explanation was already proposed in the thread “My Theory about the Flood”. However there I presented it as a Parable, that is, an account on the basis of a local flood. The objections by @gbrooks9 led me to study more in detail the possible events that could be candidates as basis for such a parabolic account. These events are those Jay refers to here:
My conclusion is that none of these “usual suspects” can give rise to an account like that in Genesis 6-9, neither as a Parable nor Hyperbole.
For this reason I am proposing now the explanation as Miracle.