That "open" reading entirely depends upon the connotation of the hebrew word
"eretz". God told Abram in Ur to get out of his "eretz" Genesis 12:1 says,
"The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your eretz, your people and your
father's houshold and go to the 'eretz' I will show you." Since you contend
that the most "open"reading of Genesis 6-9 is that "eretz" means "planet
earth" rather than country or land, I presume that you must believe that
God told Abe to take a trip into outerspace to a planet He would show
Abraham. Obviously, Abe didn't obey, so why is he regarded as the epitomy
of faith throughout Scripture? Abram didn't do what God clearly told him to
do, Get off the Planet Earth and go to another planet.
If I acknowledge that the correct reading of "eretz" in Genesis 6-9 is
"planet earth" and thus the flood was universal, then will you acknowledge
that Abraham disobeyed God in the most "open" reading of the Genesis 12:1
passage?
How about Genesis 15:13, "Your descendants will be strangers in a 'eretz'
not their own." Did this mean that the prophecy didn't really apply to the
Egyptians but to the Martians? Once again this is the most "open" reading
according to your view.
Art, these verses use the same Hebrew word.
glenn
Foundation, Fall and Flood
http://www.isource.net/~grmorton/dmd.htm