The second Day of creation has drawn a lot of debate about the creation of the firmament. Some have suggested God covered the earth with a solid transparent dome. One author even suggested it was made of clear crystalline solid hydrogen. What is it and what does it mean for the structure of the solar system?
Here I continue with a discussion on the physics of the days of creation. I look specifically at the events of Day 2 of the beginning of the universe. Please read The Physics of Creation | Day 1 before reading this post.
The relevant text of the Genesis 1 account uses the Hebrew word רָקִיַע raqiya` with meanings:
- (apparently) the visible arch of the sky.
- (properly) an expanse, i.e. the firmament.
6 And God said, Let an expanse [raqiya] be in the midst of the waters, and let it be dividing between the waters and waters.
7 And God made the expanse [raqiya], and He separated between the waters which were under the expanse [raqiya] and the waters which were above the expanse [raqiya]. And it was so.Genesis 1:6-7 KJ3
In English Bibles from before the year 1900 the word ‘firmament’ is used instead of the word ‘expanse’. The word ‘firmament’ was derived from the Latin Vulgate, which used the word ‘firmamentum’. The etymology is,
From firmō (“strengthen”) + -mentum, from firmus (“firm”). Literally, “that which strengthens or supports”. The meaning of “a strengthening, support, prop”, especially in the figurative sense (of an argument etc., τὸ συνέχον (tò sunékhon)) is classical, and frequently occurs in Cicero.
The Latin word was translated from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) which was translated from Hebrew some 200 years BC.
6 και ειπεν ο θεος γενηθητω στερεωμα εν μεσω του υδατος και εστω διαχωριζον ανα μεσον υδατος και υδατος και εγενετο ουτως
Genesis 1:6 LXX
The bold word in the Greek text στερεωμα stereoma was translated into English as firmament. Here is the English translation of that verse from the LXX.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be a division between water and water, and it was so.
Genesis 1:6 LXXE
I don’t read Greek so I used the ABP Greek-English Interlinear to check this.
6 και And είπεν ο θεός God said, γενηθήτω Let there be στερέωμα a firmament εν in μέσω the midst του of the ύδατος water, και and έστω let it be διαχωρίζον for parting αναμέσον between ύδατος water και and ύδατος water!
Genesis 1:6 ABP (Apostolic Bible Polyglot Greek-English Interlinear)
The word ‘firmament’ sounds like something solid. That is true. The etymology tells us the same, a support structure, which is understandable from the earth-bound observer perspective. There the expanse is seen on earth as the visible arch of the sky; that makes sense.
Compare that with what God said on the fifth Day.
20 And God said, … let the birds fly over the earth and the expanse of the heavens.
Genesis 1:20 KJ3
On Day 5 we are told that birds fly over the earth, which was established on Day 3 when the dry land/continent was created. Also we are told that they fly across the sky. They fly over the arch of the sky. But birds cannot fly through something solid.
The KJV renders this “… and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” The ESV “… let birds [flying things] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.”
In none of this can you get a sense of a solid glass dome as some modern-day Flat Earth apologists argue. The expanse here is literally the region of space between the ‘waters below’ and the ‘waters above’. Its contents may include atmospheric gases, clouds and ice. And why not the vacuum of space also?
Many commentators write simply that the ‘waters above’ are the clouds in the sky and the birds are flying through the Earth’s atmosphere, the sky.
I have suggested another angle to this.
The atmosphere around Earth is relatively very thin. If we are generous and say it extends to the edge of space at about 100 km (62 mi) altitude then compared to the radius of the planet 6,371 km (3,959 mi) it represents 1.6% of that radius. It is a sliver of atmosphere but very important nonetheless.
Ten years ago, I suggested another idea here.
The Kuiper Belt extends roughly from the orbit of Neptune (30 AU) to about 50 AU. As of 2004, more than 700 large objects of up to approximately 1,000 km (620 miles) in diameter have been identified. More than 100,000 KBO objects over 100 km (62 miles) in diameter are believed to exist. I suggest that this is currently the region that holds most of what remains of the ‘waters above’.
Also I do not dispute the existence of the Kuiper Belt as many biblical creationists do. I suggest that it gives us a clue to the creation process of Day 2.
6 And God said, Let an expanse be in the midst of the waters, and let it be dividing between the waters and waters.
Genesis 1:6 KJ3
In Fig. 1 I have tried to illustrate what God did when He created an expanse within the water sphere, called earth from Day 1, and separated the waters into two zones, above and below that expanse. This was in 3D space. Therefore my illustration is looking through the outer shell of the ‘waters above’.
In many translations Genesis 1:6 is rendered with “the birds fly through the open expanse of heaven“. Heaven is used.
The most relevant definitions of the word ‘heaven’ are:
- The sky or universe as seen from the earth; the firmament.
- The abode of God, the angels, and the souls of those who are granted salvation.
- An eternal state of communion with God; everlasting bliss.
I believe that definition 1. is more nuanced with the sky seen quite separately from the space above the sky. Some heavenly objects are the planets in the solar system.
Later on Day 4 God makes those planets and all the smaller heavenly bodies surrounding the solar system. He used the ‘waters above’ to make them.
8 And God called the expanse, Heavens. And it was evening, and it was morning, a second day.
Genesis 1:8 KJ3
God calls the expanse ‘Heavens’. I believe that is to give us symbolically an image of His heavenly realm, but it is not His heavenly realm (Definition 2).
This work of separating the waters above and below from the existing water sphere was the Creator’s main work on Day 2. If it was only to create a very thin atmosphere for the earth, which is still only a sphere of water at this stage, then it seems inconsistent with the work God did on the other creation Days.
Therefore there must have been some significant work done on Day 2.
Look at the following regarding the global deluge in Noah’s day.
5 For this escapes their notice by their willing it so, that heavens were of old,
and earth by water, and through water, subsisting by the Word of God,2 Peter 3:5 KJ3
5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago [thousands not billions of years] , and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,
2 Peter 3:5 ESV
The earth was made of water as described in the Day 1 narrative but the earth at this point in time on Day 2 is only water.
Now what follows is the punch line.
6 through which the world which then was, being flooded by water, perished.
2 Peter 3:6 KJ3
There was a special reason for God to create the earth system a certain way. He is eternal and sees all of time long before any events happen. God prepared the creation for the great deluge that came during Noah’s time. He created the ‘waters above’, among other reasons, for that purpose.
Therefore I suggest that a significant fraction of the global water content was placed in orbit initially around the water sphere of earth as frozen water objects. We’d call them comets or asteroids today.
The ‘waters above’ were separated from the ‘waters below’ by God placing an expanse between them. The physics of the rotating earth would mean the ‘waters above’ would quickly form a disk like the rings of Saturn.
Fig. 2 gives you some idea of the expanse being created in the middle of the ‘waters above’ and the ‘waters below’. The ‘waters below’ at this stage are the whole frozen sphere of earth consisting of water ice only.
Extremely low density water comets enter the upper atmosphere adding to the water content of our planet to this day. So it is very plausible that a planetary disk of cometary material was left in orbit in the equatorial plane of the earth’s spin axis. That is shown in Fig. 2 as the ring of ice inside the dark empty ring.
Farther out, some 100 times the current earth mass, icy material is flung out into orbit and remains there until Day 4 creation of the sun and the rest of the planets.
The scriptures tell us that there were two contributors to the flood waters of great deluge.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
Genesis 7:11-12 AKJV
All the fountains of the great deep and the windows of heaven were opened. The windows of heaven opening refers to the deorbiting of the inner most disk of icy bodies in orbit around earth at the time of the flood. See the thin inner disk in Fig. 3.
On Day 2 there are two disks of icy material — an inner disk and an outer disk. The inner disk remained in place until the global flood to contribute to 40 days and nights of rain upon the earth.
The configuration of the ‘waters above’ was modified from Fig. 3 during the Day 4 creation of the sun, planets, minor planets, cometary cores and asteroids in the solar system.
The outer disk must be placed into a solar orbit. It is comprised of the icy materials of the Kuiper Belt objects. They largely have remained in stable solar orbits since creation Day 4. More on that later.
The inner disk was made largely of water ice asteroids or comets in terrestrial orbit as satellites and remained there until the windows of heaven were opened. The orbits were not stable and even possibly were decaying from Day 2. But the icy asteroids were held in place by the Creator’s sustaining power. However finally the time came when God withdrew some of His sustaining power and the water poured in onto the Earth during the great flood.
It is also worth noting what God promised after His great flood.
11 I establish my covenant [agreement] with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.
Genesis 9:11 ESV
God meant that He would never again flood the earth with water. But what about His use of comets again falling to Earth bringing a flood of fire and not a flood of water?
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. … 12 Looking for and hastening to the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2 Peter 3:7, 12 AKJV
The Creator used the natural world to judge the antediluvian world with water. He used the physical conditions that He created on Day 2 of creation week to do so. We’ll see that the physical state in which He created the mantle and crust of the earth on Day 3 also played a big part. That will be explored in the next chapter of this series.
Stay tuned for Day 3 ….
Related Reading
- 6-Day Creation of the Universe
- The ‘Waters Above’
- Comets, the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud
- Was the Earth Created From Ice?
- The Sustaining Power of the Creator
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