CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES
THE CREATION
DAY TWO:
Job 37:18 “With Him, have you spread out the skies, Strong as a cast metal mirror?”
Proverbs 8:27 “When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,”
Second Creative Day: God begins the process of giving order to the chaos; with the Divine word. Here on day two, God separates the waters and firmly puts into place the gaseous ocean which we know as the atmosphere. This is also referenced in scripture as the first heaven (where the birds fly – Vs. 20).
Text:
Genesis 1:6-8 “Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.”
• FIRMAMENT.
This term is from the Heb. ‘ Rakiya ', which means expanse. This expanse of pure transparent liquid is best described as elemental air.
As an established scientific fact; the atmosphere, by its very weight upon the waters of the sea keep them in place. Likewise the pressure of our atmosphere on our bodies keeps them upright.
The wise Solomon would state that Divine Wisdom was in the beginning and witnessed the creation of all stated on day two; note:
Proverbs 8:27-29 When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep, 29 When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth,”
The division of water from water is in reference to air from oceans, the liquid waters from the vaporous waters.
• HEAVEN
This word comes from the Heb. ‘Shamayin', which literally means “the heights”. Here, its reference is to the first heaven where the birds fly. This is the earth's atmosphere which rises forty five miles above the surface of the earth; at which point it begins to mix with the universal ether which surrounds it and which by its very existence keeps out.
The word “heaven” finds three different uses within the confines of scripture:
A. The “heavens” where the birds fly.
Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above , or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;”
B. The “heavens” where the sun, stars, and the moon dwell.
Ezekiel 32:7-8 “When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, And bring darkness upon your land,' Says the Lord GOD.”
C. The last of the “heavens” in scripture, refer to the abode of God.
Psalm 80:14 “Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine”
Summary
God spoke and separated the waters to create a unique atmosphere. Without a clear body of atmospheric air, human, animal, or plant life could not exist. Even then, unless their was a measure of moisture in the air, plants would evaporate their life sustaining moisture and animal life would breath out the moisture of their tissues. Without proper pressure from our atmosphere our bodily structure would fall apart! Our atmosphere also conveys, refracts, and decomposes light; it transmits sound, and it draws up noxious vapors from the soil and disperses them in the winds.
Through the exploration of space and the development of more powerful telescopes, we have never been able to recognize a single planet anywhere with the same unique life sustaining atmosphere.
Literally the evening was and the morning was the second day. Order has been introduced in preparation for life (light on the first day and a life sustaining atmosphere on the second).