Day Two: Expanse of the heavens
Genesis 1:6-8 “6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And 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. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
“And God said,” sequentially connects day two’s work to the raw products (mass and light), the noted deficiencies (formless and void), and the initializing preparations of day one’s work (v.1:1-5). “Let there be an expanse (Heb. ‘raqia’ firmament, expanse, a thinned or stretched out space) in the midst of the waters,” is the second verbal, fiat, creative proclamation that also starts off the second working day. As with the creation of light and its division from the darkness on day one followed by the naming of Day and Night, so too, with the created firmament/expanse of the heavens and its separation from and division of the waters: The day’s forming up work ends with naming the new product Heaven (as now distinguished form the two waters), and the ordinal day notation of the second light and dark period.
“6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Creation by fiat verbal decree is extremely significant. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Heb.11:3). This proposition is foundational for a healthy epistemology, human knowing and a theory of knowledge. Language is not only objective (true and real outside of any man’s assent) and useful for communication of the truth, but it is also of the Truth and framed the worlds. The origin of language is, then, eternal within the persons of the Trinity, and from there, divinely bestowed in mankind as God’s image bearer. Language, then, is useful for knowing God and the works of God which also have their being by the word of God. Naturalistic, materialistic, or evolutionary closed system philosophies and sciences use language to frame and promote their lies, but language is an asset they misappropriate: thus destroying its objectivity (its true truth value) and so corrupting its authority. As such, these propaganda like lie systems are anti-rational destroying objective language/logic, knowledge, justice, and men’s lives, so leaving cultural wastelands behind their rainless wind storms, (Jude v.12 and context). The pan-theism, poly-theism, and intellectual skepticism of the 1st century is an example; so is the progressive socialism, communism, and relativism of our own times. If true truth is removed, only propaganda remains, human intellectual freedom evaporates, and self serving Nimrods pipe the masses to their tunes at the point of swords if need arise. Never forget the words of Christ: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (Jn.8:31,32) There is no other fountain of freedom. True truth is its nozzle.
All true science is grounded in this Biblical epistemology. Morality, law, justice, history, philosophy, all the theoretical disciplines of men are only truly grounded first: in verbal fiat exnihilo creation of all that is created, (the Logos in creation) and secondly: in verbal, plenary, divine inspiration, (the Logos in the roll of the book). The connecting premise of course is that mankind himself is created personal and in the image after the likeness of God, making him/her a fit vessel for receiving first: language, and secondly the Bible as true truth. As God spoke to those he committed His word to by Moses, “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” (Deut. 8:3), so also Christ fulfilled this righteousness for us and on our accounts, quoting Moses as he did so, (Mat.4:4; Lk.4:4). Science is a calling of mankind created in the image of God, and it has historically worked well on the premise of the absolute infallibility of the word of God. It is not all of man’s life, but it is a good part of it.
This second day, atmospheric and hydrologic science is being established by this word. The words of God are giving it its form. The physics, mathematics and interactive material natures, all designed by this word, made by this word, and held together by this word are being formed as per deficiency in day one noted. That is a lot of power easily seen, and no man has any excuse for missing the point. (Rom.1:20) “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” The energy involved is staggering, and it has come from God’s word. “7 And 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.” And it was so, affirms that the creation produced is exactly conformed to the word proclaimed. What men see, as we study these forms, is the immense order and power working in these systems, intriguingly in precise balanced designs and causal interactions. The laws of nature that can be discerned are the structuring word of God. Materialistic naturalism is a denial of this truth, and it places the power and design in the elements themselves in a closed non-open structure, and so destroys true science, the calling of mankind. True science would begin with this testimony of a water origin to this universe. The notion would organize the observational data and guide the modeling of hypothesis. True science does not seek to prove the Bible, it just so happens that true science, believing the Bible first, seeks to understand the world God has made by his word. Nothing too much more, and nothing less!
Not all scientists proceed this way, as it has been written, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation. for this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”(1Pet.3:3-7). But they should.
Volumes: At this point there are three volumes formed: above, below, and in between. Here would be at least five faces: the top of below waters, the bottom and top of the firmament, and the bottom and top of waters above. The areas, volumes, and weights are all designed and measured. As the Word of God by Isaiah wrote: “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?” (Is.40:12). Does not this invite man’s inquiry into the quantities of these measures? Such data would have formative as well as falsifying implications in any cosmology. This is exactly why God has revealed it. Russell Humphrey’s Starlight and Time, J.C. Dillow’s The Firmament Above, and Walt Brown’s Hydroplate Theory are all examples of reckoning about and upon these quantities. We will, in a few verses, read of the earth and the sea being formed out of the waters below; could the sun, moon, and stars be formed out of the waters above? Earths atmosphere is the least thing established out of the in between firmament; could the expanse of space be further stretched out on day 4 with the expanding precipitation/distillation of the heavenly bodies of our solar system and universe? What would the processes be evidenced in? Theories of vapor canopies, time dilation, and super critical water pressures under the continental land mass, all thoughtfully proceed in this methodical way seeking an understanding of the world God has made. They move on the proposition: that the systems are knowable because God made it by His word. And next, that they can discern it, because: God made mankind persons with language. Only divine revelation can make propositions like these certain; certainty for mankind is a good thing: therefore God is not silent. He has spoken, and it is written. “For all flesh [is] as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (1Pet.1:24,25). “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” (ps.119:89).
“8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.” Our current atmosphere is very complex. How much of that complexity is introduced at this point is grist for theoretical thinking and hypothesis testing. The simplest notion is that the gaseous expanse, that at the end of the week men and animals will be breathing in, is created, i.e. the atmosphere. The deep represented the space/matter/time spherical volume of finite and bounded mass, upon the watery surfaces of which the Spirit of God was moving. It is now divided in two, and the separating space between them is named Heaven. Later, perhaps after the flood, the hydrologic cycle of clouds and rain will operate within it. Now, however, the above waters are above it, not in it. And the below waters are below it, not in it. In a few days the sun, moon, planets, and stars will be operating in it also. This stellar observation, (Gen.1:14-19), seems to make the vast reaches of space as well as our atmosphere a combined measure of the separation; but then stars do not exist yet; it is two days away at this point in earth time.
Never the less, this triple volume, five face, mass revolves another time with the light. So we have God’s second ordinal day notation. Light is the determining factor: for evening is where it departs, and morning is where it returns. Evening to morning is at best a half day. However, morning to morning and evening to evening are both 24 hours; so it must be a qualitative note and not just an ordinal note that God is making. Man will work in the daylight, darkness is viewed later in scripture as a time no man will be able to work. “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (Jn.9:4,5). Working in the light has a salvation meaning as also the works of darkness do. Those further Biblical themes take their starting point here. First reference is a Bible interpretation rule. Theology, no less than science, must humbly receive the testimony of God.
Reviewing then, absolutely essential truths are delivered to image-man in these fact disclosures of the second day. The actuality and possibility of knowing the real world that lies outside our heads is verified, as is our cognitive purpose of existing within it. Language is an area not of mans making, and one that we will have to answer for; no thing said is neutral. Truth and lie are the issues. Science is only a way of testing the truth value of things and presupposes transcendent (outside of man) propositions that can only be truth or lies that man can not be the source of. Autonomous-man, humanistic-man is not what exists in the real world. Satan is the father of lies, God is truth. We are in the balance. To whom shall we tilt? It has been written, “A false balance [is] abomination to the LORD: but a just weight [is] his delight.” (Proverbs 11:1 and 20:23) and, “Divers weights [are] an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance [is] not good.”
The following is a summary of the issues brought up in this second day of creation for which, God knowing all things, he has spoken to us truth that we simply could not possibly know with any certainty on our own, as we were not there.
TRUTHS
1) creation of the expanse of heaven (atmospheric, astral, and hydrological physics by God’s word)
2) LOGOS begins to form and fill in answer to “formless and void” purpose in cosmos (fiat/intelligence)
3) solute state of dissolved earth mass (2 Peter 3:5) waters below (solute origin of earths basil rocks)
4) solute state of heavenly mass (waters above)
5) Divine separation and naming (absolute objective epistemological connection, logic not random or relative)
6) Air was designed for living men, and men for the air
LIES
1) space is eternal infinite and expands as quantum event: singularity, event horizons, big bangs etc, contracts and expands over again endlessly—cycle of endless being.
2) either no fixed intelligent objective word exists, or pantheistic naturalism exists (oops=no purpose or impersonal purpose)
3) igneous state of earth mass (oops=inability to fabricate basil rocks by molten methods)
4) big bang expansion (oops=gravitational anomalies)
5) separation and distinction random non intelligent and impersonal (oops=epistemological disconnect) it evolves it can change. Law is relative flux, absolute law can not exist.
6) Air as well as man are ephemeral chance plus time random accidents not designed, or better=design excluded.
Genesis 1:6-8 “6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And 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. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
“And God said,” sequentially connects day two’s work to the raw products (mass and light), the noted deficiencies (formless and void), and the initializing preparations of day one’s work (v.1:1-5). “Let there be an expanse (Heb. ‘raqia’ firmament, expanse, a thinned or stretched out space) in the midst of the waters,” is the second verbal, fiat, creative proclamation that also starts off the second working day. As with the creation of light and its division from the darkness on day one followed by the naming of Day and Night, so too, with the created firmament/expanse of the heavens and its separation from and division of the waters: The day’s forming up work ends with naming the new product Heaven (as now distinguished form the two waters), and the ordinal day notation of the second light and dark period.
“6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Creation by fiat verbal decree is extremely significant. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Heb.11:3). This proposition is foundational for a healthy epistemology, human knowing and a theory of knowledge. Language is not only objective (true and real outside of any man’s assent) and useful for communication of the truth, but it is also of the Truth and framed the worlds. The origin of language is, then, eternal within the persons of the Trinity, and from there, divinely bestowed in mankind as God’s image bearer. Language, then, is useful for knowing God and the works of God which also have their being by the word of God. Naturalistic, materialistic, or evolutionary closed system philosophies and sciences use language to frame and promote their lies, but language is an asset they misappropriate: thus destroying its objectivity (its true truth value) and so corrupting its authority. As such, these propaganda like lie systems are anti-rational destroying objective language/logic, knowledge, justice, and men’s lives, so leaving cultural wastelands behind their rainless wind storms, (Jude v.12 and context). The pan-theism, poly-theism, and intellectual skepticism of the 1st century is an example; so is the progressive socialism, communism, and relativism of our own times. If true truth is removed, only propaganda remains, human intellectual freedom evaporates, and self serving Nimrods pipe the masses to their tunes at the point of swords if need arise. Never forget the words of Christ: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (Jn.8:31,32) There is no other fountain of freedom. True truth is its nozzle.
All true science is grounded in this Biblical epistemology. Morality, law, justice, history, philosophy, all the theoretical disciplines of men are only truly grounded first: in verbal fiat exnihilo creation of all that is created, (the Logos in creation) and secondly: in verbal, plenary, divine inspiration, (the Logos in the roll of the book). The connecting premise of course is that mankind himself is created personal and in the image after the likeness of God, making him/her a fit vessel for receiving first: language, and secondly the Bible as true truth. As God spoke to those he committed His word to by Moses, “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” (Deut. 8:3), so also Christ fulfilled this righteousness for us and on our accounts, quoting Moses as he did so, (Mat.4:4; Lk.4:4). Science is a calling of mankind created in the image of God, and it has historically worked well on the premise of the absolute infallibility of the word of God. It is not all of man’s life, but it is a good part of it.
This second day, atmospheric and hydrologic science is being established by this word. The words of God are giving it its form. The physics, mathematics and interactive material natures, all designed by this word, made by this word, and held together by this word are being formed as per deficiency in day one noted. That is a lot of power easily seen, and no man has any excuse for missing the point. (Rom.1:20) “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” The energy involved is staggering, and it has come from God’s word. “7 And 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.” And it was so, affirms that the creation produced is exactly conformed to the word proclaimed. What men see, as we study these forms, is the immense order and power working in these systems, intriguingly in precise balanced designs and causal interactions. The laws of nature that can be discerned are the structuring word of God. Materialistic naturalism is a denial of this truth, and it places the power and design in the elements themselves in a closed non-open structure, and so destroys true science, the calling of mankind. True science would begin with this testimony of a water origin to this universe. The notion would organize the observational data and guide the modeling of hypothesis. True science does not seek to prove the Bible, it just so happens that true science, believing the Bible first, seeks to understand the world God has made by his word. Nothing too much more, and nothing less!
Not all scientists proceed this way, as it has been written, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation. for this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”(1Pet.3:3-7). But they should.
Volumes: At this point there are three volumes formed: above, below, and in between. Here would be at least five faces: the top of below waters, the bottom and top of the firmament, and the bottom and top of waters above. The areas, volumes, and weights are all designed and measured. As the Word of God by Isaiah wrote: “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?” (Is.40:12). Does not this invite man’s inquiry into the quantities of these measures? Such data would have formative as well as falsifying implications in any cosmology. This is exactly why God has revealed it. Russell Humphrey’s Starlight and Time, J.C. Dillow’s The Firmament Above, and Walt Brown’s Hydroplate Theory are all examples of reckoning about and upon these quantities. We will, in a few verses, read of the earth and the sea being formed out of the waters below; could the sun, moon, and stars be formed out of the waters above? Earths atmosphere is the least thing established out of the in between firmament; could the expanse of space be further stretched out on day 4 with the expanding precipitation/distillation of the heavenly bodies of our solar system and universe? What would the processes be evidenced in? Theories of vapor canopies, time dilation, and super critical water pressures under the continental land mass, all thoughtfully proceed in this methodical way seeking an understanding of the world God has made. They move on the proposition: that the systems are knowable because God made it by His word. And next, that they can discern it, because: God made mankind persons with language. Only divine revelation can make propositions like these certain; certainty for mankind is a good thing: therefore God is not silent. He has spoken, and it is written. “For all flesh [is] as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (1Pet.1:24,25). “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” (ps.119:89).
“8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.” Our current atmosphere is very complex. How much of that complexity is introduced at this point is grist for theoretical thinking and hypothesis testing. The simplest notion is that the gaseous expanse, that at the end of the week men and animals will be breathing in, is created, i.e. the atmosphere. The deep represented the space/matter/time spherical volume of finite and bounded mass, upon the watery surfaces of which the Spirit of God was moving. It is now divided in two, and the separating space between them is named Heaven. Later, perhaps after the flood, the hydrologic cycle of clouds and rain will operate within it. Now, however, the above waters are above it, not in it. And the below waters are below it, not in it. In a few days the sun, moon, planets, and stars will be operating in it also. This stellar observation, (Gen.1:14-19), seems to make the vast reaches of space as well as our atmosphere a combined measure of the separation; but then stars do not exist yet; it is two days away at this point in earth time.
Never the less, this triple volume, five face, mass revolves another time with the light. So we have God’s second ordinal day notation. Light is the determining factor: for evening is where it departs, and morning is where it returns. Evening to morning is at best a half day. However, morning to morning and evening to evening are both 24 hours; so it must be a qualitative note and not just an ordinal note that God is making. Man will work in the daylight, darkness is viewed later in scripture as a time no man will be able to work. “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (Jn.9:4,5). Working in the light has a salvation meaning as also the works of darkness do. Those further Biblical themes take their starting point here. First reference is a Bible interpretation rule. Theology, no less than science, must humbly receive the testimony of God.
Reviewing then, absolutely essential truths are delivered to image-man in these fact disclosures of the second day. The actuality and possibility of knowing the real world that lies outside our heads is verified, as is our cognitive purpose of existing within it. Language is an area not of mans making, and one that we will have to answer for; no thing said is neutral. Truth and lie are the issues. Science is only a way of testing the truth value of things and presupposes transcendent (outside of man) propositions that can only be truth or lies that man can not be the source of. Autonomous-man, humanistic-man is not what exists in the real world. Satan is the father of lies, God is truth. We are in the balance. To whom shall we tilt? It has been written, “A false balance [is] abomination to the LORD: but a just weight [is] his delight.” (Proverbs 11:1 and 20:23) and, “Divers weights [are] an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance [is] not good.”
The following is a summary of the issues brought up in this second day of creation for which, God knowing all things, he has spoken to us truth that we simply could not possibly know with any certainty on our own, as we were not there.
TRUTHS
1) creation of the expanse of heaven (atmospheric, astral, and hydrological physics by God’s word)
2) LOGOS begins to form and fill in answer to “formless and void” purpose in cosmos (fiat/intelligence)
3) solute state of dissolved earth mass (2 Peter 3:5) waters below (solute origin of earths basil rocks)
4) solute state of heavenly mass (waters above)
5) Divine separation and naming (absolute objective epistemological connection, logic not random or relative)
6) Air was designed for living men, and men for the air
LIES
1) space is eternal infinite and expands as quantum event: singularity, event horizons, big bangs etc, contracts and expands over again endlessly—cycle of endless being.
2) either no fixed intelligent objective word exists, or pantheistic naturalism exists (oops=no purpose or impersonal purpose)
3) igneous state of earth mass (oops=inability to fabricate basil rocks by molten methods)
4) big bang expansion (oops=gravitational anomalies)
5) separation and distinction random non intelligent and impersonal (oops=epistemological disconnect) it evolves it can change. Law is relative flux, absolute law can not exist.
6) Air as well as man are ephemeral chance plus time random accidents not designed, or better=design excluded.
