GENESIS DAY TWO

THE CREATION OF THE EXPANSE

 

TEXT: Genesis 1:6-8

 

6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8 God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

 

INTRODUCTION: 

 

We will begin tonight with Creation vs. Evolution. 

 

People who believe in evolution do not believe the air around the earth had oxygen in it when the earth first existed. They believe that the air was very poisonous, made up of gases like methane and ammonia, for example. If the air today was full of gases, there would be no life on this planet. 

 

Why do the evolutionists believe the first atmosphere had these poisonous gases? Because the substances (chemicals) that make up living things could not evolve if there was oxygen in the air. They would, in a sense, just “burn up,” and life would be impossible. Evolutionists believe that chemicals just came together by chance to make all the very complex substances (including DNA which is really an information system and language system) that are part of living systems. But they also know that this could not happen if there was oxygen. And yet, for most living things, they need oxygen to live!

 

Scientists have now discovered oxygen in the rocks that they believe were supposedly part of the earth when the earth first existed. So, from their own evolutionary story, evolutionists have to accept that there must have been oxygen in the air from the beginning of the world—which is contradictory to their own evolutionary world view. 

I. A Tent to Dwell In

 

After the first day, the earth was no longer without form, but it was still without inhabitants. It must next be prepared as a home for man. Ultimately the entire universe would be made available for man’s exploration and utilization, but first he must be given the earth. Psalm 115:16 “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to man.”

 

The earth is unique among the planets in being a place suitable for human life. The atmosphere of oxygen, and its hydrosphere of liquid water are absolutely vital for man’s existence, and both are unique to planet earth. So, the first essential in God’s preparation was a carefully designed atmosphere and hydrosphere (a combined mass of water found on and above the surface of the planet). 

 

Isaiah 40:12 “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? “Verse 22, “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” 

 

On the first day the earth was still dominantly water, or in a liquid state. Some of these waters were now to be separated from the greater mass of waters and then placed high above a rotating globewith a great space separating them from the waters below. The lower waters would provide the water base for living flesh and for the processes of the earth. The upper waters would provide a sort of protective canopy for earth’s inhabitants, and the space between them would provide an atmospheric reservoir to maintain the breath of life. 

 

The power required to bring about such a tremendous separation could come only from the spoken word of the omnipotent God: “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters . . .”

 

The word “expanse,” sometimes translated “firmament,” is from the Hebrew word, “raqiya,”pronounced raw-kee-ah. It is synonymous with our modern technical term, “space,” and is also the same as “heaven.” Verse 8 says, “And God called the expanse “heaven.”

 

So, expanse and heaven are essentially synonymous terms , both meaning space—either space in general or a particular region of space, depending on the context.

 

I’ll explain. There are three particular “heavens”mentioned in scripture: the atmospheric “heavens” in Jeremiah 4:25, “I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.” The sideral heaven (referring to the stars or constellations) in Isaiah 13:10 “The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light.” The heaven of God’s throne in Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.” Also, there is a term used in II Chronicles 2:6 “the highest heavens” or the “heaven of heavens” likely referring to the entire universe, the space comprising all spaces. 2 Chronicles 2:6 “But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him?”

 

The expanse in Genesis 1:6-8 is obviously the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the English word has been interpreted by many to refer to a “solid dome across the sky;” consequently, this has been used by liberal critics as evidence of the prescientific outlook of the Book of Genesis. But neither the original Hebrew word nor any of the passages in which it occurs suggest such an idea. An “expanse or firmament,” as it is used in Genesis, simply means a“thin, stretched out space.” With that understood, we are now ready to proceed.

 

Separated by this expanse or atmosphere, the two bodies of water were ready for their essential functions in sustaining future life on earth. The actual process of separation was brought about by converting a portion of the liquid water into a vapor state, perhaps by a divine energy of heat. This reaction would cause the watery suspension above the earth to release other gaseous components into the atmosphere which became the expanse holding up the lighter water vapor above earth. 

 

The ”waters above the expanse” probably constituted a vast blanket of water vapor above the troposphere (from the earth’s surface to a height ofaround 3.7-6.2 miles) and likely the stratosphere as well (this is the layer of the earth’s atmosphere above the troposphere extending to about 32 miles above earth’s surface). They, “the waters above the expanse,” could not have been clouds of water droplets which now float in today’s atmosphere, because the scripture says they were above the expanse. Also, at that time there was no rain on the earth according to Genesis 2:5. Neither was there any rainbow in the clouds (Genesis 9:13) as it is today. 

 

In the antediluvian or pre-flood world, the time before the worldwide flood in Noah’s day, the earthhad a canopy of water around it. This canopy would have to have been transparent in order for the heavenly bodies “to give their light upon the earthand to also be “for signs, and for seasons, days and years (Genesis 1:14-15). The point is that the canopy of water around the earth was not clouds,which are opaque and would block the lights of heaven ,but was instead a water vapor which is invisible and transparent and would actually amplify the lights in the heavens—like a magnifying glass! 

 

This canopy of water, which was around the earth,was very conducive to sustaining optimum life on the earth. For example: 

 

1. Since water vapor has the ability both to transmit incoming radiation and to retain and disperse much of the radiation reflected from the earth’s surface, it would serve as a global greenhouse, maintaining an essentially uniformly pleasant warm temperature all over the world. 

2. With nearly uniform temperatures, great air-mass movements would be inhibited, and windstorms would be unknown. No tornadoes or hurricanes!

 

KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS WAS BEFORE MAN SINNED AND BROUGHT A CURSE ON THE EARTH! AND IT WAS ALSO BEFORE THE GREAT FLOOD THAT RADICALLY CHANGED CONDITOINS ON THE EARTH. 

 

3. With no global air circulation, the hydrologic cycle of the present world could not be implemented and there could be no rain, except directly over the bodies of water from which it might have evaporated. 

4. With no global air circulation, and therefore no turbulence or dust particles transported to the upper atmosphere, the water vapor canopy would have been stable and not precipitate itself. 

5. The planet would have maintained not only at uniform temperatures but also at comfortable uniform humidities by means of daily local evaporation and condensation (like dew on the ground or ground fog) in each day-night cycle. 

6. The combination of warm temperatures and adequate moister everywhere would be conducive to extensive stands of lush vegetation all over the world, with no barren deserts or ice caps.

7. A vapor canopy would also be highly effective in filtering out ultraviolet radiations, cosmic rays, and other destructive energies from outer space. These are known to be the source of somatic(bodily) and genetic mutations, which decrease the life and health of living things. The canopy of water that God placed around the earth would contribute very effectively to human and animal health and longevity. Ever wondered why and how people lived so long prior to the flood when this canopy of water vapor around the earth was removed? 

8. Some have objected to the idea of a heavy vapor canopy because of the great increase in atmospheric pressure which it would cause at the earth's surface. Rather than being a problem, however, this effect would contribute still further to health and longevity. Modern biomedical research in increasingly proving that such hyperbaric pressures are very effective in combating disease and in promoting good health. 

9. Later when needed, these upper waters would provide the massive reservoir from which God would send the great flood to save the godly remnant from the hopelessly corrupt and demonized population of that day. (The content of water vapor in our present atmosphere, if precipitated, would cover the earth only to a depth of about one inch. That would not be enough to bring a worldwide flood). 

 

Although the waters above the expanse or firmament were condensed and precipitated in the worldwide flood, they will apparently be restored in the millennial earth and the new earth which God will create. Psalm 148:4,6 speaks of “the waters that be above the heavens,” which, like the stars, will be established “forever and ever.” 

 

CONCLUSION

 

In day one God created the light—the energy that He would use to prepare the earth for His creation. In day two He separated the waters from the waters and created the expanse or atmosphere between the two bodies of water, putting a canopy of water around the earth further preparing the planet to sustain the living things that He would create in days 3-6, but particularly for the crowning act of creation: mankind which He would make in His own image! 

 

Let’s pray.