The Expanse

Genesis 1:6-7

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 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.”

In Genesis 1:7, we read:

And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.

So what was this expanse that divided the waters below from the waters above? Some versions call it sky, which is not a good translation because sky refers to something not real, just an impression caused by the bending of light. Other translations call the expanse the firmament, and this is better. The Hebrew word translated as expanse or firmament is raqi’a and is really referring to the expanse of the cosmos itself – deep space!

The waters below the expanse must be those on the Earth, but the waters above form a boundary or limit to space because that is what the expanse is. The Hebrew word is related to the stretching out of materials, such as the hammering of gold metal. 

Now, measurements and images from instruments, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, have suggested that space itself was stretched in order to achieve its current state. Two stars embedded in this expanse might appear to move apart with the expansion, though they actually remain at the same points where they were before. It is our suggestion that the majority of this stretching of space occurred on Day Two of the Creation Week – before there even were stars in the expanse. This stretching of the expanse has not required the billions of years that Big Bang theorists postulate. One single Creation Week explains it all.

Prayer: All that You have made declares how wonderful You are, Lord. We praise You that You have made everything well. Amen.

Ref: Faulkner, D.R. (2016), Thoughts on the rāqîa‘ and a Possible Explanation for the Cosmic Microwave Background, < https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/cosmology/thoughts-raqia-and-possible-explanation-cosmic-microwave-background/ >, accessed 5/24/2018. Image: NASA, Public Domain.

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