Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Thursday, February 03, 2011 4:25:43 PM
This article moves us towards understanding the ancient cosmologies and correcting the misreading of Genesis 1 and exposing the errors of modern cosmology. The argument presented is that the firmament made on Day 2 cannot be the same as the heaven made on Day 1. This view is supported from the narrative that the Day 2 firmament is not pronounced good until Day 3 after God separated the dry land from the sea. We take this as strong evidence that God continued His work on the Day 2 firmament until it resulted in the dry land of Day 3.
The creation events of every other day except Day 2 follow the same pattern. God creates and sees the result of His work and then declares it good, meaning that what was made functioned according to purpose and design. Given this pattern we can conclude that God had more work to do on the firmament He made on Day 2. Therefore, the dry earth is associated with the Day 2 firmament. That is why v9 says that the waters under the 'heaven' be gathered rather than the waters under the 'firmament'. The waters under the firmament are the subterranean waters that become the source of the flood waters. The waters above the firmament are the same as the waters under the heaven. These are the surface waters of our planet because their separation reveals the dry land. There are no waters above the heavens of v1. The 'firmament of the heaven' of verses 14, 15, 17 and 20 is something completely different than the Day 2 firmament. This is what contains the Sun, Moon and stars. This is what the prophets refer to when they repeatedly say that God stretched the heavens and spread them out like a curtain.
Genesis 1 was millennium ahead of so called 'modern cosmology' in its view of an expanded universe. It now offers correction to the modern view in that the expansion has ceased, being associated with creation that is now complete [Genesis 2:1-2]. If the universe expanded in the past and is now static, then today's observations of red-shift and accelerated expansion are being misread, leading to the accumulation of anomalies and the exposure of a false cosmology.
How do we deal with the anti-theists who see their theories based on autonomous reason as the standard of orthodoxy? Why are men quick to move towards a misreading of the Bible and to point out perceived errors in the text as a result of their abusive interpretations? Why do men not treat the ancient Flood myths the same way they do the ancient cosmologies? Why are men not as critical of their own thinking and unable to see their own errors? The answer lies in the nearly forgotten biblical doctrine called depravity. We should expect these things because men love darkness rather than light. Light reveals the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ and exposes our sin...
'For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ' [2 Corinthians 4:6].
'And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts' [2 Peter 1:19].
Next: What happened to the Canopy?