Genesis; Answering The Skeptic Series

[Gen 1:3-8 NIV] - 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day. 6 And God said, "Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day.

What did God create on day one?

__The sun, moon and stars.

__Man

__Light, which He separated from the darkness, He called the light day and the darkness He called night.

On the second day God created:

__The firmament. [Sky space or vault]

__A vault. [Dome or an arch]

__A space that separated the waters above from the waters below.

__All of the above. It depends on the translation you read.

What do you think this vault could be?

__The sky

__The atmosphere.

__Deep space

__Both of the first two answers.

Let’s look at a little history:

The ancient New Eastern people, as well as the Hebrews believed that the sky was “hard as a molten mirror.”

Scripture proof: [Job 37:18 NIV] 18 can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?

They believed it had to be hard because it was a dome that separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome.

They also believed that this dome rested on pillars just the earth does.

[Psalm 75:3 NIV] 3 When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.

[Psalm 104:2-3, 5-6 NIV] 2 The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent 3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. ... 5 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. 6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.

Another belief is that there are windows in the dome that were opened when Yahweh [God] wanted it to rain, allowing the waters from above the dome to fall to the ground.

Why did create the atmosphere or, as we would call it, the sky?

__Because He didn’t have anything better to do with His time.

__So He would have somewhere to put the excess water that covered the earth.

__How else would man and animals have the oxygen they needed to survive if God didn’t create the atmosphere.

God saw what He had done on the second and said:

__“OOPS!”

__“That didn’t turn out the way I planned.”

__“It was good.”

__The Bible doesn’t say and verse 9 starts day three

LOOK AT VERSES [Gen 1:8-9 NIV] 8 God called the vault "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day. 9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.