Day 2- firmament
Opening hymn All things bright and Beautiful
Scripture reading Gen 1:6-8
Closing hymn How great thou art
Intro
This
is the second part of a 7 part series which focuses on the events of the first
7 days of creation.
Briefly recap day 1
In
our last presentation we discussed briefly what the foundation of the Earth was
tied to. We started out by looking at the 1st Day of creation week,
and we examined the cause for the presence of darkness and water that were in
existence before the 1st day was called into existence.
We concluded
that darkness was created just as surely as light was. We went further to make
applications for the creation of light and darkness and the contrast that
existed between the two. It was said that light and darkness symbolized two
roads that lay before every creature of God. If light was chosen then that
creature would be a child of the light and in if darkness was chosen then that
creature would become the child of darkness.
But
we did not stop there; other applications were made for the presence of darkness.
We said that the darkness represented a “great misunderstanding which God’s creatures
had”. We looked at the origin of this misunderstanding and we also looked at
how God through the working of The Word and The Holy Spirit intervenes to clear
up the misunderstanding by sending forth his light into the darkness.
We
concluded that day one examines the initial stages God takes to deal with the
sin problem; and it emphasizes the role Christ (the light) occupies as the
mediator between good and evil, light and darkness. (i.e. before sin entered
this Earth)
Before
we begin our study for today, let us pray
Today’s study
This
study is to be understood as an answer to the question “What was the foundation
of the Earth tied to?” We understand that the answer to this question quite
simple is the plan of Salvation, but not many of us understand how this was
done. Today we will look at the symbolism of Day 2 of creation in the plan of
Salvation. However, before we can begin, there are certain understandings that
must be had, (disclaimers if you will) if we are to make steady progress in
this study.
The
first is:
Statements about time
In
3rd Heaven where God dwells time is
not calculated in no way shape or form as it is calculated here;
i.e time as we know it, did not start until day1, when
scripture makes it clear that this was the first day. Being creatures that
exist in time, it is hard for us even to wrap our mind around this concept.
However the use of the term ‘beginning’ a term associated with time further
strengthens this point and solidifies that this point was where time began. It
therefore follows that before time was created there was no time.
In
this context we can appreciate the idea that time is
a tool created for the specific purpose of dealing with the sin problem. In other words, God with
His infinite wisdom, foresaw the possibility of sin and took measures to deal
with it long before its manifestation in Lucifer. Had there not been any
possibility of sin there would be no need for time.
Since prior to the first day of
creation, there was no calculation of time, it can easily be understood why this earth was to be the
place that sin was to be staged. The big question is, “Did time exist anywhere
else in the heavens?” I will not now expand on this, because this question is
answered in part 7- day7 of this series. So if you want to hear more about this
you will need to be here when I present day 7.
Ok….Thus
far, can you at least follow my line of reasoning?
Now
that we have gotten our disclaimers out of the way let us now proceed to our
text of study Gen 1:6-9
Gen 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in
the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
1:7 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.
1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the
evening and the morning were the second day.
Although
not a part of our study, verse 9 also adds depth to our study. We shall look at
this later.
1:9 And God
said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and
let the dry [land] appear: and it was so.
Interpretation
vs. Application
It is important to know that
scripture can only have one interpretation, but at the same time can have several
applications. So that no one leaves here with misconceptions, I will first
describe what was physically done on this day. I will try not to leave anything
out.
It is with a keen understanding
of the interpretation that we will be able to make good applications. If the application is correct, it will be able
to stand the test of scrutiny. This is so important it must be repeated. There is
plenty of room for different applications but there is room for only one interpretation.
Ex. When you say Bro. Greenland
most of you mean me (this is the interpretation). However the title can be
applied to several of the men in my family. It could f it my Dad, his Dad or my
son. I hope this clears up the difference between interpretation and
application.
Therefore what happened on day 2
On day two of creation…God created the firmament. But what are we to understand by this? I
cannot begin to make applications if the interpretation is not clear. So I must
clear up the interpretation.
What is the firmament?
The firmament is a circular space
that God created. (prov 8: 26-28)
8:26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor
the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
8:27
When he prepared the heavens, I [was] there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
8:28
When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains
of the deep:
compass
Here literally means circle
When we consult Strong’s
Hebrew/Greek lexicon it gives us the following definition of compass as used in
our text.
2329 chuwg { khoog}
from 2328; TWOT - 615a; n m
AV - circle 1, circuit 1, compass 1; 3
GK - 2553 { gWj
1) circle, circuit, compass
2) (BDB) vault (of the heavens)[1]
Picture an architect/artist about
to make a drawing, but before doing so, he draws a border. This is what God did
when he created the firmament. He created a border for the thing/s that he was
about to create.
But what is this border that was
created…in other words apart from the border, what comprises the firmament?
What
is the firmament?
The firmament is what is called Heaven, lets confirm
this by looking at Gen 1:8 .
The firmament is the space that the first and second heaven occupy. Gen 1:14 & 20.
1:14 And God
said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from
the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and
years:
1:20 And God
said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life,
and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
It is the space that separates us from 3rd
heaven gen1:9
Since there is a common misunderstanding of the use
of the word “heaven”, the majority of the first part of my presentation will
attempt to clear this up.
Now
Q.
How many heavens are there?
A. There
are 3 heavens: 2 corinth 12:2
12:2
I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I
cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an
one caught up to the third heaven.
Naming
the three heavens: The 3rd heaven, the starry heaven and the
atmospheric heaven.
Let
us briefly look at them.
The
3rd heaven3
· This is the
dwelling place of God and the un-fallen beings. (Rev 12:10-12)
·
This was the place God was/is when He spoke our world
into being. (Heb
12:22-29. )
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto
mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
an innumerable company of angels,
12:23 To the general assembly and church of the
firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the
spirits of just men made perfect,
12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of]
Abel.
12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.
For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more [shall
not] we [escape], if we
turn away from him that [speaketh] from heaven:
12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he
hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also
heaven.
12:27 And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth
the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that
those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which
cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear:
12:29 For our God [is] a consuming fire.
- Stress verse 25 —
speaketh from heaven (gen 21:17, 22:11 (mount zion)
·
The 3rd heaven is also the
place where punishment/blessing originate. This is so because these come from
God. (Gen 8:2, Gen 19:24 VS Ex 16:4, Mal 3:10)
Heaven: the origin of Punishment
Gen 8:2
The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped,
and the rain from
heaven was restrained;
Gen 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
Heaven: the origin of Blessing (heaven 3)
Ex 16:4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I
will rain bread from
heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate
every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD
of hosts, if I will not open you
the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be
room] enough [to receive it].
The
starry heaven (Heaven2)
This
is the first compartment of the firmament that God hangs the stars and moons
and other planets, this was completed on day 4 of creation. Gen 1:14-19
The
atmospheric (heaven 1)
This
is the second compartment of the firmament that God allots for the birds of
heaven to roam. Having put the birds there the finishing touches was added to
it on day 5 Gen 1:20
Gen 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in
the open firmament of heaven.
Both
the 2nd and 3rd heaven are visible by man. Therefore it
is easy for man to pass comments about the two, such as the “heavens declare the glory of God” or said another way the “firmament showeth forth his handywork.” Ps 19:1 It is impossible to
pass comments upon that which we have not seen. (Is 64:4, 1 Cor 2:9) eye hath not seen nor has ear heard it, but
The Spirit has revealed it, by inspiration to the prophet John. Blessed be the
prophet John (the Revelator) because his eyes have been privileged to see. If
it had not been for this intervention of John and the Holy Spirit to try and
capture on paper what John saw, there would be very little record anywhere in scripture
of 3rd Heaven.
Beyond
revelation man has not been granted the opportunity to see beyond the
firmament. Having established this let us now turn to
THE FIRMAMANET
GEN 1:1 here
the bible is stating what God did, and then the rest of the chapter is devoted to
telling us How He did it. One person says that this is similar to the titling of a news
item in a newspaper.
Picture
a news item in a newspaper or magazine.
What the title does is tell you what happened, you then read the body of
the article to get how it happened. This is the same thing that Gen1:1 does for the first chapter
of Genesis.
Is
this clear?
The
heaven made mention of in verse one is the heaven that God made on day 2. It is
referred to here in the singular because it is only one entity at this point.
It does not become 2 compartments until the ending of day 5.
Although
heaven is being referred to for the second time, the mention on day 2 qualifies
the use of the word in verse 1.
Now
that we understand this definition of Heaven, we now understand what the 4th
commandment is talking about when it says in 6 days the Lord made Heaven
(singular) and Earth. Ex 20:8-11.
Ex 20:11 For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. (deut 4:19)
It
therefore follows that we also have a clearer understanding of what will be
destroyed when Jesus comes the third time.
What will be destroyed!
Matth
24:35
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
2 peter 3:10-12
3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night; in the which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt
with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up.
3:11 [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall
be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy
conversation and godliness,
3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the
day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat?
We
should have a clear understanding of why heaven here is pluralized……By extension
we can also understand what will be re-created. Let us turn to Rev
21:1,2 to make
this even clearer.
What will be re-created!
Rev
21:1-2
21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband.
Notice
how all three heavens are made mention of here in these two verses. The first
and second compartment of heaven are destroyed and then recreated; after which
time New Jerusalem comes down from the 3rd heaven, properly adorned.
Lets
Recap
The
Heaven spoken of in Gen 1:1
is later described as the Firmament in verse 8. This is the space that is later
divided into heaven 1& 2.
Since
the 3rd heaven is not governed by time, the fact that an element associated
with time (beginning) is used in the
introductory verses suggests that this was the start of time. Based on this we cannot
say that at the beginning the 3rd heaven was NOT created with the
Earth; because time is not associated with it.
It
is not a debate whether or not God created the 3rd heaven. We know that God
created everything, but after we put verse 1 in context we understand that the 3rd
heaven is not being spoken of in verse 1.
Step
2 - applications
Now that we have cleared up the interpretation of
what was made on day 2, we can now go on to make applications. Let us look at our text of study again.
Gen 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in
the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
1:7
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.
1:8
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning
were the second day.
From a glance
There seems to be nothing spectacular about this
day. But as bible students we always have questions.
Why are there three
heavens and why are they mentioned in singular although there are three parts?
Application 1
Although
context does not support this, we can use heaven to represent the triune God. Since
the term heaven is used to refer to three separate and distinct compartments. I
will further develop this at another time.
Application 2
The truth that is being taught on this day is so
important that God singles it out as the lone act for the day, so that we can
clearly see it. He does not want there to be any confusion on this matter, so
this is the only thing that was done on this day.
What was done? The water was divided.
It took me a mighty long time to realize that this
was the significance in this day. At first I thought it was the water but the
scripture plainly tells us what water is in (rev 17:15)
So I started to ask the
scriptures questions.
What kind of people
were these?
What is the
significance of the people that God would want to divide them?
But then I asked the right question which was: Why was it important to divide the waters from
the waters? (which being interpreted would mean, why was it important for God
to separate a people from the rest of the people?)
And then is when I got my answer. The answer is
found in Gen 3:15. What was the
reason that God put enmity between the seeds?
Why separate/divide?
There
has to be a dividing golf between His seed and the other seeds.
Pre-sin
this was setting the stage for the new being that He was going to create. There
would be no being like the being that was going to be created. This being was
going to have a special designation of Sons of God.
Post-sin
we understand a different need for the dividing golf. In His Omniscience He
could not allow those beings that were to be redeemed to be totally joined to
those who would reject redemption, so God had to put a diving golf (enmity)
between that which would be righteous and that which would be unrighteous. All
components that were going to deal with sin had to be separated from those that
were going to remain spotless/sinfree.
In
other words if you know you are going to handle something unclean requiring
gloves, common sense tells us that after the gloves have been used we do not
put them back with the clean ones, especially if they have been contaminated.
You would keep dirty and used gloves separate and apart from unused/clean
gloves.
Psalm 4; 4:3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him
that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him (the holy
belong unto the Lord e.g. Sabbath, priests, children of Israel)
We know that water was not called into being
during any part of the 7 day creation week, so it must have come from 3rd
heaven. The waters from heaven were stopped and a portion left to complete
another aspect of the creation of the Earth. (Eze 47:1-9)
The lesson of separation
done on day 2, i.e. the dividing of the water, further strengthens the lesson
of separation that was done on day 1; God divided the light from the darkness. This
point will be further developed in my next study, which is creation day 3.
In
the same way that light and darkness should not have had any communion on day
1, so too the water is separated from the water on day 2, by the firmament. With
the firmament as the divider these two waters would not be joined together. The firmament acts as the
divisor of the waters. It gives the impression that one water is common and the
other is not, although not expressly mentioned. It seems that some stay in the
3rd heaven and some water stay to be a part of the creation of the Earth.
If
we are to make an application, we can say that the firmament is a type of
Christ standing in the gap, between the waters, which would represent different
beings, probably those that are in heaven and those that are in Earth.
A text in revelation
can solidify this point. We know that the devil made confusion in heaven before
he did on Earth, so it follows that anything that is to be cleared up would
have to be cleared up in heaven before it is cleared up on Earth. Let us turn to, Rev 12:12 Rejoice ye heavens
and ye that dwell in them; but woe unto you that dwell on the Earth.
This verse lets us know that there are two sets
of beings, (Sons and Stars job 38:7). There were two places that Christ has
reconciled back to God, namely the heaven and the Earth. He had to reconcile
the beings that lived in the heavens before he could reconcile the earthlings
to Himself. These heavens are not to be confused with the place that God
dwells. These heavens of the heavenly beings instead represent other places of
abode containing planet and stars, similar to our universe, except sin is not
there.
Eph 3:14-15
Appeal
God
has once again re-iterated the point that there are two distinct roads, and He
has given us the opportunity to be numbered with either His family, i.e. the
family of the living or the family of the dead. The choice is ours, which one
will you choose today?
Deut 30:19
I
call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before
you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou
and thy seed may live:
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