Creation - Day Two - Expanse/Sky

And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day. ~Genesis 1:6-8

Welcome back to our study on Creation and the Creator. In case you missed the first day of our study you can find it HERE.

Expanse Imagine a time when water surrounded the earth. With the creation of the sky (expanse or firmament) on day two, God separated two distinct bodies of water--one above the sky and one below.

The Hebrew word for expanse in this passage is raqia, and is defined by the Unger Bible Dictionary (Moody Press) as "the pure and transparent expanse of ether which envelops the globe....As used in the record of creation, firmament includes not merely the lower heavens, or atmospheric sky, with its clouds and vapors, but the whole visible expanse up to the region of the fixed stars." (See Genesis 1:14-19) In Job 26:4, Job corroborates this part of creation when he says, "He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight."

"Expanse" means to beat or spread out, which definitely connects with other passages in the Bible where the heavens are said to be "stretched out." (Isaiah 40:22; Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 44:24; Ezekiel 1:22-26; Job 37:18; Jeremiah 10:12; Jeremiah 51:15)

Other translations use the word "heaven" instead of expanse. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for heaven is shamayim and is plural in form (heavens); the Hebrew word for water is very similar--mayim. "Heaven could be described as a partition God made to separate the rain-producing heavenly waters from the rivers, seas and oceans below." (Holman Bible Dictionary) Heaven, of course, is also used to describe the place which serves as the home of God and His heavenly creatures.

A note in my Living Bible uses the term "dome" when referring to the division of the waters. Other study helps used the words "canopy" or "vault." Regardless of which word is used, the Bible is clear that there were waters above the sky and below the sky (Psalm 148:4). A note in a Life Application Bible (Tyndale) says the space between the waters was "a separation between the sea and the mists of the sky."

Many Bible scholars believe that prior to the great flood in Noah's day, the atmosphere beyond the sky was water. (See Genesis 6:11 and Malachi 3:10 where it speaks of the floodgates of heaven.) One commentator suggests that this moment in creation was "the separation of the elements to form planets, atmosphere, and space. This is described as separating the celestial waters from the planetary waters to create a firmament of atmosphere between them." (Layman's Bible Book Commentary, Volume 1, Sherrill G. Stevens) This might explain the length of time people lived during that time (several hundred years), but no one knows for sure. 

Speaking and Naming Worth noting again is that God spoke the sky into being, and that by naming his creation He showed His Lordship and Sovereignty.

Closing Thoughts Regardless of the various beliefs about this second day of creation when the sky was made, this much is true:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." ~Psalm 19:1-4

APPLICATION & QUESTIONS

1. How does the sky serve as testimony to God's existence? (Psalm 19:1-4)

2. What should be our response to this part of creation? (See Psalm 136:3-6)

3. What part did Wisdom play in creation? (See Proverbs 8:27-29)