The Scriptural Universe Model

The Scriptural Universe Model (The “S.U.M.”) = One Earth + Two Crystalline Constructs + Three Heavens

By David V. Bassett --© 2011

 

The following commentary constitutes only the foundation of a scriptural cosmogony exegetically derived from the Holy Bible, with the underlying bedrock presuppositions being: (1) the Holy Bible is the only inerrant, preserved Word of God via verbal, plenary inspiration from the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead; (2) all Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16); (3) no Scripture is of any private interpretation (2 Pet. 1:20; Mt. 18:16); (4) the eternal Creator God not only divinely inspired but, through either direct inscription Himself or oral dictation to Adam, was the personal Author of Genesis 1:1-2:4a, the first of eleven toledoth colophons (generational, eye-witness, written historical accounts ending with the phrase, “These are the generations of …”) that comprise the Book of Genesis as compiled and edited by Moses1.

This author also further assumes that God personally wrote or dictated His original account of Genesis 1:1-2:4a in antediluvian paleo-Hebrew, that He would have been absolutely precise in the grammar and syntax of that pure language (Zeph. 3:9) employed, and that words close in meaning are not to be assumed as synonyms (e.g., “the waters” and “the deep”/ “created”, “made”, and “formed”/‘Earth’ and ‘earth’) unless the textual record specifically defines them to be such (e.g., as in Gen. 1:8 and Gen. 1:10).  It is my prayer that this Biblically-based scientific model of the origin of ‘the heavens and the Earth’ has rightly divided the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15) and will bring honor and glory to their—and my—Creator. 

[Note: The symbol H# will denote the reference number of the Hebrew word as indexed in The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible2 and its relevant language dictionary listing.]

---Genesis 1:1-10/KJV---

DAY 1 of Creation Week

 Gen. 1:1—In the beginning [Concurrently with the absolute instant time began] God [the eternal, Self-Existent One Who is the Ultimate Reality and First Cause] created [H#1254—bara’ (i.e., commanded into being ex nihilo, out of nothing)] the heaven[s] [H#8064—shamayim = “lofty” + “waters”/ “there, waters”/ “fire” + “waters”3àa universal, superheated water plasma4 (?)] and the [liquid-water] earth [H#776—‘erets = the planet Earth (Gen. 1:25a) as opposed to the ground (H#127—‘adamah = earth, as in Gen. 1:25b)].

 

 

Gen. 1:2—And the [liquid-water] earth was without [definite/structured] form and void[devoid/empty of feature and creature]; and darkness [which God created (Gen. 45:7), since “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 Jn. 1:5b)] was upon the face of the deep [over the demarcation boundary between two separate water phases: (encompassing) heaven and (encompassed) Earth; i.e., above the event horizon of the liquid-water mass]. 

 

 

And the Spirit of God moved [H#7363—rachaph = to brood, hover, flutter, shake.  Note: This Gen. 1:3 divine action of imposing orderly, vibratory motion upon all waters evidently resulted in the origin of all electromagnetic spectral phenomena (“light”) and the induced domain-alignment of all the liquid-water molecules of “the deep” to produce Earth’s gravitational and electromagnetic fields5.] upon the face of the waters [(H#4325—mayim = waters). The Holy Spirit “moved” above the blackened (Isa. 50:3), water-plasma heaven—that encompassed and therefore included the liquid-water molecules of “the deep” (the ‘embryonic Earth’)—thereby generating an electromagnetic field around a gravitationally-spherical6, all-water world (Job 26:10; Prov. 8:27b)].

 

 

Gen. 1:3-5—And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light [which God formed (Isa. 45:7)].  And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided [H#914—badal = to divide, separate, distinguish between] the light from the darkness.  And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.  And the evening and the morning were the first day [Literally, “Day One”.  Note: Was the Earth rotating here?  Job 38:12, 14a and the word ‘formed’ in Ps. 90:2àH#2342—“chuwl/chiyl = to twist or whirl (in a circular or spiral manner)” would seem to indicate that it was spinning on an axis.]

 

 

DAY 2 of Creation Week

Gen. 1:6—And God said, “Let there be a firmament [H#7549—raqiya = an expanse] in the midst of the waters [of the universal water plasma], and let it divide the waters from the waters” [as ethereal ‘space fabric’7 (of cosmic dimensions) internally between plasma “waters” (spherically-bounded?) beyond and below (with both divisions concentric with “the deep”, i.e., the all liquid-water Earth)].

Gen. 1:7—And God made the firmament [the cosmic ‘expanse’ (i.e., only the ‘space fabric’8 of the celestial sphere)] and divided [in a manner akin to the pulling downward of the lower end of a rolled-up scroll while keeping the upper end fixed in position as the scroll fabric is spread to the desired length (underlined for emphasis)]  the waters which were under the firmament [only that water plasma enveloping “the deep” (Earth) as a concentric spheroidal region] from the waters which were above the firmament [Note: This ‘firmament’ was “made” (H#6213—‘asah) by stretching,9 while its source material—pre-existent universal ‘water’, now below and above (as water plasma?)—was “created” (H#1254—bara’) ex nihilo by God’s command (Ps. 148:4b-5)]; and it was so. 

 

 

Gen. 1:8—And God called the firmament [the cosmic ‘expanse’ of stretched-out ‘space fabric’] Heaven [i.e., ‘second heaven’ in relation to the “third heaven” of 2 Cor. 12:2].  And the evening and the morning were the second [literal solar] day. [Note: In the Hebrew there is no singular use of the word ‘heaven’.  The Hebrew word shamayim (as used in Gen. 1:1) is always in a dual form with an –im plural ending.  However, the context demands that the English translation in this case refer to a singular entity.]

 

DAY 3 of Creation Week

 

 

Gen. 1:9—And God said, [1] “Let the waters [of the water plasma] under the heaven [theGen. 1:8 designation for the cosmic expanse resulting from the stretched water plasma (as the “waters” under were spread away from “waters” above)] be gathered together [H#6960—qavah = to bind together (perhaps by twisting); possibly involving a torque force in the fusion-conversion of the water plasma into a denser substance]unto one place [Note: This process may have electro-gravitically10 lifted the “waters under the heaven” from over Earth’s liquid-water surface (“the face of the deep”) upward as a spherical layer to up under and immediately adjacent to ‘second heaven’ at an unspecified elevation above Earth.11] 

 

 

and [2] let the dry land [H#3004—yabbashah = dry ground; i.e., solid earth of rock, soil, etc.] appear” [instantaneously via liquid-water nucleosynthesis13 into other terrestrial matter]; and it was so.    

 

 

[Note:  Below this outermost rocky shell of Earth that geologists refer to as the ‘crust’ (H#127—‘adamah = earth), which He was making (Jonah 1:9) and forming (H#3335—yatsar = to press or squeeze into shape; to mold or determine form, as a potter—Ps. 95:5b), God was also laying its underlying foundations (e.g., the ‘mantle’ = “the foundation of the earth” and ‘inner core’ = “sheol”/”hades”) and preparing/strengthening its deeps (e.g., “the deep” of Gen. 8:2; Ps. 104:6 and the liquid ‘outer core’ = “the great deep” of Gen. 7:11)12; see also Job 38:4-6; Ps. 24:1-2; Ps. 136:6; Prov. 8:28b.]

[Note: The vacated expanse (or “open firmament” of Gen. 1:20/KJV) resulting from the “waters under the heaven” being gathered/bound/twisted? together, (again, possibly by ‘falling upward’ via electro-gravitic attraction into a gravity well produced by the overarching and more energetic electromagnetic field14 of Day One) produced “the face of the firmament of the heavens” (Gen. 1:20/NKJV). The ‘levitation’ (or lifting) and ‘congealment’ (or fusion) of the lower plasma “waters” into this solid, potentially electrically-conductive construct would have resulted in not only the origin of Earth’s atmospheric space (i.e., the Gen. 1:20/KJV “open firmament” or ‘first heaven’ in relation to the “third heaven” of 2 Cor. 12:2), but also its separation from “the firmament of the heavens” itself (Gen. 1:14, 15, 17) or ‘second heaven’.]

Gen. 1:10—And God called the dry land Earth [H#776—‘erets, the same word used in Gen. 1:1 when the world was an “unformed” (Gen. 1:2), all liquid-water mass, i.e., an ‘embryonic Earth’; see Ps. 139:16] and the gathering [H#4723—miqve(h) = a collection or accumulation (as of water in a pond or pool).  Note: This is not the same type of gathering (cp. H#6960—qavah)or even the same “waters” referred to in the preceding verse (Gen. 1:9) as is so often assumed when reading the English translation of these verses.] together of the waters [i.e., the liquid waters of “the deep” (Gen. 1:2); those remaining after God’s calling of nucleosynthesized solids to “appear” (as God made, formed, and established Earth’s structural geology)] He called Seas [H#3220—yam = to roar; a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water collectivelycomprising the Earth’ssurface oceans as distinguished from its interior ‘depths’àH#8415—tehom =  an abyss (as a surging mass of water), especially the deep (the main sea or the subterranean water supply); see Job 28:14; 38:16; Ps. 33:7)].  And God saw that it was good.

 

---The Five Firmaments---

 

It is clear from the above passage (Gen. 1:1-10) that the principal purpose of the Genesis 1:6-8 firmament was to act as a divider in the midst of the Day-One “waters” (mayim) of the Gen. 1:1 shamayim (“fire in the waters” as literally translated by some rabbis and Hebrew scholars, with a possible scientific explanation being that of a superheated water plasma).15  What is not so apparent without an exhaustive search of the Scriptures is that there were actually five firmaments in place by the time the events of Genesis 1:10 were completed.  In fact, a detailed study of the 17 Old Testament occurrences of the Hebrew term raqiya [H#7549], translated as ‘firmament’ and also transliterated as raqia, can refer to either (1) a ‘heaven’—a stretched-out expanse (or space)—of ethereal, plasmic, and/or gaseous composition with very low density and relatively great areal extent and/or volume, or(2) a “face”—a bound-together solid (or surface)—[restricted to the upper (Job 26:9a) and lower (Gen. 1:20) exterior surfaces] of the firmament that God called ‘Heaven’ (i.e., the outer-space realm of ‘2nd heaven’) on Day Two of Creation Week.  [Note: This lower “face” existed only during the antediluvian time frame.  Its collapse was synchronous with the Flood-onset events of Genesis 7:11.16  Today, our meteorologists tell us that 1st heaven (Earth’s atmosphere) and 2nd heaven (the celestial sphere) merge together at an indefinite interface above the thermopause/exopause atmospheric boundary (top of the thermosphere/bottom of the exosphere) from about 480 km-500 km (288 mi.-300 mi.) above Earth’s surface to far outward of 600 km (372 mi.), perhaps beyond 1,000 km (600+ mi.).]

This latter example of a raqiya is a transparent ‘ice’ of vitreous, crystalline, and/or metallic [from H#7554—raqa’ = to pound, expand (by hammering), overlay with thin sheets of metal] composition with comparatively higher density and presumably lower volume as a spread-out (relatively thin) layer or construct (Job 37:18 and Ezek. 1:22).  There is, therefore, no Biblical example of a liquid-water raqiya (firmament), only liquid-water “deeps” (depths).  Thus, Genesis 1 differentiates between Day-One “waters” destined to be around/above/over the Earth in some capacity versus the Day-One “deep”—the liquid-water ‘embryonic Earth’—destined to be divinely re-organized into all its terrestrial structure and subterranean components.

This then begs the question of why God would call a divider of the Day-One “waters” a raqiya (firmament) in Genesis 1:6, only to rename it a shamayim (Gen. 1:8) on the same day (Day Two)?  I propose that it was for the purpose of allowing mankind to distinguish this firmament from its upper and lower firmament boundaries (solid surfaces) which would continue to act as dividers between this heaven and the heavens God would derive and establish (Prov. 3:19) from “waters” above and below it [as 3rd Heaven (2 Cor. 12:2) and 1st heaven, respectively].  These “face” dividers between the 2nd and 3rd heavens above (“the face of His throne”—Job 26:9a) and 2nd and 1st heavens below (“the face of the firmament of the heavens”—Gen. 1:20) were founded as definite barriers by the end of Day Three and not as indefinite transitional zones.

In summary, the five firmaments (raqiyas) from the Earth’s surface upward would be:

·        1st heaven (àEarth’s atmosphere)17

 

“…and fowl [H#5775—‘owph = flying creature, winged flyer] that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” (Gen. 1:20/KJV)

 

·        The ‘terrestrial face’ (àEarth’s pre-Flood ‘exopausal expanse’)

 

“across the face of the firmament of the heavens” (Gen. 1:20/NKJV); “on the face of the expanse [raqiya] of the heavens” (Gen. 1:20/TIB = The Interlinear Bible);

“…He has founded His firmament on the earth…” (Amos 9:6b/TIB); “The One who…has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, ….” (Amos 9:6b/NASB)

         Note:  Instead of raqiya, this latter verse uses the word ’aguddah [H#92—that bound (as a band, bundle, knot, or arch); bunch, burden, troop (as that gathered/bound together as one unit)] which conveys the same meaning as the Genesis 1:9 rendering of “gathered together [H#6960—qavah = bind together (perhaps by twisting)] unto one place” [H#259 + H#4725—’echad megomah = certain locality, specific spot, or united state].   This “one place” of Genesis 1:9 is one of the few direct references to the transparent, crystalline ‘exopausal expanse’ whose collapse by the “fountains of the great deep” allowed the “windows of heaven” to be opened18 (Gen. 7:11) 1,656 years after its Day-Three founding, according to the tight chronological record of Genesis 5.

“Can you beat out the expanse [H#7834—shachaq (also translated ‘sky’/’skies’) = a powder (as beaten small, like dust); thin vapor or clouds; by extension, the firmament (or heaven)] with Him, hard like a cast [metal] mirror?” (Job 37:18/TIB); “Hast thou with Him spread out the sky, which is strong, as a molten looking glass?” (Job 37:18/KJV); “With Him, have you spread out the skies, Strong as a heavy/cast metal mirror?” (NKJV)

·        2nd heaven (àthe celestial sphere = the realm of outer space)

“And God called the firmament Heaven.” [Gen. 1:8a/(N)KJV]; “And God called the expanse [raqiya] Heavens.” (Gen. 1:8a/TIB);

“The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” (Ps. 19:1; see also Gen. 1:6, 7, 14, 15, 17 and Dan. 12:3)

 

 

·        The ‘celestial face’ (àHeaven’s ‘thronal expanse’, the dais of Divinity)

“He holdeth back the face of His throne, and spreadeth His [Shekinah glory] cloud upon it.” (Job 26:9/KJV; see also Rev. 4:6 and Rev. 15:2 with their descriptions of the ‘celestial face’/ the ‘thronal expanse’ being similar to a sea of glass, sheet of crystal, etc.);

“The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures [i.e., the cherubim of Ezek. 10:1, not the “living creatures” of Rev. 4:6] was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out [referring to areal extent (of a solid ‘face’), not decreased density (of a ‘heaven’ or ‘space’)] over their heads.” (Ezek. 1:22/NKJV);

 “And above the firmament that was over their heads [the heads of the cherubim] was the likeness of a throne, like the appearance of a sapphire stone; …” (Ezek. 1:26a);

 “Then I looked, and behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim there appeared as it were, a sapphire stone, like the appearance of the likeness of a throne.” (Ezek. 10:1/KJV; see also Exod. 24:10 and Ezek. 1:23 & 1:25)

 Note:  Did you notice that the sapphire-like throne of Ezekiel 1:10 was set “in” not just on this spread-out, “glassy sea” (Rev. 4:6; 15:2) of celestial crystal?19  Obviously this firmament, like ‘the exopausal expanse’, is a spread-out, solid ‘face’ [definition-(2)] raqiya,not a stretched-out, spacey ‘heaven’ [definition-(1)] raqiya.  It also goes without saying that there are no angelic hosts or redeemed saints encased in this ‘thronal expanse’; the cherubim are stationed below it (Ezek. 1: 22, 23, 25, 26 and Ezek. 10:1) and the twenty-four elders, four “living creatures”, and redeemed saints are always found upon it (Rev. 4:2ff and Rev. 15:2).  This second point is only mentioned in order to bring your attention to the Psalm 150:1 prepositional phrases, the key to associating our fifth (and last) firmament with this seventeenth (and last) Old Testament reference to raqiya.

•         3rd Heaven (à2 Cor. 12:2/“paradise”--2 Cor. 12:4)/God’s throne room20

 “Praise ye the LORD.  Praise God in His sanctuary;

praise Him in the firmament of His power.” (Ps. 150:1/KJV);

 

“Praise the LORD!  Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!” (Ps. 150:1/NKJV);

 

“Praise Jehovah!  Praise God in His holy place;

Praise Him in the expanse [raqiya] of His might.” (Ps. 150:1/TIB)

 

Note:  Did you see it?  The Psalmist is calling for God’s worshippers to praise Him in His sanctuary, in His holy place, in His firmament!  This is not a firmamental ‘face’ but a firmamental ‘heaven’.   Not just any heaven, but the capital-H ‘Heaven’.  Not just any firmament, but the firmament “of His power”, “of His might”, “His mighty firmament!” 

Thus, the Biblical Universe which we know as our orderly cosmos was originally structured21 (from Creation’s Day Three to the beginning of the Flood Year) as follows:

3rd Heaven (The mighty firmament of God’s power)

_______________________________________________________________________

The Firmamental Face of the The Thronal Expanse (crystalline expanse under God’s throne)

 

2nd heaven (The firmament of the heavens)

_______________________________________________________________________

The Firmamental Face of The Exopausal Expanse (crystalline expanse shielding God’s Earth)

 

Earth

[The “foundations of heaven” (2 Sam. 22:8)/God’s “footstool” (Isa. 66:1)]

 

 

 

References and Annotations

[The aforementioned model is a summary of the author’s own conclusions regarding the Biblical text of Genesis 1:1-10 after extensive personal investigation of relevant Scriptural verses and Hebrew word studies.  Scholarly titles listed are acknowledged as respected resources of knowledge and conceptual inspiration and are therefore highly recommended to the reader interested in quality research from professional perspectives.  It is to be noted that the following works represent a variety of competing Young-Earth Creationist (YEC) models, submodels, and views dealing with diverse opinions and aspects of Biblical cosmogonic study representing both classical and relativistic philosophical foundations.            -----David V. Bassett, M.S.]

1Henry M. Morris. The Genesis Record, Creation-Life Publishers: San Diego, CA; 1976, pp. 26-30. [See also P. J. Wiseman, New Discoveries in Babylon about Genesis, Marshall, Morgan and Scott: London, 1936, 716p.]

2James Strong. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, TN; 1984.

3Ronnie Martin.  Ten Amazing Secrets You Never Knew In The Very First Verse Of The Bible, Elliot Press: Hurst, TX; 2002, p. 11 of 18p. [This booklet provides an “exact literal translation” of the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:1.  See also Dr. Walt Brown’s In The Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood, Center for Scientific Creation: Phoenix, AZ; 2008, 8th ed., “Something to Think About: ‘Fire in Waters’.” On p. 374 (of 448p.), “One of the most famous and revered Hebrew scholars of all time, Rabbi Solomon Yitzchaki (A.D. 1040-1105) of France” is said to have drawn attention to the fact—in his eleventh century Rashi Commentary—“that with different vowel points the original Hebrew word we now think of as meaning ‘heaven’ [shamayim] …would mean ‘fire in waters.’ ”]

4Edward A. Boudreaux and Eric C. Baxter.  God Created The Earth: Genesis of Creation Chemistry, Central Ohio Creation Research Association: Canal Winchester, OH; 2009, pp. 9-10 of 94p. [Contrary to my understanding that “the deep” was liquid water and “the waters” could be a superheated water plasma, Boudreaux and Baxter propose that the Genesis 1:2 “waters”—equated with “the deep”—were created as liquid waters and became a “high energy fluid plasma” only after the Holy Spirit moved upon them.]

5Thomas G. Barnes.  Space Medium: The Key to Unified Physics, Geo/Space Research Foundation: El Paso, TX; 1986, Chapter 8—“An Electric Theory of Gravitation”, pp. 89-94 of 170p.]

6Henry M. Morris.  The Genesis Record, 1976, pp. 51-52.

7Thomas G. Barnes.  Space Medium, 1986, 170p. [Classical (Newtonian) physicist Dr. Barnes referred to the ‘space fabric’ as the “Space Medium” and believed it to be an ideal (p. 47), electromagnetic (p. 35), massless and noninertial (pp. 47, 75-76, 81), non-mechanical (pp. 73, 81), reactive (pp. 141, 144) and propagative (pp. 9, 112-113) medium that is in “space” at every location in the universe (pp. 37, 142).  Though it does not contain electric charge (pp. 76, 81), it does provide the mechanism for altering the electric and magnetic fields of a moving charge (p. 29) while it itself consists of elementary electric and magnetic field components (pp. 22, 28, 35, 37).]

8This ‘space fabric’ of created Day-One “waters” was not only stretched out proximally (in terms of radial motion away from “the waters above” and toward the Earth) on Day Two to make the firmament space-volume of the celestial sphere (i.e., ‘second heaven’; see Job 9:8, Ps. 104:2, Isa. 40:22/42:5/44:24/45:12/48:13/51:13, Jer. 10:12/51:15, and Zech. 12:1), it was also spread out laterally (in terms of proper motion) to establish the spherical surface area of its lower and upper firmamental faces (Job 37:18 and Ezek. 1:22, respectively).  The former of these (between 1st and 2nd heavens) was established as the first of the Day-Three activities recorded (Gen. 1:9a); the establishment of the latter (between 2nd and 3rd heavens) is not directly specified in Genesis 1, but would have been on either Day Two or early on Day Three prior to God’s establishment of the Earth’s internal structure (cp. Ps. 104:2-5 with Job 38: 4-7).  In addition, if “the north” of Job 26:7 [see esp. Isa. 14:13 and possibly Ezek. 1:4 also] is associated with the angelic ‘third heaven’ above the celestial sphere (2 Cor. 12:2), then it too was subjected to being “stretched out” as a firmamental ‘space’ rather than “spread out” as a firmamental ‘face’.

9The following quote of D. Russell Humphreys [Starlight and Time: Solving the Puzzle of Distant Starlight in a Young Universe, Master Books: Colorado Springs, CO; 1994, p. 67 of 133p.] is especially helpful in supporting the Biblical notion that the ‘space fabric’ is indeed a material construct in contradistinction to the orthodox, cosmological textbook belief. 

“Generally we think of space as a vacuum, an empty volume.  But how can a nothingness be stretched out as if it were a something, like a tent curtain?  To get a clue, notice how scripture speaks of other things happening to the heavens.  The heavens can be torn (Isaiah 64:1), worn out like a garment (Psalm 102:25) [and Heb. 1:10-11], shaken (Hebrews 12:26, Haggai 2:6, Isaiah 13:13), burnt up (2 Peter 3:12), split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up (Revelation 6:14), and rolled up [or folded up] like a mantle (Heb. 1:12) or a scroll (Isaiah 34:4).  It certainly sounds like space itself is a material of some sort!”

10Even before 1849, the famous creationary scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) strongly believed that a gravity-electricity relationship, which he called “gravelectricity”, existed.  [See online discussion of Faraday’s electrogravity undertakings at the following website: http://www.scribd.com/doc/58504789/Michael-Faraday-s-Electrogravity.]  20th-Century laboratory work demonstrating a link between electricity and gravity is usually traced back to the early 1920’s research of Dr. Alfred Biefeld of Denison University and his physics student Thomas Townsend Brown.  Their demonstration of this electricity-gravity relation has come to be known as ‘the Biefeld-Brown effect’ or ‘Electrogravitic Theory’.   Practical application of this concept has been successfully incorporated into so-called ‘lifter technology’ [visit the links at http://www.americanantigravity.com]. 

11Carl E. Baugh. Panorama of Creation, The Southwest Radio Church: Oklahoma City, OK; 1989, 95p.  On page 46 of this insightful work, Dr. Baugh surmises that this crystalline construct was “approximately eleven miles above the surface [at the current altitude of the equatorial tropopause], because there exists a heat sink at that elevation.  It is between -130 degrees Fahrenheit and -180 degrees Fahrenheit at that elevation.”  [http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/28.htm; bethlechemarchive.20m.com/photo3.html; http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/k13.htm; http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/k75.htm]

12D. Russell Humphreys.  “Is The Earth‘s Core Water? Part One: The Biblical Evidence” in Creation Research Society Quarterly [CRSQ], Vol. 15, Dec. 1978, pp. 141-147.

13D. Russell Humphreys. Starlight and Time, 1994, pp. 72-73, 79.

14Thomas G. Barnes.  Origin and Destiny of the Earth’s Magnetic Field, Institute for Creation Research [ICR]: El Cajon, CA; 1983, 2nd ed., pp. 33-34 of 132p.  [Revised and Expanded Edition of ICR Technical Monograph No. 4.  See also D. Russell Humphreys’ Starlight and Time, 1994, p. 68.]

15See endnotes #3 and #4 above.

16 Carl E. Baugh. Panorama of Creation, 1989, pp. 82, 86.  [The causes of the Flood-initiation events of Gen. 7:11 are strongly alluded to in David’s “Song of Deliverance”, certain verses of which (2 Sam. 22:4-17 and Ps. 18:3-16) seem to echo the LORD’s mighty deliverance of Noah and his family from their antediluvian enemies by His bringing the waters of the Flood (1 Pet. 3:20b).  One of these pre-Genesis 7:11 activities was God’s “bowing” of the heavens (2 Sam. 22:10 and Ps. 18:9) as His judgment descended upon Earth.  Thus, after their being stretched out (the primary meaning of H#5186—natah) on Day Two to make the “firmament” of Gen. 1:6-8, the ‘space fabric’ of second heaven underwent a subsequent tension at the time of the Flood of Noah as indicated by the secondary translation of natah, to bend away or bow (as an arch).  Such divine deliverance is also prophetically invoked by King David in Ps. 144:5 (notice future tense), for Israel’s behalf during the antediluvian-like days of the Great Tribulation (Mt. 24:21-37).]

17First heaven or the Earth’s atmosphere is also referred to as ‘sky’ or ‘skies’ (H#7834—shachaq) when scriptural context demands it as in Deut. 33:26, 2 Sam. 22:12, Ps. 18:11, Ps. 77:17, Isa. 45:8, and Jer. 51:9.

18The latter half of Genesis 7:11 states that “…the same day were all the fountains of the great deep [H#8415—tehom = an abyss (as a surging mass of water)] broken up [H#1234—baqa‘ = to cleave, rend, break, rip, or open (usually violently)] and the windows of heaven were opened.”  Proverbs 3:20 also reiterates this same order between similar if not identical phenomena when it declares that “[b]y knowledge the depths [H#8415—tehom] are broken up [H#1234—baqa‘], and the clouds drop down the dew.”  In Prov. 3:20 the word “clouds” is the Hebrew word shachaq[H#7834], the same term sometimes also translated as ‘powder’, ‘small dust’, ‘thin vapor’, ‘sky’, ‘skies’, ‘heaven’, or by extension, ‘the firmament’.  Keep in mind that before the Flood “the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth” (Gen. 2:5) from clouds, but instead “there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (Gen. 2:6).  Thus, it is very possible that, as Dr. Carl Baugh envisions it [Carl E. Baugh. Panorama of Creation, 1989, p. 82], “when the fountains of the deep were broken up, water …was thrown up against the canopy ripping holes or windows through it.  As the Genesis account describes, the windows of heaven were opened.”

19Interestingly, according to The Interlinear Bible [edited and translated by Jay P. Green, Sr., and published in 1983 by Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, MI] the Hebrew of Psalm 104:3a records that Jehovah God was “laying like beams of His upper rooms in the waters;…” [p. 499, emphasis added].  The “laying of beams” speaks of setting solid supports of horizontal extent (Ezek. 1:22), the “upper rooms” suggests lofty or heavenly chambers (Jn. 14:2), and “in the waters” could very well indicate that the “beams” were being laid (Ps. 93:2; 103:19) in this ‘glassy sea’ (Rev. 4:2, 6; 15:2), the crystalline dais of the Son of Man’s sapphire-like throne (Ezek. 1:25-26; 10:1).

20Not only is God’s throne room equated with “third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2), it is also identified as “the heaven(s) of heavens” (Deut. 10:14, 1 Kings 8:27, 2 Chron. 2:6, 2 Chron. 6:18, Neh. 9:6, Ps. 68:33), in certain contexts as His “holy habitation” (Deut. 26:15, Ps. 150:1, Isa. 63:15a, Jer. 25:30, Zech. 2:13), and “His sanctuary”(Ps. 96:6; 102:19;150:1a).

21 Of course, since the Flood Year’s end the Biblical Universe has been structured as follows:

                3rd Heaven (God’s Throne Room/Holy Habitation/Heavenly Sanctuary)

                  The Thronal Expanse (The crystalline “sea of glass” under/around God’s throne)

2nd heaven (The celestial sphere = Outer space)

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