DAY 2: READJUSTMENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE

DAY 2: READJUSTMENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus 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. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.  (Genesis 1:6-8).

The Hebrew word for “firmament” speaks of something spread out, as in the visible arch of the sky. It is the pure and transparent expanse that envelops the globe. God placed a firmament (expanse) between the water that remained on the earth and the water that now rose above the expanse; separating the sea from the clouds. The chaotic earth either had no atmosphere or it was not adapted to the formation of clouds. The “firmament” not only includes the lower heavens, or atmospheric sky, with its clouds and vapors, but the whole visible expanse up to the region of the stars.