My personal view of Hebrew cosmology

[gbrooks9 (George Brooks)]

@Reggie_O_Donoghue:

There is nothing about this text from Job that suggests the firmament is some loosey-goosey layer of foam in the sky:

Job 37:14
"Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.

Job 37:15-16
Do you know how God lays his command upon the clouds, and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine? Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge?

Job 37:17-18
You whose garments get very hot when the earth is still because of the South Wind? Can you, like him, spread out the skies, firm as a molten mirror?

Here Job is reminded of feeling the heat badly just from the South Wind, while God himself poured the entire sky like it was a giant mirror made of molten metal. If the firmament was just a layer of clouds, this would be completely unintelligible. - George

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Here we go around again … this is the 3rd time I have had to paste a new copy of this list … because you continue to move your objections to a new thread:

To Summarize Once again … in our new Thread Location:

The Ten Talking Points Regarding the Biblical Firmament

@gbrooks9

The Ten Talking Points Regarding the Biblical Firmament:
1] - In The Beginning, the Waters of chaos are multiple and in disorder;

2] - God organizes the waters, and divides them into two bodies (one above and one below the Firmament);

3] - the Bible compares the Firmament to a jewel like substance that God melted into molten form to pour out as a strong and rigid plane, like an ancient method for making bronze mirrors;

4] - God gathers together the Waters below to reveal the land underneath (one might liken this to an Underworld Firmament);

5] - in the Firmament are Windows/Doors/apertures of some or many kind;

6] - Stars, described as the Host, are angelic “soldiers” of God’s Army of Heaven and thus intelligent;

7] - These Stars are associated with the apertures in the Firmament - - Judges describes them helping the Lord fight against the enemies of the Hebrew by causing a river to flood;

8] - Some Creationists liken the waters above the Firmament to water in the form of vapor, but this interpretation does not support the need for the Biblical description of doors/windows, which would not be needed if these Waters existed simply as vapor;

9] - Clouds, unlike stars, do not appear to have intelligence or life, but are part of the rain delivery system;

10] - the regulated apertures either release the waters directly onto land and/or they fill Clouds as virtual “water skins”.

Like water “skins”, clouds expand but do not burst from the weight of the water, but release the water where directed, whereupon clouds (like water skins as they empty) contract in size - - some eventually vanish to reappear later).

Caveats to the Ten Point List:

1. Do not use the term “dome” to describe the top of the Earth; it’s an artistic preference, not a Biblical description.

2. Better to avoid the term “vault” as well; since there is a tendency to equate “Vault” to “Dome” or at least “Arches”.

3. Avoid the use of the term “Ocean” or “Sea” in reference to the Waters above the firmament. One might benefit by temporarily comparing these waters to an Ocean, but don’t insist that this is the form the waters take. The Bible is not clear on what form these waters in the sky take - - probably because they couldn’t agree amongst themselves on this point either.

Frankly, considering the diverse nature of the elements described above, the Biblical scribes present a surprisingly coherent and expansive view of a (fictional) global watering system, - - a consistency which might have been impossible to sustain because of the casual nature of some of the references, scattered within multiple contexts, in multiple books having very different events to discuss!

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