I have been fascinated by creation since I was a little girl. The wandering of my mind allowed me to eventually imagine that there “must” be something more, simply because our minds are so tiny in comparison to the vastness of the world we live in, and so, since finding Christ, I have loved to delve into Scripture to see the intricate details that God discloses for us
Today, we are looking at the second day in the creation, and the word that stood out to me was “vault”. Although, in the KJV, the word used is “firmament”, and other translations use the word “expanse”
The Hebrew word for this is “raqiya”, which is used eleven times in the Old Testament. The ancient Hebrews believed that the sky was seen as a solid dome, and the waters above were held above this dome. This is because often “raqa” (verb) is referred to as spreading out, hammered out, or beating a thin layer of metal which aligns with the Scripture found in:
The LORD, who stretches out the heavens
Zechariah 12:1
Or
This is what God the LORD says – the creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth
Isaiah 42:5
However, some commentaries denote that the waters above the sky are a likely reference to the clouds, but honestly, only God knows. In my mind, God doesn’t name the water above the sky, and therefore, we don’t have a claim to it. Also, because the English words for “Sky” and “heaven” and the Hebrew word for “heaven” (shamayim) have multiple meanings, we can not get a precise understanding of raqiya anyway
Either way, in our limited understanding, the whole point is that ultimately, everything should point us to God and Him alone
Father, I thank you for giving us so much knowledge from your Word and the world itself. Father, I pray that people realise that it is not about picking apart the finer details but about the details pointing us to you. Father, I pray today that as we look up, we glorify you and praise you for who you are – Elohim – our creator and that the world we live in, is not our final destination, but only but a glimpse of what is to come
Categories: Genesis
