The Concept of Three Heavens and the Firmament

                “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.
                “Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so.  And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas.  And God saw that it was good.
                “Then God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good.  So the evening and the morning were the third day.
                “Then God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth; and it was so.
                “Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.  He made the stars also.  God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.  So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”
                Genesis 1:6-29
 
The second day of creation sees the creation of “the firmament” to divide the waters above and below.  What is this “firmament”?  It is later described as “the firmament of the heavens” where the sun, moon and stars are fixed.  To understand the firmament, you first need to understand the concept of three heavens.
 
                “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven.  And I know such a man – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows – how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
                2 Corinthians 12:2-4
 
These are the words of Paul and it is widely held that the man to whom Paul is referring is himself, most likely after having been stoned and left for dead outside the city of Lystra (Acts 14:19).  The first heaven would be the atmosphere of the Earth.  The second heaven is outer space.  The third heaven is the realm where God resides.  It is what we commonly think of as Heaven.
 
The concept of three heaven’s is critical in understanding the Genesis creation story.  The third heaven is the eternal realm where God resides.  It existed before the Earth and the universe were created and it will continue to exist when the Earth and the universe are destroyed in the future and replaced with a new heaven (universe) and new Earth.  It is a place that exists beyond our reality.
 
That is what makes the six-day creation possible.  God has the ability to take creative elements from beyond reality and insert them into his new creation.  Our minds cannot conceive the technology of God.  There are manufacturing plants throughout the world that can make things in an afternoon that would seem impossible to people who lived a century ago.  So yes, God can make stars, planets, and all manner of plants and animals over the course of a series of days.
 
On the first day God created the Earth and it was surrounded by water.  He then created light.  But this light was not the sun.  The sun was not created until the fourth day.  So what was the source of this light?  The Bible does not say for certain.  But we do know that it says the sun is not necessary for light.  When John is describing the New Jerusalem in Revelation he says:
 
                “There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.  And they shall reign forever and ever.”
                Revelation 22:5
 
I imagine the source of light in the new creation described in Revelation is the same light that was present at the start of the first creation.  I don’t think that it is a coincidence that God placed the creation of the sun on the fourth day.  Most pagan religions contain an aspect that worships the sun and credits it with the creation of all life on the planet.  God starts creation with a divine light, perhaps the light of his own being.  This appropriately puts the focus of creation on God.
 
On the second day God created the firmament to divide the waters below from the waters above.  A more appropriate interpretation of firmament is expanse.  He created the expanse of outer space to divide the waters.  This left the Earth covered by the waters below.  But what about the waters above?  Some Christians hold to a theory that a canopy of water existed around the Earth and that the collapse of this canopy was at least partly responsible for the Great Flood.  But this theory is problematic in that we are told the sun, moon, and stars are set in the firmament and the firmament divides the waters.  The canopy theory places the celestial bodies on the wrong side of the upper waters.
 
To explain the upper waters, we need to go back to the concept of three heavens.  The only proper explanation for the upper waters is to place them between outer space and the third heaven.  In other words, there is a barrier of water between our mortal world and the eternal realm of Heaven.  It is likely this barrier is in the form of ice.  Consider the following descriptions of Heaven:
 
                “Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal.”
                Revelation 4:6
                “And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.”
                Revelation 15:2
 
The sea of glass John describes in his vision could actually be ice.  The pattern of the Jewish Temple illustrates a barrier separating the mortal world from the eternal realm of God.  It is comprised of the outer court (representing the first heaven), the inner court (representing the second heaven) and the Holy of Holies (representing the third heaven) which is hidden behind a veil (representing the barrier created by the upper waters).
 
On the third day God gathered the waters on earth into a sea and dry land appeared.  As the land is exposed to the light all manner of plants spring forth.  Again I would point to the unknown technological power of God to create genetic programming for rapid growth and environmental conditions to foster that growth.
 
On the fourth day God created the sun, moon, planets and stars.  I know this is completely counter to everything secular cosmic evolution teaches.  As I stated earlier, God ordered it this way to put the focus on him as creator and not the sun or stars.  You may have heard secular evolutionists claim that we are made from stardust.  This stems from their theory that the elements from which the planets, and eventually life on Earth, were created were formed by fusion that occurred in the cores of stars and then spread throughout the universe as stars exploded.
 
In my next post I will address the flaws in the Big Bang Theory and cosmic evolution.
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