In this article, I hope to show how the devil specifically attacks our belief in the reality of a physical firmament as described in the Bible, which Scripture says is the actual location of God’s throne.
Satan seeks to remove God’s throne from our imagination and replace it with the infinite and hostile vacuum of “outer space.”
The firmament is one of the most important parts of God’s creation. He spent the entire second day fashioning this enormous structure which spans the breadth of the entire earth up to an unknown height. It contains the heavenly bodies – the sun, moon, and stars, above which sits God’s throne. It is impossible for us to even conceive of its size and strength! I have written quite a bit about the firmament in previous articles; so, in this one I will focus on just a few things.
First, the Bible tells us that the firmament (Hebrew raqia) is a solid, crystalline dome-like structure which extends to the ends of the earth and is anchored to the waters upon which the earth is founded.
Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. 3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind, Psalm 104:2–3 (NKJV)
Due to the brevity of this series, I will not attempt to give much scriptural support to my assertions. If you wish to go through virtually all the verses in the Bible that pertain to this topic, I recommend a YouTube series by Brandon Ezzo on the firmament. Here is a link to a brief overview and below is the first in his twelve-part series.
Sadly, the Genesis account has been so thoroughly discredited by the speculations and claims of modern astrophysics that embarrassed Bible commentators and preachers often opt to accommodate their error through eisegesis instead of confronting it.
As a result, very few modern versions of the Bible even use the word “firmament” to describe this vast creation of God and few Christians even believe it really exists. Ambiguous words such as “sky” and “expanse” are usually preferred by translators because they fit the globe earth – heliocentric paradigm, but communicate nothing of the actual characteristics of the firmament.
The Bible makes it clear, however, that this vaulted ceiling over the earth actually exists and is, as Job said, “strong as a molten looking glass.” (Job 37:18) Within this rather mysterious structure God placed the sun, moon, and stars – all that we observe in the heavens. In biblical cosmology, the so-called “planets” or “wanderers” are simply stars.
(It is well-documented that NASA routinely uses CGI to make heavenly bodies appear different from how they actually appear. The video below is a very brief introduction to stars from the perspective of biblical cosmology. I have put other videos on my Resource page, if you are interested in doing more exploration. Note that Google feels the need to post a disclaimer on such videos. Such mild censorship is increased by demoting good “flat earth” content in the algorithm. The casual researcher will only see hostile content.)
The firmament separates the waters above from those below.
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. Genesis 1:7 (NKJV)
King David affirmed that these waters above the firmament are still there. They did not vanish during the Genesis flood as stated in the so-called “canopy theory.”
Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! Psalm 148:4 (NASB95)
According to the Bible, God’s sapphire colored throne sits atop the crystalline firmament.
Those who believe the heliocentric deception will find the previous assertion to be preposterous. How can God’s throne be located anywhere in a physical sense? Surely he fills all creation and is not seated in any particular location! It is easy to understand why people would think that way, especially when we are convinced that the biblical dome-like firmament does not exist.
However, the Bible tells us that God created both the heaven and the earth as real places. The realm in which we live is always presented as a multi-tiered system consisting of three heavens, the earth, Sheol, and the great deep. It also tells us that God sits enthroned above the earth and stars atop the firmament.
It is He who sits above the circle [as inscribed by a compass, not a sphere or ball] of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. Isaiah 40:22 (NASB95) Thus says the LORD, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? Isaiah 66:1 (NASB95)
The Bible also says that the heavens have a boundary (Psalm 19:6), just as does the earth. The “ends” of the circular stationary plane earth are created by the firmament, which is anchored or founded upon the waters.
The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded [established, fixed] His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth, The LORD is His name. Amos 9:6 (NASB95)
The Bible says the earth is like an inscribed circle having ends or boundaries.
When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep, 29 When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth, Proverbs 8:27–29 (NKJV)
Imagine how strong must be the foundations of the earth to support a structure of such magnitude! The limit for the seas, therefore, is a massive ice wall the rings the earth. This means that the so-called continent of Antarctica is not real. At one time this seemed to be common knowledge, but today not so much.
Since it is off-limits to private exploration, we cannot prove it so, but must simply accept God’s Word. This would make what we call Antarctica a wall of ice that contains the oceans. Below is what is called the Gleason’s map from 1892, which is a fair description of the stationary plane earth upon which we live.
It is more than interesting that several “global” agencies use this very map as part of their logos.
The map used by cable companies in 1951, before NASA started its propaganda campaign in earnest, is shown in the photo below.
This agrees with a 1945 air map.
While it is true that God cannot be contained in any ultimate sense, it is also correct that he can and does locate himself in a physical place. After all, he also located his presence in the Ark of the Covenant for a period of time and he dwells inside every born-again believer for all eternity (John 14:17-18). It should not be surprising, therefore, that the Bible says that God locates himself atop the firmament above the stars (Isaiah 14:13).
Ezekiel describes God’s throne atop the firmament, which God allowed him to see!
The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads...25 A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings. 26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. Ezekiel 1:22–28 (NKJV)
We see here that the firmament acts as a boundary that separates the third heaven from that which is below.
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. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—4 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 (NKJV)
Until we come to believe that God’s Word is literally true, except where it explicitly allows us to take it figuratively, we will suppose that Ezekiel, John the Revelator, Isaiah, Moses, and Paul all saw an imaginary place that has no actual, physical counterpart. If so, then to where did Jesus’ physical resurrected body ascend? And where does Jesus in his resurrected body now sit at God’s right hand? If heaven is merely a spiritual place and has no physical reality, then all the hints God gives us about his being right above us looking down are false.
The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Psalm 14:2 (NKJV)
If the firmament does not exist, the second coming of Christ cannot take place as the Bible says it will. How will the heavens split open revealing the glorious Son of Man to the entire earth at once? If Genesis cannot be taken as a true account of creation, then why believe any of the Bible?
By deceiving us into eliminating the actual physical firmament from our thinking, Satan to some degree has removed God’s throne from our imagination.
By so doing, he eliminated our ability to look up and realize that God is very near, right above us looking down upon us. It removes any meaning to the terms “above” and “below.” It takes away some of the significance of Jesus’ physical ascension and enthronement in heaven.
By deceiving the world into accepting his false cosmology, Satan has detracted from God’s glory revealed in his creation.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth. Psalm 57:5 (NKJV)
Is it any wonder that today so many feel alone and hopeless? Does not Satan’s false cosmology contribute to people concluding that God does not exist? It is time for the church to arise and reaffirm our faith in the absolute reliability of God’s Word in all matters, including creation and cosmology. That will be the topic for my final article in this series, entitled Days of Elijah.
