Category: Biblical Cosmology

The Faith of Einstein

flat earth

Jesus said that the only way to enter God’s kingdom is by having childlike faith.

“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Mark 10:15 (NASB95)

We can only become a child of God and part of the kingdom of God by believing the gospel and confessing that Jesus is Lord. (Romans 10:9-10)

God is looking for and expects his people to have a simple childlike faith that takes him at his word.

The fight for such faith is never ending because the devil is constantly trying to undermine it. One of our greatest fears as adults is connected to looking foolish, which is rooted in pride. Satan takes advantage of this desire to appear wise by telling us that to simply believe God’s words is naive and simple minded. Eve was completely seduced by this lie, and so often we are, too.

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NASB95)

Childlike faith never feels the need to nuance the words of God to make them say something different from what our Lord meant. It simply believes. As adults we often twist God’s words to force them to say what we want instead of what intended. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for practicing this very thing.

Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” 9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. Mark 7:8–9 (NASB95)

We have anti-biblical traditions today that we regard as having more force than the scriptures. One is called heliocentrism, a mere theory that has come to be regarded as a fact that towers over the truth of God’s Word.

Many who call themselves Christians today seem to prefer the faith of Einstein to the simple faith in God’s Word for which God is looking.

Below Einstein describes the God in whom he believed.

I believe in Spinoza’s God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.  Albert Einstein  (24 April 1929 in response to the question of New York’s Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein: “Do you believe in God?)

Obviously, whatever God Einstein believed in was not the God of the Bible, but one of his own making.

Interestingly, Einstein said he sought to know God in the “lawful” harmony of the world; yet, he turned the laws of physics on its head when he devised the theory of special relativity that negated the monumentally important experimental results of the Michelson-Morley experiment. I have written about this in more detail in my article entitled “Is Science vs. Religion a Real Thing?,” if you are interested. As a sort of summary of his “theory” of special relativity, Einstein made another statement of faith.

“While I was thinking of this problem in my student years, I came to know the strange result of Michelson’s experiment. Soon I came to the conclusion that our idea about the motion of the Earth with respect to the ether is incorrect, if we admit Michelson’s null result as a fact. This was the first path which led me to the special theory of relativity. Since then I have come to believe that the motion of the Earth cannot be detected by any optical experiment, though the Earth is revolving around the Sun.” (1922 speech at Kyoto University, “How I Created the Theory of Relativity.” Emphasis is mine.)

Since Einstein could not disprove Michelson’s results, which proved the earth’s lack of motion, he chose to say that one simply cannot know whether it is moving or not. With one brilliant stroke of BS, he duped a good portion of the scientific world, but not all, however.

tesla einstein

einstein refutationMichelson physically demonstrated that the earth is motionless, but Einstein countered by saying that it is impossible to observe or prove the earth’s motion or lack thereof. For a theory to be proved, it must be observable, testable, repeatable, and falsifiable. Einstein’s theory falls short in every area.

In one fell swoop, Einstein turned astrophysics into a religion that must be accepted by faith.

planck quote

What is most striking is his claim of having a priori knowledge that the earth is revolving around the sun. Let me restate Einstein’s claim. “We cannot detect any motion of the earth, but we know it is moving.” This could only be known by some form of revelation perhaps, but certainly not scientifically, according to Einstein. Could this revered intellectual actually have been a deceiver? I believe he was. He propped up a tottering lie by baffling the world with BS that flatly contradicts God’s Word.

The Christian’s faith must rest on one thing – God’s immutable word.

And, according to Jesus, our faith must be as simple as a child’s. In other words, we are to take God at his word, period. End of story. God said it. That settles it. 

And, yet, today believers commonly deny that Genesis Chapter One is actually true. Instead they assert that it is mere poetry, a creation myth written by pre-scientific people that somehow contains truth about God and creation, but is not actually the truth. However, if it is not actually the truth, then why should anyone believe anything else written in the Bible? What else is not actually the truth? Atheists understand this bind in which we put ourselves. Why can we not see it?

Satan struck a blow at all of God’s truth by influencing the church to abandon the literal truth of Genesis Chapter One.

And I can almost hear God asking us, “Who told you my words are not true? Who told you to interpret it as mere poetry?” It certainly was not God. It sounds like the serpent in the garden, doesn’t it? “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1)

Sadly, many of us have surrendered our allegiance to God’s Word in favor of believing what people like Einstein tell us. What a sad state of affairs! The faith of Einstein does not please God. The kind of faith our Lord is looking for is that of a child.

God is looking for people to stand fearlessly against the mockery of men to proclaim, “I believe God.”

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Astrophysics’ Unholy Trinity

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Modern astrophysics is built on three primary lies: evolution, the Big Bang, and heliocentrism. These three fit together to create a portrayal of the heavens and earth that contradicts the Bible and eliminates any need for God. Evolution claims to explain how everything, including life, created itself out of nothing. The Big Bang is atheism’s origins story, and heliocentrism is what set up and necessitated the other two lies. It is no wonder that these three falsehoods are taught as fact in our public education and indoctrination centers.

evolution fact scaled e1747836154552

What is a wonder is that so many people who say they believe the Bible so easily cast aside the clear words of Genesis Chapter One to embrace these lies.

It seems that people will believe anything as long as it is not written in the Bible. 

Unredeemed humanity has maintained an adversarial relationship with God’s words dating back to the garden of Eden. Satan, in the form of a talking serpent, introduced doubt into the minds of Adam and Eve which resulted in their doubting God’s goodness and casting aside his benevolent warning.

There is something in our sinful orientation that resents and rejects what God says. Behind this propensity lurks an amazing pridefulness that wishes to prove God wrong and figure out things for ourselves.

Satan capitalizes on this tendency to our shame and destruction.

Heliocentrism was the first of these three lies to go mainstream. Copernicus and others, drawing from occultism and sun worship, theorized that the sun is the center of things and maintains a governing force, later called gravity by Newton, over the earth and other celestial bodies. Heliocentrism turns the Bible on its head by saying that the earth moves instead of the sun. It posits that the earth revolves, which accounts for the motion of the sun, moon, and stars. This seems to makes sense to the natural mind and is attractive to our sinful tendency to reject God’s Word, which plainly says that the earth does not move and sun runs a course over the earth. (Psalm 19:6)

The problem so many Christians have is that we more highly value the claims of science than we do God’s Word!

The reformers Luther and Calvin, who were contemporaries of Copernicus, rejected his lies, and we, their spiritual descendants, have betrayed our reformation heritage by abandoning sola scriptura in favor of the worship of science and sola scientia. 

Every grand atheistic theory needs a proper origin story, and this is where the Big Bang theory and evolution come to the rescue. 

Darwin’s theory of evolution attempts to give a quasi-scientific explanation for the origin of life. Evolution, like heliocentrism and the Big Bang theory, does not fulfill the requirements of true science.

Since they are not observable, testable, repeatable, and falsifiable, all of these theories of men must be accepted by faith.

Therefore, it comes down to whom or what we choose to believe – what is written in the Bible or the theories of men?

Evolution escaped the confines of biology and spread into virtually all the sciences, including astrophysics. The Belgian Jesuit priest Georges Lemaitre officially formulated the Big Bang theory which proposes to account for the origin of the universe out of nothing. The idea that all the matter and energy in the heavens and earth came from a single point is found in the Jewish occult writings of the Kabala, not in the Bible.

There is nothing about modern astrophysics that is not somehow rooted in the occult.

This should give every Christian pause to consider.

I call these three lies, Evolution, the Big Bang, and heliocentrism an unholy trinity because each one depends and draws from the others. The heliocentric solar system cannot exist without the evolutionary Big Bang, all of which completely contradict the Genesis account. 

It is impossible to believe in heliocentrism without agreeing to the premises of evolution and the Big Bang.

This might shock many Christians who think they can hold on to heliocentrism without embracing the Big Bang. I can almost hear those who wish to debate this with me saying, “God can do anything.” My response is that he cannot or will not violate his Word. As the scriptures say, “Let God be true, but every man a liar.” (Romans 3:4) God is not a liar. He says what he means and means what he says.

The Genesis account is true and not some fanciful origins story made up by pre-scientific people. The Holy Spirit inspired all of the Bible, and all of it is true.

Many of my readers will find it extremely difficult or even impossible to let go of heliocentrism because of a lifetime of indoctrination, not realizing how unscientific it is. (I have written many articles and provided many scientific reasons to accept the Bible account, which can be accessed by clicking here.)

My words of encouragement are, “Trust the Lord.” This opposes the modern mantra of “Trust the Science.” I encourage my friends in the Lord to cast aside the fear of looking foolish to those who reject God’s Word. Let us put an end to “nuancing” the words of the Bible to fit our scientific presuppositions and simply believe what is written, even if the world at large criticizes and despises us. Let us embrace the words and truth of the Bible without reservation.

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Luke 9:26 (NASB95)
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Why Are We Embarrassed by the Bible?

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Today many Christians are so embarrassed by the Bible that we deny what it says rather than risk looking bad in front of our friends. This is an amazing turn of events considering that the Protestant Reformation was fundamentally a return to the authority of Scripture. The Roman Catholic Church had relegated the Bible to a secondary status beneath church tradition and papal authority. Men and women suffered persecution and even death to put the Bible back into the language and hands of the common people. This return to scripture fueled the Reformation. For a good while reformers championed the slogan, Sola Scriptura, meaning that the Bible only has supreme authority when it comes to truth, faith, and practice. But something happened along the way that caused many in the church to become so ashamed of the Word of God that we felt the necessity to reinterpret it in a way that its authors never intended. We fell into the satanic trap of elevating something else to a higher authority when it comes to practical truth. Today we call it “science.” The Scientific Revolution led many in the church to abandon its simplicity of faith in God’s Word  in favor of adopting popular evolutionary theories of astrophysics, biology, and sociology. 

Thankfully, many believers today accept the Genesis account regarding the creation of man and denounce biological evolution as a lie.

What is puzzling, however, is that many of these same people seem to have no problem at all endorsing modern evolutionary astrophysics and heliocentrism, even though it requires us to twist the text of Genesis Chapter One into an unrecognizable form. 

Jesus said he is looking for people who are unashamed of him and his words. (Luke 9:26) I would rather endure the ridicule of those who reject the Word of God in favor of the ideas of men rather than have the one who inspired the Bible be ashamed of my betrayal of his trust.

Isn’t it time for the church to repent of our worship of science and return to Sola Scriptura?

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The Copernican Captivity of the Church

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Any lie we believe brings us into captivity to some degree, and the truth is what sets us free.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31–32 (NASB95)

God’s Word of truth in the Bible is our written source and guarantee of freedom. The Holy Spirit, also called the Spirit of truth (John 16:13), is the one who reveals God’s Word to us. This combination of revelation from the Holy Spirit and the infallible written Word has the ability to break the power of Satan’s lies. Since this is true, it is only logical that Satan will always try to separate us from God’s Word and truth in some way or another. Sometimes he contradicts it outright, as he did with Eve in the garden when he told her she would not die because of disobeying God’s command. Other times, especially with those of us who say we are devoted to the scriptures, he is more diabolically clever.

Satan entices us to deny what God plainly says without compromising our integrity by simply reinterpreting the Bible to suit us.

This sinister ploy is how he duped a great percentage of the church into rejecting the literal truth of Genesis Chapter One. 

We dare not underestimate the pull in all of us to be smarter than God.

The Scientific Revolution of the 1600’s was an offshoot of the Renaissance, which was a return to non-biblical classical thinking. One of the driving forces behind this movement was a determination to discover scientific truths without being “hemmed in” by what the Bible teaches. Copernicus said it like this.

copernicus scripture quote 1

In other words, Copernicus judged that believing in the literal truth of Genesis Chapter One and other relevant scriptures now constitutes “wresting” them to suit us. Many, if not most, of us in the church have adopted Copernicus’ position based on theories proposed by modern astrophysics.

Martin Luther, a contemporary of Copernicus, utterly condemned that man’s theories as heresy because he upheld the Reformation ideal of sola scriptura. He considered that the Bible is the ultimate source of truth, even when it comes to science. In the following quote, he refers to Joshua 10:12-13.

luther flat earthJohn Calvin, another contemporary of Copernicus, challenged that man’s authority to negate the scriptures.

copernicus quote

 

 

 

 

 

 

What was so clear to these reformers who accepted the authority of Bible has been lost to the modern church when it comes to cosmology.

Today we so firmly accept the heliocentric system that we now demand the Bible to conform to it. We reinterpret Genesis Chapter One to be mere poetry with no scientific accuracy. Is it any wonder that atheist laugh at us.

If a lawyer discovers that a witness is guilty of fabricating a story to make his testimony more palatable, that witness loses all credibility.

If the Bible got creation wrong, why on earth should anyone believe anything else it says?

Since admitting that I believe in the literal accuracy of Genesis, I have been accused of not knowing how to properly read or understand the Bible. I have been teaching the Bible for 54 years, yet suddenly I do not know how to interpret scripture! The author of Genesis believed in its literal accuracy, however. That puts me in pretty good company.

Napoleon Bonaparte is reputed to have said:bonaparte 1

 

Whether he actually is the source of this saying or not is insignificant to my point. The statement is true. People believe the most outlandish things if so-called experts tell them it is the truth. This was on display during the Covid crisis.

God created us to believe his Words. Satan takes advantage of our inherent need to believe. He knows that we are relatively simple beings who can be easily duped.

If we do not adhere to the Words of God in the Bible, we will fall for most anything.

When Satan tempted our Lord at the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus always defeated the devil by quoting scripture. This is our most reliable defense. Paul called this weapon the “sword of the Spirit.” (Ephesians 6:17) If we abandon God’s Word as our ultimate source of truth, we will always go into captivity.

The Scientific Revolution duped the church by telling us that the Bible is good for spiritual and moral truth, but not for science, and we believed it!

Not immediately, though, but Satan knows that he doesn’t have to fool everyone right away. He understands that a lie can become firmly entrenched in just one generation. After the initial truth contenders die off, the younger generation, which has been told that the lie is the truth by the “expert” testimony of scientists, is prone to fall for the new way of seeing things. And that is exactly what happened.

For the last five hundred years we have endured the Copernican captivity of the Church. 

Many Bible-believing Christians will fight “tooth and nail” to preserve the heliocentric system while at the same time insisting that they believe the Bible 100%. Both cannot be true at the same time. We cannot destroy the literal truth of Genesis One and maintain the literal truth of the resurrection. It is a logical impossibility. Either both are true, or both can be dismissed. Satan knows this, but many Christians do not.

Atheists understand that if we do not even believe Genesis is true, our testimony of Christ’s resurrection crumbles.

It is time for the church to repent of this duplicity and forsake its worship of the globe, space travel, and the other lies that were spawned from the heliocentric occult religion that denies the existence of the firmament and makes the sun the “super power” of the cosmos instead of the God of the Bible. It is time for the church to cast aside its fear of being called foolish by a world that rejects God’s truth. It is time for the church to reclaim its lost heritage of “Sola Scriptura.” It is way overdue for us to return to believing the literal truth of Genesis Chapter One.

The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, And what kind of wisdom do they have? Jeremiah 8:9 (NASB95)
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Here I Stand

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When on trial before the Roman Catholic Church for teaching biblical truth, Martin Luther was asked to recant. He famously stated: “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.” Much to my surprise, I find myself in a similar position today regarding the doctrine of the shape of the earth. What once was commonly understood by the church, now has become the subject of intense debate and controversy.

The church has backslidden into gross idolatry, having elevated what is falsely called science above God’s Word. 

Some think that I have embraced deception because I believe in the literal accuracy of Genesis Chapter One and other scriptures that describe the earth and heavens quite differently from what now is generally accepted as being true. While it disturbs me that I am considered to be a scientific heretic and a misinterpreter of the Bible, I take heart that my belief agrees with Luther’s, Calvin’s, and the authors of the Bible.

About the same time God restored the primacy of God’s Word and the wonderful truth of justification by faith during the Protestant Reformation, Satan counterattacked, introducing one of his most mind numbing deceptions – heliocentrism – with its corollary, the spherical earth. Copernicus theorized that the earth revolved around Helios, the sun (god), which became the center and ruling power of the “solar system,” instead of the earth’s being the stationary center of God’s creation over which the sun, moon, and stars run their “circuits.” (Psalm 19:6)

Here is what Copernicus wrote. Judge for yourself whether it is empirical science or an occult religion dressed up in scientific garb.

In the middle of all sits Sun enthroned. In this most beautiful temple could we place this luminary in any better position from which he can illuminate the whole at once? He is rightly called the Lamp, the Mind, the Ruler of the Universe: Hermes Trismegistus names him the Visible God, Sophocles’ Electra calls him the All-seeing. So the Sun sits as upon a royal throne ruling his children the planets which circle round him. The Earth has the Moon at her service. As Aristotle says, in his On Animals, the Moon has the closest relationship with the Earth. Meanwhile the Earth conceives by the Sun, and becomes pregnant with an annual rebirth.  —Nicolaus Copernicus , De Revolutionibus, Of the Order of the Heavenly Bodies

Hermes Trismegistus was an Egyptian sun worshiper and originator of the occult practice of hermetics or alchemy, something to which both Copernicus and Isaac Newton subscribed.

Heliocentrism is a clear example of Satan’s countering God’s truth with an audacious lie, the purpose being to turn people away from belief in the Bible and faith in God.

When Copernicus introduced his novel ideas about the solar system, the reformers were quick to condemn him. Here are the words of Martin Luther.

luther flat earth

The error of Copernicus’ declaration that the earth revolved around the sun was evident to those men who held that the Scripture was the sole foundation of faith and truth.

John Calvin, a preeminent Reformation theologian, asked this question to which modern heliocentric Christians should pay heed.

Calvin's stand

Luther referred to Joshua’s command to the sun to stand still as an elegantly simple refutation of Copernicus’ error, but, today, many Christians merely shrug off this important text by nonsensically replying that God can do anything. I have heard it said that God could stop the earth from rotating and the moon from revolving around the earth without killing everyone by massive tsunamis and the force of the sudden stop from a 1039 mph rotation. Satan truly makes us into fools when we abandon the simple truth of God’s words, even though we imagine that we are incredibly wise. I cannot condemn such answers. I too formerly threw up my hands when faced with the supposed conundrum of trying to reconcile Bible truth with what I thought was proven science. When we wake up to the simple fact that anything that contradicts the Bible is by definition false?

The heliocentric model of the universe stands in absolute contradiction to God’s Word. It suppresses the truth about the creation and God himself, who is revealed through an accurate apprehension of what he made. (Psalm 19:1-2)

The Bible warns us that the truth will be suppressed in the Last Days (Romans 1:18), leading to wholesale delusion (2 Thessalonians 2:11). We have arrived.

The heliocentric lie, coupled with the Big Bang expanding universe, fundamentally changed how humanity viewed the cosmos, God, the Bible, and ourselves.

Instead of there being a benevolent Creator who fashioned an earth protected from outside threats by the firmament, Copernicus launched us into the dark and hostile void of “outer space,” without any sort of tether or protection at all. Heaven became lost in space, an amorphous spiritual place instead of an actual location atop the firmament. This monumental deception gave birth to a whole host of derivative lies.

  • Deism – An impersonal God created the world and left us to our own devices.
  • Atheism – The earth sprang out of nothing through mechanistic processes.
  • Evolution – All life evolved from nothing by random processes. There is no Creator.
  • Moral Relativism – Since there is no God and we evolved, there is no such thing as absolute truth or right and wrong.
  • Meaninglessness – Life is a meaningless existential pursuit of pleasure and power, leading to totalitarianism, hedonism, and despair.
  • A Culture of Sexual Perversion, Abuse, and Suicide since there is no God and Judge, no absolute truth, and no inherent value to life.
  • Living in fear from any number of internal and external threats – viruses, global warming, aliens, and asteroids – which fear allows the powers that be to enslave us.

When we realize that the earth is a stationary plane enclosed by the firmament, above which is God’s throne, our eyes are opened to the truth about the God of the Bible and the accuracy of his Word.

I have listened to testimonies of people coming to believe in the Creator and Jesus as a result of finally understanding that the earth is just as describe in the Bible. I have collected some of these on my resource page.

Making a stand for God’s truth is always controversial.

Jesus caused division wherever he went because truth divides those who receive it from those who reject or suppress it. (John 7:43) Several early Bible translators, such as John Hus and William Tyndale, gave up their lives in order to provide us with access to the Scripture in our own language. The early reformers faced the very real threat of death for adhering to such basic truths as justification by faith and believer baptism. The doctrine of the baptism and gifts of the Spirit still is being resisted to this day. Arguments are made by those who do not value the gifts of the Spirit that, since the gifts are not a salvation issue, we should keep quiet about them in order to preserve unity. Some churches do not allow people to operate in the spiritual gifts in order to maintain cohesiveness.

I do not think we should participate in suppressing biblical truth in order to maintain a superficial unity. Nor do I believe that we should try to force our views on others. 

As long as freedom of conscience and expression are allowed, we should tolerate divergent opinions, unless such a position clearly violates God’s Word. Then the church must erect some sort of barrier to preserve truth.

A primary reason that I left the Roman Catholic Church after being born again was because I could not remain in unity with false doctrine, nor was it proper for me to be a source of disunity within their ranks by teaching doctrine that is contrary to the official church position.

We should always strive to maintain a balance between making a stand for God’s truth and being lovingly patient with those who do not see it yet.

As we press forward into God’s truth, I believe it is wise to keep in mind the following saying.

all things charity

I realize that the doctrine of the shape of the earth is a “non-essential” doctrine in the sense that one does not need to believe it to get to heaven. However, I believe it is a vastly important doctrine which needs to be taught because it strikes a blow at one of Satan’s biggest lies.

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Our Cosmology Affects Our Worldview

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Our cosmology significantly affects our worldview. Many do not realize that believing in a false version of the heavens and earth from what is presented in the Bible will skew our interpretation of creation and our way of looking at life.

Our worldview influences how we view our origins, value, purpose, and destiny.

The biblical cosmology found in Genesis Chapter One and elsewhere in the Scripture reveals the truth about each of these things. The satanically inspired evolutionary Big Bang theory of the “universe” inspires us to believe lies about God, creation, ourselves, our origins, purpose, value, and destiny.

The Big Bang – Heliocentric worldview (BB-HWV) is god denying at its core. It states that the cosmos created itself from a pinpoint through an inexplicable explosion through which incomprehensible energy and matter were released, expanding outward from the blast site, producing everything in the heavens and the earth, including all life. God is not in the Big Bang picture, unless, as believers, we see him orchestrating this event and being the source of the energy and matter, for which atheists cannot account.

However, even if we try “Christianize” the Big Bang theory, it is an account of creation that is diametrically opposed to what the Bible tells us.

Below is a comparison of the effect our cosmology has on the main aspects of worldview: origins, purpose, values, and destiny.

Big Bang – Heliocentric World View
  • Origins – The chaos of an explosion produced order and complexity, which violates the law of entropy. There is nothing beyond material matter, which denies the spiritual side of things. Everything can be explained materialistically and “scientifically.” There is no room for God or the miraculous.
  • Value – Humans, being an accident of evolution, have no inherent value. What worth we might be assigned by other beings is measured by our productivity and contribution to the evolutionary process. If we negatively affect evolution or our “fragile ecosystem,” we become an unwanted problem, something to be eliminated. Human life can be snuffed out without concern. This thinking is behind abortion, euthanasia, genocide, etc.
  • Purpose – Humans exist only to experience a very brief physical life and to continue the species through reproduction. There is no reality beyond what we personally experience. This leads us to conclude that there is no such thing as “absolute truth.” Such phrases as “my truth” or “your truth” derive from this false belief. Consequently, the experience of being in power and having pleasure are life’s greatest rewards. This worldview produced such dismal “children” as Nazism and Stalinism.
  • Destiny – There is nothing after physical life; therefore, we have no eternal purpose and no destiny beyond the grave. Therefore, we should strive to experience pleasure, however we can get it, while we have the opportunity. There is no concern about facing any consequences for our actions when we stand in judgment before the Creator.

Denying that God is the Creator and refusing to glorify him is one of the worst sins possible.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, Romans 1:28 (NASB95)

When a people do this, it causes the entire society to descend into the chaos of lawlessness and rebellion.

Biblical Worldview

Biblical cosmology recognizes that everything around us, the heavens and earth and all forms of life, were created in six days by God. Order and beauty sprang from God’s creative genius.

  • Origins – God is the Creator. Everything begins with him. We see the complexity of our being and glorify God. (Psalm 139:14) God is a spirit. The spiritual world existed before the material creation.
  • Value – Everything has value because it was made by God. Being the Creator, he alone has the right to assign value. For humans, being created in God’s image gives us incredible intrinsic value. After mankind’s fall from grace, Jesus shed his precious blood for us, revealing what our value is in God’s sight. We have no right to wantonly destroy what God made.
  • Purpose – God made everything with a divine purpose. We humans were made to know, love, enjoy, and serve God for eternity, to love one another, and to care for his creation. Knowing God is the greatest blessing in life.
  • Destiny – God’s wants to share his life and rule with people. That is why he made us and why he sent his son to die for our sins and rise again. When we put our trust and allegiance in Christ, our destiny is to co-rule with him forever while we enjoy his glorious and loving presence.

The evolutionary BB-HWV dispenses with God and reduces humanity to a cosmic accident. Those who fully embrace it often become atheists, thus destroying their opportunity to share in God’s life and rule forever.

Those who embrace a biblical cosmology, recognize God’s handiwork in his creation and are led to seek and find him through Christ. They will more easily be able to glorify God as the Creator.

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1 (NKJV)

Many Christians have adopted aspects of the Big Bang theory without realizing that it contradicts the clear teaching of Genesis and other passages of Scripture.

Any accommodation of a non-biblical explanation of the the cosmos hinders our ability to properly understand what God means for us to derive from viewing the heavens.

I have noticed that believers who ascribe to the modern astrophysics view of the “universe” conceive of heaven as being merely a “spiritual place somewhere out there,” rather than the physical location above the firmament which the Bible describes.

As they stood with wings lowered, a voice spoke from beyond the crystal surface above them. 26 Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. Ezekiel 1:25–26 (NLT)

I wrote another article about this, if you are interested in learning more.

Modern astrophysics also introduces a slew of extra-biblical ideas to confuse the mind and induce unwarranted fear of aliens, asteroids, solar flares, climate change, etc., as we supposedly hurtle through “outer space” at incredible speeds that nevertheless cannot be perceived or measured. This leaves us feeling confused, small, and insignificant, having to comfort ourselves with the belief that despite the vastness of the cosmos and our relative insignificance, God still cares about us and is present with us.

Biblical cosmology gives us a proper worldview by teaching us that the earth is the center of God’s creation, protected by the firmament, and carefully watched over by the “Most High.”

It is He who sits above the circle 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 (NKJV)
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Is Heaven a Real Place?

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Is heaven a real physical place or merely a metaphysical or spiritual concept? What we think depends on which version of the cosmos we accept and whether we interpret God’s Word exegetically or eisegetically. Here are four important principles for interpreting the Bible.

  1. The Bible is the Word of God and does not merely contain the Word of God. Therefore, all the words in the Bible are true. God means what he says and says what he means.
  2. We should interpret texts in a literal sense unless it is clear from the context or from other verses that we should not.
  3. We should work hard to avoid reading into the text our preconceived notions (eisegesis), but allow the text to speak for itself (exegesis). We should never assume that scriptures do not mean what they clearly appear to mean just because they do not make sense to us or because the general public consensus is in opposition. We dare not make human reasoning the litmus test for truth.
  4. We should strive first to discover the author’s original intent and interpret the passage accordingly. Passages must at least mean what the author intended them to mean; although, they may have additional meanings as well, especially in the case of prophecy.

This means that we should accept the Genesis account of creation as the literal truth.

God nowhere gives us permission to interpret it otherwise. Jesus believed it is factually true, and so should we. Hebrew scholars agree that it was clearly the author’s intent that we should think it to be true. The only reason most Christians today interpret it metaphorically is because we think modern astrophysics is a higher standard of truth than the Bible. In so doing, we have made science an idol.

The Hebrew account of creation found in Genesis provides us with a literal, physical location for heaven.

 God created the heavens and earth as a unit. 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 (NKJV)

God is a spirit. He created a physical earth for us to inhabit. During the second day of creation he created a physical heaven atop the firmament, which is the location of God’s actual throne.

The Hebrews believed the earth was constructed exactly as described in Genesis. The following diagram is a depiction that scholars agree shows the Hebrew conception of the cosmos. This view of the heavens and earth held up for centuries until the introduction of the pagan heliocentric model. You can read what I wrote about the occult origins of heliocentrism by clicking here.

I think most would agree that all the Bible authors viewed creation in this manner. If we are to adhere to the basic hermeneutical principles outlined above, we must conclude that the Bible provides us with a true depiction of the heavens and earth.

If we reject Genesis Chapter One as being literally true, we find ourselves in the precarious position of saying we believe the Bible contains truth, but not every word is true.

If that is the case, when can we say the Bible becomes literally true? Chapter 2, 3, after chapter 11? I think we can all see that such a position is untenable and contradicts what Jesus taught. He believed all of it is true. So should we.

hebrew earthPaul wrote that there are three heavens.(2 Corinthians 12:2) He said that God took him to the third heaven, a place he called Paradise, but he was not sure if he went bodily or not. This supports the conclusion that heaven is a physical location which a body can visit. This conforms with the descriptions we have of Jesus sitting upon God’s throne in bodily form, his resurrected state. (Revelation 3:21) If heaven is not a physical reality, to where did his resurrected body ascend?

It is generally accepted that the first heaven is the air above us in which the birds fly. The second heaven is the firmament in which God placed the sun, moon, and stars, and is a physical barrier between the earth and its atmos and the third heaven where God dwells . I have written about the firmament in greater detail in the article linked here. The third heaven sits atop the firmament and is the location of God’s throne, upon which Jesus, in his resurrection bodily form, now sits as King of Kings, waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool. At his second coming, God will roll back the firmament, exposing the glories of heaven, from where Jesus will descend.

Genesis, Exodus, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation provide descriptions of the third heaven located atop the firmament. In Exodus, Moses and the elders of Israel are taken there and enjoy a meal in God’s presence!

Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank. Exodus 24:9–11 (NKJV)

This mysterious passage conforms exactly to other descriptions of the physical heaven atop the firmament. Ezekiel was also taken there when God called him to prophetic ministry.

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 1:26–28 (NKJV)

The word appearance means that it was what Ezekiel saw. There is no indication that this vision was not real. The fact that the same vision was given several times to different people at different times confirms the reality of a physical heaven. (Deuteronomy 19:15)

Daniel also saw Christ, the Son of Man, enthroned in heaven.

I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13–14 (NKJV)

Jesus applied this passage to himself during his mock trial before the Sanhedrin. (Matthew 26:64) Jesus will return in the clouds of heaven. Peter wrote about the future time when God will “roll back” or dissolve the firmament, revealing his glorious throne.

looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:12–13 (NKJV)

God will not only recreate the earth, but also the firmament and heaven of heavens. It is all a unified piece. The firmament is anchored into the earth, according to the Bible.

The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome over [or "in"] 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)

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 104:3 (NKJV)

The Book of Revelation also gives us a view into heaven.

Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:2–8 (NKJV)

If we do not accept the biblical model of the cosmos with its firmament, we may be tempted to reduce all of these revelations to mere visionary experiences that have no basis in any sort of concrete reality, which is what I formerly did before God opened my eyes to the truth.

If, on the other hand, we adhere to the Hebraic (biblical) model of the heavens and earth, we see clearly that heaven is very real and very near, sitting atop the firmament.

From his position above the vault of the firmament, God observes everything that happens on the earth.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle [a circular plane, not a ball - Isaiah 22:18] 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 40:21–22 (NKJV)

This makes God’s title of the Most High more meaningful.

Jesus told us that God prepared a place there for us who believe.

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:2–3 (NASB95)

Heaven is where Jesus now dwells in bodily form. One day he will receive us into that glorious place, where we will be with him.

We should not allow a pagan conception of the universe rob us of the very real and near presence of heaven and God’s throne. All we have to do is look up.

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9–11 (NKJV)
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The Firmament, the Throne, and the Apocalypse

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In my previous article in this series, I described the firmament and what it contains – the sun, moon, and stars. According to the Bible, God’s throne is located above the firmament.

From his lofty position above the earth, the “Most High” watches and sovereignly rules over all things as the Creator, Sustainer, and Lord.

It is He who sits above the circle 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. 23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Isaiah 40:22–23 (NKJV)
The Throne

The Bible has some amazing revelations about the firmament that pertain to God’s throne. God’s habitation is mentioned in Exodus when God invited Moses and the elders of Israel to dine with him.

Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity.  Exodus 24:9–10 (NKJV)

Obviously they were no longer on Mt. Sinai! God lifted them into heaven, above the firmament, as he did with Ezekiel and John the Revelator later. The description of the pavement agrees with other descriptions of the firmament, above which is God’s throne.

Below are passages that describe other descriptions of the firmament as the location of God’s throne. The first is at the beginning of Ezekiel’s ministry. God revealed himself to that prophet before sending him to fearlessly speak to a rebellious nation who would not heed his words. The second passage is taken from Revelation near the beginning of what God would unfold to John.

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. 23 And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body. 24 When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings. 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)


Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. Revelation 4:2–6 (NKJV)

These descriptions of the firmament agree – pavement as clear as the sky, crystal, and glass. Ezekiel 1:22 says the firmament is like “awesome crystal,” which literally means frost or ice. It is really high above the earth and may indeed be some sort of ice. Interestingly, frozen oxygen is sky blue in color. Just a thought…

If you are like me, I tended not to pay great attention to these verses before coming to believe in a literal firmament because they seemed so otherworldly and loaded with almost unfathomable symbolism.

Once I started taking the existence of the firmament seriously, however, I began to see that these verses describe a heavenly reality.

Below are some significant insights they give us.

  • God inhabits a place where the hard “pavement” has a clarity like the sky.
  • From below, the firmament looks like crystal. The Hebrew word here is qerach, which literally means frost or ice. The word for crystal from Revelation 5:6 uses the Greek word krustallos, which means congealed or transparent and is derived from a root word for frost. (You may wish to go back to the previous article and look at how lightning sprites illumine what looks like a crystalline firmament above them.)
  • God’s throne rests on this glass-like pavement of the firmament and is the color of sapphire, very much like the color of the sky itself.
  • The one who sits on the throne must be our Lord Jesus himself. In Exodus and Ezekiel this would have been a pre-incarnate theophany of the eternal Logos. We know from the words of our Lord Jesus that the triune God is a spirit (John 4:24) whom heaven cannot contain, but Jesus acquired a human body (John 1:14) and has been given authority to judge. It is he who sits on the throne as the glorious son of man prophesied by Daniel. (Daniel 7:13-14)
  • The rainbow appears around God’s throne, which testifies to what an abomination it is that it has been subverted to represent something anti-God. John the Revelator describes the light as emerald green in nature, which is the main color of the aurora borealis, which can be seen at the northernmost areas of the earth, which is directly below the apex of the firmament. Could it be that the northern lights are part of God’s glory shining down from above the firmament? One day we will find out!

God told us that every matter or word will be confirmed out of the mouths of two or three witnesses. (Matthew 18:16). Therefore, since we have three verses describing the firmament, I believe God wants us to accept these verses as describing reality, not some vague symbolism.

The Apocalypse

The apocalypse or revelation of Jesus Christ on the last day can be understood best when we accept the reality of the firmament as the location of God’s throne and the barrier that separates us from God’s realm.

God is called the Most High because he literally occupies the highest place in creation. When God told John the Revelator to “Come up here,” (Revelation 4:1) “up” had meaning, which it does not have on a globe, since all directions on it are relative. (This should be a red flag in itself. Satan desires to make all truth relative and malleable.) Heaven is above. Sheol is below. Earth is in between. Jesus told us to “look up” as end time signs appear.

Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:28 (NKJV)

The reason we are to look up is because that is where God’s throne is and from where the Lord Jesus will appear when God rolls back the firmament like a scroll, dissolving the heavens.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:10–13 (NKJV)

Jesus said the the sun will stop shining, the moon will go dark, and the stars will fall to the earth.

But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26 “Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory. Mark 13:24–26 (NASB95)

If the stars were distant suns larger than our sun, this could not happen. Because the stars are simply luminaries, not “suns,” in the firmament, when their habitation is dissolved, they will fall to the

earth. To me, at this point, it is not certain exactly what stars are. Sometimes they seem to be living beings or angels. At other times, simply lights. One day we will know. For now we must be content with what God allows us to know. Trying to go beyond what God reveals is what got humanity in trouble in the first place!

When the firmament is dissolved, the stars fall, and the sun and moon cease to give their light, it will be a day like no other.

For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. Luke 17:24 (NKJV)

...Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You. 6 It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish. 7 It shall be one day Which is known to the LORD Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light. 8 And in that day it shall be— That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. 9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be “The LORD is one,” And His name one. Zechariah 14:5–9 (NKJV)

What will that be like? It shall be both wonderful and terrible, glorious and fearful.

When God says he will roll up or split apart the heavens like a scroll, he means he will peel back the firmament to reveal the glorious one who sits on the throne.

The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6:14–17 (NASB95)

At that point in history, every eye shall see him. His throne is so high, higher than the North Star, and his being is so gloriously bright that he will be seen by all those who dwell on the earth plane.

...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10 (NKJV)

The one who ascended through the heavens after his resurrection (Ephesians 4:10) will be revealed in flaming fire when the heavens are dissolved. Afterward God will create a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13). Glory to God. What a day that will be!

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Introduction to the Firmament

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Gaining a better understanding of the firmament can help us move forward in our quest to develop a biblical cosmology. God designed the heavens and earth to communicate to us an idea of his character and power.

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1 (NKJV)

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, Romans 1:20 (NKJV)

An accurate understanding of his creation will foster a better understanding of God; whereas, a faulty or false model will misrepresent him.

The cosmological model that most people believe teaches us that God is far away, if present at all. The cosmology of the Bible shows us a God enthroned above the firmament, who is very near at hand watching over his creation. 

The word translated as “firmament” in the KJV and NKJV is the Hebrew word raqia, which is rather vaguely rendered as “sky” or “expanse” in most other versions. This way of translating raqia is used to accommodate the generally accepted heliocentric model. This is called eisegesis, reading into God’s Word what we want it to say. We want avoid doing that and instead allow the Bible to say what God intended.

The word “firmament” better communicates something of its true nature. The Bible depicts it as an immense and strong vaulted dome-like structure made of something like crystal (Ezekiel 1:22), molten metal (Job 37:18), or glass (Revelation 4:6).

In Genesis 1:8, God called the firmament (raqia) heaven (shamayim). God used the firmament to separate the waters (mayim) below from those located above it.

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)

So above the firmament there was and currently is (Psalm 148:4) water. The shamayim (heavens) contain mayim (waters). The waters above did not disappear after the flood, as some expositors claim. This probably accounts for the shimmering appearance of stars. 

stars in the firmament

Therefore, the firmament is hard and strong enough to support the enormous weight of untold amounts of water which are above it, some of which apparently were released upon the earth in judgment during the great flood. (Genesis 7:11-12)

There is no reason to suppose that those waters were not replaced. In fact, there may be a giant system of water above and below the earth, which ancient Hebrews believed looked something like hebrew earththe image on the right. Sadly, the translators of the New Living Translation took the liberty to translate mayim as “water vapor.” Often they do a good job of translating idea for idea, especially when it comes to helping us understand theological terms such as justification, but, in this case, they did us a great disservice. Mayim means waters or a flood, not vapor. (This is why I advise people to read dynamic equivalency translations such as the NLT alongside a version that gives a more literal rendering, such as the NKJV, NASB, or ESV.) 

Almost all translators choose English words for raqia (firmament) that are more palatable to our modern “scientific” heliocentric worldview. Check it out for yourselves. The NASB, ESV, and NET, my usual “go to” versions for a literal rendering of the Bible, all use the word “expanse,” which communicates absolutely nothing of the hard and strong nature of the firmament, but provides the heliocentrist with complete liberty to superimpose that unscriptural view, complete with unlimited expanses of “outer space,” upon the Bible. The KJV and NKJV are faithful to the Hebrew language and use the word “firmament” to communicate its solidity and strength.

Can you, with Him, spread out the skies, Strong as a molten mirror? Job 37:18 (NASB95)

So a proper biblical understanding of the heavens must include the presence of a super-strong solid firmament separating waters from waters, in which God placed the sun, moon, and stars.

The Bible says that God placed the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament on Day Four of creation.

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; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 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. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 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. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Genesis 1:14–19 (NKJV)

This passage shows why it is impossible to uphold the accuracy of the Bible while believing in the heliocentric model, which derives from pagan philosophy and gave birth to the evolutionary Big Bang theory of the formation of the “ever expanding” universe.

The Bible tells us that the earth and seas were created on day one, over which God erected the vaulted dome (Amos 9:6) of the firmament on day two, in which he placed the heavenly luminaries on day four. The sun follows a circuit over the stationary circular plane of the earth. (Psalm 19:6) Both the sun and moon are lights or luminaries, according to the Bible. The stars are luminaries in the firmament, not distant suns. Planets are “wandering stars,” not earthlike spheroid worlds.

Words are important for those who take the Bible seriously.

God wants us to “tremble” at his Word (Isaiah 66:2). Since it is God’s glory to conceal things in his Word (Proverbs 25:2), it is our honor to search the scriptures to discover more about God and his creation (Acts 17:11). It is wrong for us to casually dismiss what it says because we believe we now know better. For example, Job 26:11 tells us that the heavens (the firmament) has pillars. If we dismiss this as pre-scientific ignorance, we are not trembling at his Word. We are arrogantly dismissing it.

It is also important for us to stick to biblical terms. 

The Bible never uses the words “planet” or “globe” as synonyms for the earth. Those terms come from astrophysicists who reject the biblical testimony.

Sadly, most Christians have swallowed the satanic lie and use those words continually, thus contradicting the Bible on a daily basis, much to the devil’s delight. Once our ears are attuned to the frequent use of these words, we see how complete is the devil’s victory in this area. Worse yet, the word planet means “wandering” in Greek and is used to describe stars that left their assigned paths. In addition, the word is used to describe evil people and angels (Jude 6, 12-13, 1 Enoch 1:9) When we describe the earth as a planet, we unwittingly declare that we think the earth is wandering from its assigned place, instead of having a God-given fixed position. Furthermore, to call the earth a planet and part of the heliocentric system, we declare that we are held in the grip of Helios (Satan), along with the other “planets” that are all named after false gods. This glorifies the prince of darkness.

firmament

The Bible does not acknowledge the existence of solid spherical objects orbiting the sun. Instead it only gives us the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament following their course or path over the earth.

This puts those who claim to believe the Bible in a spiritual crisis. Both models cannot be true. We cannot say we believe the Bible is true while denying its cosmology.

We cannot have it both ways by claiming the Bible is only true regarding spiritual matters but not concerning the physical creation.

God created the heaven and earth as one unit.

The foundations of the firmament, which is the floor of heaven, are on the earth.

He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters At the boundary of light and darkness. 11 “The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke. Job 26:10–11 (NASB95)

Those who insist that the earth is a globe sometimes refer to Isaiah 40:22 as a “proof text.”

It is He who sits above the circle (not 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. 23 He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Isaiah 40:22–23 (NASB95)

The clay seal 2word translated “circle” means drawn as a circle, as one would by using a compass. The word “ball” is used in Isaiah 22:18; so, the prophet knew the difference between a circle and a ball. The image to the right could be thought us as a circle with edges as would be formed by pressing a circular seal into wax, which was a word picture used in Job 38:14, when God himself is talking about his creation.

It is changed like clay under a seal... Job 38:14a (LEB)

Going back to the verse from Isaiah above, the heavens (which was a name given to the firmament) are stretched out like a curtain and spread out like a tent. The most likely kind of tent would be a hoy dome tabernaclecircular dome-like tent, similar to a yurt.

 

Amos 9:6 in the NASB provides us with wonderful picture of the firmament.

The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded 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)

God placed his throne and “upper chambers” above the firmament. I will look at this in another article entitled “The Firmament, the Throne, and the Apocalypse,” where I show that unless we accept the biblical depiction of the earth, we cannot understand where is God’s throne and how Jesus will return.

The Hebrew word for “vaulted dome” is aguddah, which means “bands fitted together.” For some reason, the NASB translators are the only ones that chose to translate aguddah to describe the firmament as a vaulted dome above the earth, but I am glad they did. On the positive side, the other versions make the connection that the upper “strata” (NKJV) is attached to the earth. Putting it together, we understand the vaulted dome of the firmament is made of some sort of strata or “bands” attached firmly to the earth.

The firmament is the most immense structure in creation, as far as we can tell. No wonder it took all of day two to create it.

Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, 2 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, 4 Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. 5 You who laid the foundations of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever, Psalm 104:1–5 (NKJV)

domeThose who hold that the earth is a stationary plane believe the firmament extends beyond the ring of ice that contains the oceans, which is falsely depicted as the continent of Antarctica on the globe. Interestingly, a page from the Encyclopedia Americana (1958 edition) references the existence of the firmament in that area of the earth. Click here to see a video on YouTube.

The firmament is an extremely vast structure that extends over an currently unknown area of the plane earth up to an unknown altitude.

As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable. Proverbs 25:3 (NKJV)

The Hebrews who gave us the Old Testament by revelation from the Holy Spirit, understood the earth to be an enclosed circular plane. The earth has foundations and sits still in place, just as our senses confirm.

firmament

When the earth shakes, so does heaven because they are connected. (Hebrews 12:26), Isaiah 13:13, Haggai 2:6)

The solid crystalline-like firmament, which declares God’s glory, is a dome that can only exist as the Bible describes it, over a stationary plane earth. Such a dome cannot work with a spherical base.

Anti-god forces tell us that the earth is a sphere surrounded by a thin, fragile atmosphere held in place by gravity, which somehow keeps the imaginary vacuum of “outer space” from sucking it away, which violates the physical law that pressurized gases require a container. Instead of declaring God’s glory, as does the biblical heaven-earth complex, the globe model declares that we are hurtling at over a million miles per hour through “outer space,” unprotected from its perils of comets, asteroids, sun flares, and aliens. It is interesting that Jesus never talked of “outer space,” only outer darkness, the abode of cursed individuals.solar system

Could it be that Satan has put it in man’s heart to leave the earth, our proper abode that God made for us, to explore the habitation of fallen angels?

Those who promote the anti-biblical cosmology do not want us to know that we are safely enclosed in the solid dome called the firmament and watched over by our Creator.

If you have followed my argument thus far, I feel sure you are wondering about the false cosmology presented by NASA and other space agencies. That is another topic altogether, but, for now, let me say that we are being deceived on a huge scale. I have gathered a large number of videos to show that space is fake. Click here to view.

No one as yet knows much about the firmament. Some tests indicate that rockets encounter something at about 72 miles.

Some think this could be a bottom layer of the firmament. The following video shows lightning sprites at about that altitude illuminating what appears to be the firmament above them. Such evidence is not a “proof,” however. The “proof” is God’s Word.

Perhaps we were never intended to know all about the firmament, but let us make sure that what we claim to know agrees with Scripture.

When we stand before God one day, let us give our Lord no reason to question why we doubted or altered his words.

Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. Matthew 22:29 (NLT)

If we accept the reality of the biblical firmament over the false cosmology that contradicts God’s Word, it will arm us against falling for further deception. Belief in the literal firmament is a huge key to properly understanding the world in which we live.

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The Shape of the Earth

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The actual shape and makeup of the earth and heavens as described in the Bible are very different from the heliocentric-globe model we have been taught from infancy. If we use the Bible as our source of truth, instead of the world, we will need to lay aside, at least for the moment, what we have always assumed to be the truth. Our goal is to discover what some call the “true earth” or “biblical earth.” This may not be an easy journey for us for a couple of reasons. First, it is difficult to dismiss what has been drilled into us by authority figures, such as parents, teachers, and others considered to be “experts.” Secondly, if we do our own research, the algorithms of the various search engines are designed to work against us. Google admitted to Congress that they de-prioritize and sometimes outright censor what they deem to be misinformation. Search engine results are skewed against anything that goes against the government-approved narrative. 

The heliocentric-globe model of the earth gained traction around 500 years ago, thanks to Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton. Today it largely has displaced the Bible’s account in Genesis, even for many Christians. One of the driving forces behind what now is called the Scientific Revolution was the desire to escape the confines or limitations imposed by Scripture. Just as for Adam and Eve in the garden, the lure of forbidden knowledge proves stronger than our trust in God’s truthfulness.

There is a certain hubris connected with figuring out things on our own without God’s help.

The early reformers, such as Luther and Calvin, denounced Copernicus’ theory, but, sadly, today most followers of Christ accept the heliocentric-globe version of the cosmos and feel no guilt shapeassociated with accommodating Scripture to fit it. (I have written another article specifically addressing this issue.)

My goal in writing this series of articles is to assist the reader in transitioning from believing the satanic lie to returning to faith in the biblical narrative.

The Earth Is the Center of God’s Creation

One of the first things we learn from Genesis is that the earth is the center or focus of God’s creation.

This is very important. Satan’s heliocentric view flatly contradicts what the Bible teaches, making the sun the center of everything. The evolutionary Big Bang cosmos tells us that the earth is an infinitesimally small and insignificant part of an incomprehensibly large universe, or perhaps a multiverse, according to string theory.

If the earth is the center, man is the focus, making him supremely important, just as the Bible says.

It is easy to understand why Satan wants us to think we are unimportant. If we know that the God who created and watches over us made us central to his purposes, it will motivate us to learn more about him and want to serve him. If we believe the heliocentric lie, it will tend to demotivate us and make us feel alone and hopeless. Satan’s plan has always been to usurp the glory that belongs to the Lord. One way he does this is by convincing us to believe a lie that hides God by distorting our understanding of creation.

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1 (NKJV)

When confronted with the unwelcome news that extensive measurement of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation indicates that the earth is the center of the universe, Dr. Edwin Hubble, after whom the famous telescope is named, refused to accept the results on philosophical grounds.

…Such a condition would imply that we occupy a unique position in the universe, analogous, in a sense, to the ancient conception of a central Earth…This hypothesis cannot be disproved, but it is unwelcome and would only be accepted as a last resort in order to save the phenomena. Therefore we disregard this possibility…. the unwelcome position of a favored location must be avoided at all costs…. such a favored position is intolerable…Therefore, in order to restore homogeneity, and to escape the horror of a unique position…must be compensated by spatial curvature. There seems to be no other escape.”(The Observational Approach to Cosmology)

This quote illustrates the anti-god bias of the scientific community, which, for the most part, refuses to acknowledge God or the scriptures. 

As mentioned before, the ancient Hebrews believed the earth is a stationary plane sitting upon the

waters above which God constructed a crystalline firmament, in which he placed the sun, moon, and stars. God’s throne is situated atop the firmament, from where he observes everything that happens on the earth and in the heavens.

It is He who sits above the circle 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)

Some well-intentioned but misguided Bible believers use this verse to support the claim that the earth is a globe, but the word translated “circle” – chug in Hebrew – means to inscribe or draw a circle, as one would do with a compass. Isaiah uses the word “ball” in another place (Isaiah 22:18); so, he knew the difference. Proven laws of physics dispute the globe narrative, as well. Consider that water always seeks its own level and gas cannot be kept under pressure without a container.

Isaiah 40:22 fits well with other verses that describe the earth in this way.

When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, 28 When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed, 29 When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth; Proverbs 8:27–29 (NASB95)

The above passage confirms that God inscribed a circle on the waters to make the earth. He also antarctic ice wallcreated a boundary for the sea, which we now understand is a giant ring of ice, a wall, that surrounds the earth. Globe supporters contest that Antarctica is a continent at the “bottom” of the globe, but the Bible indicates the earth has a boundary, and early explorers, such as Cook and Ross, discovered it is the ice wall, which they spent years exploring its limits, both of whom traveled over 60,000 miles.The Bible refers to this wall as the “ends of the earth.”

For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens. Job 28:24 (NASB95)

Isaiah 40:22 only makes sense if we use the Hebrew concept of the earth being under a crystalline dome called the firmament. Another verse in Job compares the creation of the earth to a seal being stamped in wax. The following image captures this idea in which the ends of the earth again are the walls of ice surrounding her.

Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? 14 As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors. Job 38:13–14 (NLT)

biblical cosmology

(If this seems too much to swallow at the moment, I recommend that you watch the videos on Antarctica that I have collected on my Resource Page.)

We also learn from Proverbs 8:29 that God placed the earth on foundations, as he did the firmament. Anything so massive as the earth and its dome must have massively strong foundations.

Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, 2 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, 4 Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. 5 You who laid the foundations of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever, Psalm 104:1–5 (NKJV)

As we will see in the next article on the firmament, his upper chambers are above the firmament, where his throne sits. 

God refers to the earth as a plane in Revelation.

And they came up on the broad plain (Greek: platos) of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. Revelation 20:9 (NASB95)

It is significant that God calls the entire earth a platos or broad plain. This word is also used to describe the New Jerusalem that will descend from heaven.

The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width [platos]; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. Revelation 21:16 (NASB95)

The enormous size of this city could not fit anywhere on a globe due to the required curvature of the surface. Over a distance of 1500 miles, the earth must curve a total of 281 miles or 140.5 miles all the way around from the center point. Therefore, the city could only be set on a flat surface. 

Another interesting verse that I will cover in greater depth in the firmament article, is from Amos.

The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded 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)

In more than one place, God says the earth has a face. This term only makes sense on a flat surface. A ball or globe, especially one that rotates, has no portion that we would all a face.

Other verses that indicate the earth is a plane rather than a globe are found in Daniel and Matthew, where it is said the the entire earth can be viewed from a great height.

The tree grew large and became strong And its height reached to the sky, And it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Daniel 4:11 (NASB95)

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; Matthew 4:8 (NASB95)

I am assuming that you, the reader, believe as I do that God’s Word is absolutely true and accurate and that he would not lie to us. Theoretically it should be possible to view the ends of the earth from an extremely high vantage point, if not for perspective issues due to the way our eyes are made and atmospheric conditions – but only if we live on a plane surface. It would never be possible if the globe is real. Likewise, it would be impossible for the return of our Lord to be seen by everyone on the earth unless we live on a plane.

BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. Revelation 1:7 (NASB95)

There is a reason flying machines are called airplanes. They fly straight and level. Likewise, the reason the horizon has that name is because it does not curve. It is a horizontal line. In the same way, sea level describes the proven law that water does not curve, but always seeks its own level. The testimony of the Bible and our senses is that we live on a stationary plane. We are not moving. 

The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. Psalm 93:1 (NKJV)

Scripture says that the heavens and earth teach us about God. Therefore, properly understanding its shape and composition is important.

They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:19–20 (NLT)

How can we possibly “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) if we live on a water ball spinning at around 1000 mph at the equator, hurtling around the sun at an incomprehensible 66,600 mph, zooming through the galaxy at 500,000 mph, and traveling with the galaxy through the vastness of “space” at around a million miles per hour? God’s stillness and peace cannot be known on such a unstable platform! The earth is still and we know it. Becoming still like the earth God made helps us to know the Creator.

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1 (NKJV)
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