Category: Biblical Cosmology

Why Understanding God’s Design for the World Is Important

flat earth

The Bible says that rightly perceiving God’s design of the heavens and earth gives us a better understanding of who he is.

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

O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! Psalm 8:1 (NKJV)

The Word of God provides us with a lot of very good information about the earth on which we live, but we need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes, especially if we have been previously taught a lie. It is much more difficult for us to perceive truth after we have believed a lie. Mark Twain said: “How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again!”

The scriptures tell us that our Lord keeps some things secret but hides other things with the intention that we dig for truth and discover what he wants to show us. 

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever... Deuteronomy 29:29a (NKJV) 

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2 (NKJV)

It is our honor to search out these hidden things in his Word with the help of the Holy Spirit, whose ministry is to reveal them to us.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. John 16:13–14 (NKJV)

God’s design of our world is a fascinating study which we can piece together from passages in Genesis and other places in Scripture. God loves a mystery, and has built into us a desire to pursue a solution.

It is my firm belief that (1.) God says what he means and means what he says and that (2.) he uses language that is very exact and specific.

Jesus said that God will judge us for every careless word we speak (Matthew 12:36); therefore, we must conclude that God holds himself to the same high standard. He only says what is true. He would not deceive us in any way. Jesus told us that…

...[God's] word is truth. John 17:17b (NASB95)

Genesis reveals that God first created the “deep,” which had a “face.”

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2 (NKJV)

A face is the part of something with which we interact. The seas have a face with which God interacted during creation and which always point upward toward heaven. The Spirit of God moved or “hovered” over it. This tells us that from the beginning God established an “up” and a “down,” elements associated with a plane rather than a sphere. I hope you do not think I am playing with words to deceive you. God never does that. His words have exact meaning. It is only because we have believed a lie that the earth is spherical that we would think that the seas having a “face” is an irrelevant anthropomorphism. Once we understand that the earth is a plane, calling the surface of the waters a “face” makes perfect sense because it is the side of the waters facing God’s throne, which is above.

Since Copernicus, modern astrophysicists have insisted that we accept as a fact a non-biblical concept of a spinning spherical earth, on which up and down have only relative meaning. I believe that this was a huge step in Satan’s push to make us believe that all truth is relative.

At this point, there was no light or land (earth), only deep water stretching out on a level, as all water does, which had a face. By necessity, these waters were bounded, because water must be. We will learn more about this later. Then God created light, without the existence of any light source besides himself.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Genesis 1:3–5 (NASB95)

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:3–5 (NKJV)

Materialists scoff at such an idea, insisting that this is a scientific error in the Bible that stemmed from the author’s ignorance. But Moses, the author of Genesis who was inspired by the Holy Spirit’s, was not a stupid man. He knew full well what he was saying. He knew that light on earth came mainly from the sun, whose circuit around the earth determines night and day. He did not write what he did because people of his day were uninformed. He wrote under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. Since God always tells the truth, we unashamedly conclude that God must have lit the earth with his own light and orchestrated night and day without the sun.

Materialists believe that the physical world is the only reality, but the Bible tells us that the spiritual world pre-existed it.

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:3 (NASB95)

We must be humble enough to admit that there is much we still do not understand about God, creation, and the realm of the Spirit.

Next God created the firmament, a solid and mighty (Job 37:18) structure, comparable to beaten out or molten metal, which God stretched over the waters like a vaulted dome that separated the water below from the water above. To learn more insight the amazing firmament, you can read my previous article on the subject.

Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 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. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. Genesis 1:6–8 (NKJV)

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)

Many ancient cultures scattered over the earth had this understanding of our world. Below is a very much “not to scale” depiction that Bible scholars agree typifies the ancient Hebrew understanding of what the Bible teaches.

hebrew earth

Today most modern people scoff at such an “archaic” notion, believing that it has been disproved by science. However, upon closer inspection, we discover that much of the theoretical physics of the universe has a very shaky speculative foundation. Could it be, rather, that ancient peoples, who were closer to Adam, had knowledge passed down orally regarding the nature of our world? Could it be that the Bible is correct and modern science has veered away from God’s truth? It certainly would not be the first time.

Many Bible-believing Christians are confident that the “scientific” theories of the self-generation or evolution of the universe and all life is completely false. We adhere to the Bible account of creation in the matter of life. Would it be surprising to find out that the Copernican theory, which contradicts the creation account of Genesis Chapter One, is also a lie?

The Bible says that God’s Word is a light to our path and a lamp to our feet. As we follow it, we sometimes end up in surprising places. We must be brave enough to go wherever God’s truth may take us.

Ezekiel provides us with unique perspectives from under and above the vault of the amazing firmament, which I covered in another article. We do not know how far above the surface of the earth this vaulted dome extends, nor do we know its extent in relation to the earth’s surface. God has not revealed this to us, and we cannot explore the “ends of the earth” because the Antarctic Treaty has cordoned off that area from independent investigation. We can agree however that it is vast and mighty beyond our comprehension.

After creating the seas, light, and the firmament, the Lord next created the land.

Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:9–10 (NASB95)

Modern astronomers call their spinning globe the “earth,” thereby combining two distinct parts of creation, the waters and the earth, into one. This merger supposes that the earth is primary and the seas secondary. The Word of God, however, says that the seas are primary as far as creation goes, with the earth coming later.

The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters. Psalm 24:1–2 (NKJV)

God says that the earth has pillars and foundations and cannot be moved unless God shakes them in judgment. Some of the earlier chapters of Job contain the opinions of men, which sometimes may be incorrect, but starting in chapter 38, God himself speaks. We can be sure that everything revealed in that section is completely accurate. The Lord asked Job…

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?...6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, Job 38:4a,6 (NKJV)

God also tells us that the world, both the seas and the land, shall not be moved, belying the claims of Copernicus et.al. that the earth is hurtling at breakneck speed through an infinitely expanding universe.

Tremble before Him, all the earth. The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved. 1 Chronicles 16:30 (NKJV) 

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.” Psalm 96:10 (NKJV)

solar system No one on earth has ever sensed any sort of motion, except during earthquakes. If astrophysicists are correct, and the rotating earth is revolving around a sun that is moving around our galaxy, which is moving in the larger universe, how then is it possible for stars to appear in the night sky year after year in the same positions? Rather than describing concentric circles, time lapse photography of the movement of the stars should show that they wobble and weave all over the sky in agreement with the supposed movement of the sun and its planets. Nothing like that is true however. The stars show regular motion night after night, indicating that they are the ones moving around a fixed earth, just as the Bible says.

star trails 2

God also set a boundary for the seas. The most obvious boundaries are the shorelines of the masses of land projecting upward from the oceans. These boundaries were overflowed during Noah’s great flood, but God promised afterward that such a catastrophe would never take place again. The passage below references this promise.

 

 

You who laid the foundations of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever, 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains. 7 At Your rebuke they fled; At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. 8 They went up over the mountains; They went down into the valleys, To the place which You founded for them. 9 You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, That they may not return to cover the earth. Psalm 104:5–9 (NKJV)

Additionally, the Bible reveals that there is a circular outer boundary as well.

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, 30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Proverbs 8:27–30 (NKJV)

Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, If you know? Proverbs 30:4 (NKJV)

God “drew a circle on the face of the deep” and “bound” or restricted the waters by what is translated as a “garment,” which has the meaning of a restricting wrapper or boundary. The “ends of the earth” are its extreme limits, something that would be meaningless on a sphere. This means that the waters of the oceans are contained within a sort of basin, which comports with the known physics of water, rather than somehow overflowing and adhering to a spherical surface called the globe, which violates all known laws of the physics of water. In a similar way the theory of evolution posits that matter progresses from the chaos of an explosion to the complexity of living beings all by chance, a violation of common sense and the second law of thermodynamics or entropy, which observes that systems move from order to disorder, as anyone who cleans homes knows. The chaos of an explosion cannot produce a watch any more than a mysterious hypothesized force called gravity can make water curve convexly over vast areas of the oceans while simultaneously overcoming the unimaginable power of the the centrifugal force created by a rotational spin of 1039 mph.

Satan’s lies make fools of all who believe them. I have come to the place in my life when I no longer wish to be Satan’s fool by believing men’s theories over God’s Word. I will be God’s fool, if necessary, in the eyes of men, but not the devil’s, in the eyes of God.

The Bible tells us that God sits above the firmament, looking down on his creation. Isaiah describes this amazing scene in which God again describes the world in which we live as a “circle” (Hebrew – chug) rather than as a sphere or ball, which is another word entirely (Hebrew – dur – Isaiah 22:18). Remember, God is precise in his wording.

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 [chug] 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)

In the previous passage from Isaiah, the heavens, which can be synonymous with the vaulted firmament (Genesis 1:8), are spread out or stretched like a tent or curtain, within which he placed the sun, moon, and stars (Genesis 1:17).

crepuscularModern astronomy insists that the sun is gigantic and is approximately 93 million miles distant, but a case can be made that our sun is much smaller and nearer. People who have measured it using a sextant think it is approximately 32 miles in diameter and about 3000 miles distant. (Thomas Winship, Zetetic Cosmogeny, pp.114-120) The sextant, by the way, was developed to navigate seas that are on a flat plane and worked very well for centuries before Copernicus. In addition, the sun’s angled crepuscular rays shining through the clouds, which all us have seen, also suggest its nearness. If it were as far away as astrophysicists claim, its rays should be parallel.

Don’t forget that one of the devil’s chief aims is to make us doubt God’s Word and strip humanity of its wonder and awe of the Creator. Could it be that his “end game” is to convince the inhabitants of earth that we are under attack from space aliens so that under extreme duress we will gladly cede authority to a one-world government? Many believe this will be the case. We have been hearing such a narrative for quite a while now.

The “curtain” of the firmament serves as a barrier between the realm of man below and God’s realm of heaven above, much like a curtain that blocked access to the holiest place of the tabernacle of Moses and the temple of Solomon.

I believe that modern astrophysics attempts to remove all knowledge of God’s heavenly realm by declaring that the earth is hurtling through a vast rapidly expanding universe in which God cannot be found.

I believe the devil has used the Copernican system in an attempt to sever our connection with God and the reality of heaven above, requiring those of us who still hold to the concept of heaven to conceive of it as a strictly spiritual realm having no relation to our physical earth.

Scripture tells us that heaven is where God the Son sits on his throne and is an actual place separated from us by the firmament. It is located “up” – above us.

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

In the Bible up and down have meaning. John the Baptist said this about Jesus:

He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. John 3:31 (NASB95)

The precise wording of the Bible confirms that God’s realm is above, not in some completely spiritualized non-location.

I believe that just as the Holy of Holies was set apart by a curtain, only to be entered once a year by the high priest, so is heaven above separated from us by the curtain of the firmament through which Jesus, our high priest, gives us access.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19–20 (NASB95)

Through his death, resurrection, and ascension, it seems that Jesus our great high priest penetrated the curtain of the firmament as a man and opened a way for us who believe to enter into God’s throne room now in the spirit and later to pass bodily into heaven. But as we wait for that glorious resurrection day, God says that we live there already in the spirit.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:4–6 (NKJV)

At Babel, rebellious mankind tried to penetrate unlawfully into the realm reserved only for God. Unredeemed humanity has not changed; even though our technology has. One might ask how is humanity attempting to break through the firmament today? Regardless of man’s vain attempts, we can be sure that God will not allow anyone to enter illegitimately into the place above where God’s throne is located. (Ezekiel 1:26)

One day our Lord will roll back the firmament like a scroll (Revelation 6:14-17), revealing the absolute truth of God’s Word to the entire world all at once. At that point in time, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess what will suddenly become obvious to all – Jesus is Lord!

Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Matthew 26:64 (NKJV)

Come, Lord Jesus!

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The Amazing Firmament

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Most modern people who have studied science in school believe that the Bible word “firmament” is merely a vague reference to the atmos above a spherical earth and the vast reaches of “outer space” beyond. That is why most Bible translators use English words like “expanse” for the Hebrew raqia. This is an example of translators’ bias. Raqia literally means something hard like beaten out metal. In Genesis 1:8, God called the firmament (raqia) heaven (shamayim). God used the firmament to separate the waters (mayim) below from those above. So above the firmament there was and is (Psalm 148:4) water. The shamayim contain mayim.

Therefore, the firmament is hard and strong enough to support the enormous weight of untold amounts of water.

The KJV and NKJV are faithful to the Hebrew and use the word “firmament” to communicate its solidity and strength.The Bible has some amazing revelations about the firmament besides its strength. Journey with me and allow yourself to consider that the firmament is real and exactly what the Bible says it is.

The first place outside of Genesis where we encounter the firmament is 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. It seems that God pulled them into heaven, much as he did with Ezekiel and John the Revelator later. Below are verses that describe those later occasions.

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)

Below are some significant insights these verses provide.

  • God inhabits a place where the hard “pavement” has a clarity like the sky, the color of sapphire or lapis lazuli.
  • 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.
  • God’s throne rests on this sapphire-like pavement of the firmament and is also the color of sapphire. John likened the firmament below it to a sea of glass.
  • 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 our Lord Jesus himself that God is a spirit whom heaven cannot contain, but Jesus acquired a human body and has been given authority to judge. It is he who sits on the throne as the glorious son of man prophesied by Daniel in a physical place called heaven located above the firmament.
  • The rainbow appears at God’s throne, which reveals what a abomination it is that an inversion and corruption of this symbol now represents something quite anti-God. Could it be possible that the northern lights are expressions of God’s glory above the firmament? One day we will find out!

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 one who sits on the throne. (Isaiah 34:4 and Revelation 6:14)

At that point in history, every eye shall see him. The one who ascended through the heavens after his resurrection (Ephesians 4:10) will be revealed when the heavens are no more. Then 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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Truth Hidden in “Plane” Sight

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Unless we are accustomed to examining God’s Word in detail and accepting what it says, instead of bending it to fit our presuppositions, we can miss a lot. It is easy for those who ascribe to the globe earth theory to miss what is hidden in plain sight.

For example, Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness clearly teaches us that the earth is a plane.

And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’ ” Luke 4:5–8 (NASB95)

There is no reason not to take these words as being literally true, unless, of course, we are hebrew earthprecommitted to a globe earth position. There is only one way this scenario could take place, which should be obvious to all. The earth has to be a circular plane, the whole of which can be observed if one gets high enough.

This corresponds perfectly to another view of earth from very high up described by the prophet Isaiah.

It is He who sits above the circle [not sphere] 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)

Since every matter will be established from the testimony of two or three witnesses, here is a third verse that necessitates a plane earth.

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)

The above verse describes a similar phenomenon, but this time from the vantage point of being on the surface of the earth instead of being high overhead. 

There is only one way everyone on earth could see Jesus at once, and that is if the earth is a plane, making our Lord’s Second Coming a “plane” sight.

We know that Jesus shall descend from the clouds in a similar manner as he ascended.

And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9–11 (NASB95)

He will come down out of heaven in a way that everyone on the plane earth will see him all at once. This is truth hidden in “plane” sight.

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Where Is God?

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Most of us have been taught to think of heaven as a spiritual “place” that cannot be physically located. This is a necessary belief in a Big Bang, ever-expanding universe that has no absolute up or down and in which we are less than a speck in comparison to the whole. It might surprise you that the Bible specifically locates heaven where God dwells. 

(Now, before you object too strenuously that God is a Spirit whom heaven cannot contain, understand that this is a “both/and” situation, not an “either/or” scenario. He is a spirit, but he also dwells in heaven in bodily form as the Lord Jesus. This is a mystery that boggles the imagination but is true.)

Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?” 3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. Psalm 115:2–3 (NASB95)

Now all we have to do is locate heaven, which the Bible does for us. It tells us that heaven is “above” the earth.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His 
lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. Psalm 103:11 (NASB95)

For those who accept the biblical cosmology of Genesis Chapter One, this is easy. We understand that above is “up.” For those who spiritualize the Bible account and accept the globe and heliocentric model, “above” is a relative term that can locate nothing, since “above” to someone on one side of the “globe” is the opposite of what “up” is on the other side. (As a side note, whenever absolutes become relativized, it is an indication of the work of the great deceiver.)

The Bible tells us that after his resurrection Christ “ascended” (went “up”) into heaven.

He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) Ephesians 4:10 (NASB95)

Now we know that when Christ rose from the dead, he did so bodily. This is a key doctrine of Christianity. His disciples were able to touch his risen body. He ate and drank with them. Therefore, the risen Christ’s body must be located in a physical place called heaven, which the Bible tells us is above.

hebrew earthThis corresponds to the creation account of Genesis, which informs us that God created a giant dome to cover the earth called the firmament. (To read more about the firmament, click here.) Although we do not know a great deal about this structure, the Bible tells us a few things.

  • It separates waters above from waters below.
  • It is crystalline in nature and looks like glass or sapphire.
  • It is as strong as molten metal.
  • It has multiple layers.

The Bible tells us that God’s throne is atop the firmament.

It is He who sits above the circle [not "sphere"] 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)

We are given “snapshots” of this place called heaven in Exodus, Ezekiel, and Revelation.

Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank. Exodus 24:9–11 (NASB95)

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)

Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. Revelation 4:5–6 (NASB95)

Moses and the elders of Israel, in their physical bodies, were in this physical place eating in God’s presence. Its description matches what Ezekiel and John saw. Paul visited what he called the “third heaven,” not knowing whether he was in the body or out of his body. (2 Corinthians 12:2) This implies that it is possible to be there “in the body,” which agrees with Jesus’ being seated there in his resurrection body.

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1 (NASB95)

Putting all this together, we see that the scriptures do not allow us to merely spiritualize heaven without locating it. It is a real place where the Son of God now sits on his throne, which is above the earth, atop the firmament. One day, God will open the heavens to reveal Christ in all his glory for all to see at once. (Revelation 6:14)

Yes, the Bible is literally true and heaven is an actual place. All we have to do is look up.

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:27–28 (NKJV)
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The Sky Is the Limit

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Are there any limitations placed on mankind? Some think not. Others believe we live in an enclosed system designed by God. The Bible says that God created something called the firmament on Day 2 in Genesis Chapter One. This is a massive solid dome of unknown height, width, and composition. In it the Creator placed the sun, moon, and stars. He put waters above and below it. On top of this crystalline-like dome, God’s throne is located.

The firmament serves as a barrier between God’s realm and ours.

O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! Psalm 8:1 (NKJV)

Nimrod, according to tradition, was behind the first failed attempt to penetrate this barrier. The tower of Babel was an attempt to “make domea name” for himself, rather than glorifying God. Tradition says that Nimrod wanted to shoot God with an arrow. Although this is not in the Bible, I think it fits with the depraved heart of man. God cut off this plan by confusing the language of the builders and scattering them over the face of the earth. In case you did not realize it, mankind has not given up on this quest. Every rocket launch is another attempt to breach the firmament.

God placed the earth under man’s authority and dominion, but he reserved heaven for himself.

The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But the earth He has given to the sons of men. Psalm 115:16 (NASB95)

Heaven is a real place that is reserved for God, the holy angels, and those purchased by the blood of our Lord Jesus. No one from NASA, ESA, or Space X will ever go there with a rocket. Outer space is a hoax. According to the Bible, the sky is the limit.

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The Primary Importance of Genesis Chapter One

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Genesis Chapter One describes how God created the cosmos – the seas, earth, firmament, sun, moon, and stars, as well as living creatures. As such, it is of primary importance.

The battle of the ages is being fought over Genesis because, if it can be shown that it is not literally and actually true, then there is no reason to assume that anything else in the Bible is true.

This is why Satan has worked so hard to convince us that the story proposed by those who espouse evolutionary astrophysics is real. If we accept the Big Bang theory and the heliocentric model as reality, we must conclude that the Bible is an archaic fairy tale.

I have conversed with numerous Bible-believing Christians who insist that it is not necessary or even correct to accept that Genesis is literally true. They believe that Jesus rose from the dead. They believe that the gospel message is true and tell me that insisting on a literal interpretation of Genesis is an unnecessary obstacle to people’s accepting the gospel’s claims.

Without fully realizing it, those who reject the literal truth of Genesis have set foot upon the slippery slope of deciding which parts of the Bible are true and which merely contain truth, which is exactly the position of the more liberal denominations which have departed from the faith.

By the way, how can something untrue contain truth? That is the equivalent of saying that God can use a lie to lead us into truth.

Why do any of us who believe the Bible think that it is necessary to reject a literal interpretation of Genesis Chapter One? Is it not because we regard the claims of what is called science to be of greater value than God’s Word?

If we accept the proclamations of theoretical science above God’s Word, we have become idolators who worship at the altar of “Scientism,” which has its own high priests and prophets who tell us what we must believe.

I admit that people come to faith in Christ and his resurrection without believing that Genesis is literally true. I did. But this does not mean that believing Genesis is true is not important. Jesus said the the scripture cannot be “broken,” (John 10:35) meaning that every word of God is true. He said in another place that we are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). People who already believe in Jesus will continue to do so regardless of whether they accept a literal interpretation of Genesis. To them, it is whether Genesis is literally true is non-essential. However, those who are in the process of exploring the claims of the Bible and who read Genesis are faced with a huge obstacle to faith. Everything they have been taught from infancy rejects the creation account of Genesis. They must decide what to do with the Bible. Many decide that Genesis is not true and therefore reject all the Bible’s claims.

The goal of evolutionary astrophysics, geology, paleontology, and biology is to convince us that our universe and all life sprang from nothingness by random chance without any input from a Creator.

We have to admit that Satan’s plan has wonderfully succeeded. He has successfully eliminated the Bible from public education and the halls of what is called science. Any reference to a Creator is rejected as being unscientific. Science must be able to explain everything without any reference to God, using only mechanistic processes. The Bible takes the exact opposite position: in the beginning – God.

Therefore, the best way to combat the lie of evolutionary “science” is by reestablishing faith in the literal truth of Genesis.

Is this too great a leap for those who say they believe in the virgin birth and resurrection of Jesus? Have we allowed the world to slice off our faith in Jesus and place it in a little box called “religious truth,” which has no bearing or impact on the “real” world?

It is impossible to accept that the Genesis account is true and arrive at a heliocentric “solar system” in an ever-expanding universe.

Until we are willing to repent for our unbelief in the literal truth of the Genesis account, we are shooting ourselves in the foot. Any thinking person who examines the gospel’s claims and sees that we do not think Genesis is true would do well to question why we believe anything in the Bible. Cannot we see that?

But when we come face to face with the truth about the heavens and earth that God made, we can only arrive at one conclusion. There must be a Creator because no matter how truth is twisted, evolutionary processes cannot explain the existence of the solid dome-like firmament.

It is not a far jump to show those who acknowledge the Creator that the one who made everything is named Jesus, the Eternal Logos, who became a man and died for our sins and then arose as Lord of Lords, who will come again in glory when God dissolves the firmament. (2 Peter 3:12)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1–5 (NKJV)

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Resources for Researching Biblical Cosmology

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Pete 2026It is not easy to find confirming resources and information regarding biblical cosmology because big tech censors have developed algorithms that feature almost all negative information to lead people away from this amazing truth. This page contains information I have assembled while doing my own research. I hope it is helpful to you.

Everyone is on a life journey that hopefully will lead us to Christ, but not everyone who holds to the biblical version of the shape of the earth is a follower of Christ or a Bible believer. Some apparent proponents may be putting out information just for the money or to achieve notoriety. Other advocates of biblical cosmology may be truth seekers who have yet to find the One who is the Truth, Jesus. In addition, some who hold to the “flat earth” also have some very strange non- or anti-biblical theories. I have found that Satan always injects weirdness into anything God is revealing to try to bring confusion and demoralize truth seekers. As a result, we may need to glean truth from people with strange beliefs. We have to learn to “eat the chicken and spit out the bones.”

Those of us who already know the Lord have a guide, the Holy Spirit, and a map, the Bible. When we discover something new that is confirmed in the Bible, we can be sure it is the truth. Blessings to you on your journey.

Below I have broken down my information into categories, each with a separate page.

Pete Beck III

 

A Place to Start…

A Short Introductory Video

Other good articles

Recommended Video Series

Documentaries

Stand Alone Videos

Recommended Rumble Channels

Recommended YouTube Channels

Recommended Books

 
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Sealed

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Contrary to the popular straw man argument against flat earth, it is impossible to sail off the edge. This is because God designed the earth with a rim to contain the water.

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 8:29 (NKJV)

These water-containing edges, which are also called the “ends” of the earth, consist of an ice wall that surrounds the circle of the earth. The continent of Antarctica does not exist, which is why it is so closely guarded today. The powers that be do not want us to find out that we live in an enclosed world created by God.

God told Job that the earth was formed like clay under a seal. We do not use these devices any longer, but the picture below shows how edges are formed when the seal is pressed into the soft medium. This is how the seas are contained on the “flat” earth.

clay seal 2

God created it. He should know.

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Confronting the Science Idol

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Have you ever wondered why its okay to believe in the resurrection, but not in the biblical earth and heavens? Both contradict the tenets of science.

resurrection

hebrew earthNon-believers usually will not challenge us Christians when we proclaim that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, because it relegates such professions to the category of “religion,” where Jesus is just one god among many, and our declaration of faith is viewed as a faith in a myth that does not impact any part of the “real world.” Believing that the Bible’s version of the earth and heavens is true, however, challenges a great number of scientific myths that propagandists have convinced people to swallow “hook, line, and sinker.”

The world does not understand that when Jesus rose from the dead, God declared him to be Lord over everything.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9–11 (NLT)

This means that he rules over every aspect of life: religion, family life, sexuality, business, education, entertainment, science, and government. The early Christians were persecuted and martyred for professing Jesus’ lordship over the Roman empire, which included Caesar. This made the Romans and Caesar, in particular, angry. They wanted everyone to profess allegiance to their gods and to their leader over every other god. Christians could not do that. They had one God and one Lord, for whom they were willing to suffer and die.

Whenever we confront society’s idols, we will make people angry.

Jesus is called both the “Word of God” (John 1:14) and the “Truth” (John 14:6). Our Lord taught us that the Word of God is true (John 17:17) and cannot be “broken” (John 10:35) or changed. Since Jesus is lord over everything and the Bible is always true, this makes the Bible our gold standard for truth in all matters which it addresses, not just religion and morals.

If we deny or resist what the Bible teaches on a certain matter, we are in rebellion against God in that particular area and have elevated something above God, making it an idol.

The areas in which the Bible’s authority is being assaulted with the greatest ferocity are the places where Jesus’ lordship is being contested the most and where Satan is working hardest. Presently, the world most seems to hate with great passion what God’s Word says in the areas of abortion, sexuality, and gender. When we rebel against God’s truth in these areas, it is the equivalent of telling God that we don’t like how he made us or how he says we are to live. People do this without realizing that everything God does and says is meant for our good. Our fundamental rebellion is against God’s having any right to tell us what to do, isn’t it? Our greatest sin is that we want to live without any regard to or relationship with the one who created and sustains us.

Sadly, I have observed that many who profess faith in Christ and generally seek to submit to his lordship, have a rather significant area of idolatry  – science. 

Many of us Christians unwittingly have allowed the world to dictate what we are allowed to believe is true “scientifically,” instead of adhering steadfastly to the scriptures. We have been intimidated by those who claim to be smarter than God into thinking that the authors of the Bible were ignorant and rather simple-minded. Satan convinced Eve that to believe what God said was naive and not in her best interests, fueling a desire to go astray from God’s command. Too many of us have been convinced that it is quite stupid or ignorant to believe that the scriptures are literally true when it comes to creation and the nature of the heavens and earth.

Like Eve in the garden, we have been told that if we want to be wise, and we do, we need to believe the scientists rather than what God has told us in the Bible.

The heretics of the Enlightenment, whom the world idolizes, threw off the constraints of the Bible and established what is now considered to be the “gold standard” of cosmological truth, which includes the Big Bang theory and the heliocentric model. This theory of the cosmos has been inculcated into every child for many, many years now, grooving the minds of millions to think in only one direction. We have been so convinced that this way of viewing the cosmos is correct that we manage to overlook or twist what the Bible says to make it fit what we have been taught is “gospel” truth.

However, it is impossible to believe in heliocentrism or the Big Bang while at the same time believing that Genesis Chapter One is true. A decision must be made whether we will believe God or man.

The world (Satan) has convinced many Christians that Genesis and the rest of the Bible are useless for science and understanding the true nature of the heavens and earth. This means that either God is a liar or the Bible is not really his inerrant Word, which is exactly where Satan wants to guide us. This is why so many modern day astrophysicists are atheists. They have believed a false version of the cosmos, which testifies that there is no God. The true version, however, reveals God’s existence. (Psalm 19:1) That is why so many previously atheistic “flat earthers” have come to believe in the Creator God. (Click here to listen to testimonies.)

The earth and heavens as described in Genesis could not exist without a Creator.

Perhaps we Christians who still believe in heliocentrism do so because we have not been challenged to repent of our worship of science. If this article made you angry, perhaps your idol is being confronted. I encourage you to return to faith in God’s Word above every false contender for your allegiance.

Prayer

Lord, I pray that you will open our eyes to any area where we have bowed the knee to man instead of believing your Word. Help us to tear down the altar to science that we may have erected in our hearts that boasts against your Word and calls you a liar. We repent and ask forgiveness. Help us to exalt you and your word, even if it means enduring the scorn of those who choose to regard men’s opinions higher than God’s truth. Help us not to serve anyone or anything except you, Jesus, the one who created the cosmos and certainly knows how it works. Amen.

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What about Herman?

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One of my favorite comedic movies is What about Bob, starring Bill Murray. Murray plays the part of neurotic psychiatric patient whose persistence enables him to move from being a pesky nuisance to becoming the most important member of the family.

When it comes to understanding the Bible creation account in Genesis Chapter One, perhaps we should ask, “What about Herman?”

Like Bob in the movie, Herman may seem irritating at first, but he can help us a lot. Who is Herman? I am glad you asked. His full name is Herman Neutics.

Hermeneutics is the study of the general principles of Bible interpretation which are meant to guide us to a proper exegesis (a pulling out of the meaning) of biblical passages, as opposed to eisegesis, which is the reading our presuppositions into the Bible text.

One of the basic ideas of good Bible interpretation is that a passage must at least mean what the author meant it to say. It could mean more, but not less. This is important when it comes to the creation account and the nature of the earth and heavens.

We should ask ourselves, “What was the view of the cosmos held by the authors of the Bible?”

It is acknowledged by Bible scholars that the Hebrew conception of the earth and heavens is represented by the following illustration. hebrew earth

This view was held until around 500 years ago with the advent of the Copernican revolution and the Enlightenment. Such notable teachers as Luther and Calvin rebuked the Copernican heresy for contradicting the Bible. How sad that a few centuries later we think that those esteemed men were ignorant and misguided. They may have been unschooled in the theories of  modern astrophysics, but they knew the Bible. Today, it is often quite the opposite. Many professing Christians know more about the heliocentric theory than the Bible. This raises an important question.

 

Which has more authority in our lives and the quest for truth, so-called science or the Bible?

I am a child of the modern era and was schooled in the heliocentric view. I, like everyone else I know, was indoctrinated with an almost ever-present globe model of the earth. All the important teachers in my life told me the same story. The earth is an extremely old spinning water ball hurtling through the vast emptiness of outer space, kept in line by the power of gravity. No one I knew ever questioned this theory, even though, looking at it with fresh eyes, in many ways it is quite ludicrous.

Soon after becoming a follower of Christ in 1971, I became convinced that the Bible is God’s inerrant Word. This profoundly impacted my life. I made it my quest to study it and try to live by Jesus’ teachings. When it came to the Genesis creation account, however, I suspended critical thinking and simply admitted that I did not begin to know how to make it agree with modern astrophysics. This is where most Christians find themselves today. We must either reject Genesis Chapter One as a myth, poetry, or a symbolic account that has no translation into scientific fact, or believe it is literally true. It seems that most have gone with one of the former options.

This all changed for me when I saw that the earth has no provable curvature. All empirical measurements show that it is flat. The only way globe believers can make their case is by relying on NASA images from “outer space” and by interpreting eclipses to “prove” the earth’s shape. But proving curvature in some other way has not and cannot be done because the earth is a plane, not a globe. (I believe the images delivered by NASA and other space agencies are computer generated, and eclipses can be explained in other ways using a flat earth model. I have created a resource page for those wishing to learn more.)

After becoming convinced that the earth’s surface does not curve as the globe model requires, I read Genesis with new eyes. Now I accept Genesis One as a true account, an actual history of how God did it. Herman and I are back in sync. I now see the scriptures with the same eyes as those who authored the Bible.

It’s amazing how the Scriptures come alive when we stop superimposing our “scientific” presuppositions upon the text and let it speak for itself.

Now I can accept that God created the dome of the firmament on Day Two, and the sun on Day Four, placing it, the moon, and the stars in the firmament. We do not revolve around them. They go around us. That’s how the ancients saw it, and, guess what, they were right. We have been grossly deceived and tricked into rejecting the Bible. Sound familiar?

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