What did God mean when He created a vault between the waters to separate water from water?
Genesis 1:6
NKJV - 6 Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
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Asked August 25 2014
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Irene Freeman
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Dwayne Hiler
a. Let there be a firmament: The idea of a firmament is of an expanse (NIV, NAS) or space (NLT). The waters of the land are separated from the water vapor in the sky.
Dean Mathes
When God created the earth He originally created a layer of water above the atmosphere. This layer of water created a perfect environment for the entire earth. Imagine the entire surface of the earth with a perfect temperature of 78 degrees. Adam and Eve didn’t need clothes because the temperature was regulated. There was no rain because the Sun’s rays didn’t penetrate the water to create evaporation. That idealic condition changed with the flood. The Bible says the “the windows of heaven were opened.” The layer of water fell to earth to cause the great flood. The atmosphere changed and man had rain and rainbows for the first time. If you want to read more about the physics behind this reality. Check out “The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch“ by Donald Patten.
Ernie Carter
The whole earth was covered with deep liquid water and that water was exposed to the vacuum of space. With no atmospheric pressure the water would rapidly boil and turn to several miles of water vapor until its weight created sufficient pressure. The "vault" or sky was an expanse that God made to separate liquid water below from the gaseous water above. He called it sky. We would call it our atmosphere. It is unclear if the water above is in the stratosphere or the outer reaches of space. It is however clear that the atmosphere as we now know it can only hold the equivalent of a few feet of water so this is not the source of the flood. Remember that God specifically said that the stars were to be signs for us so we had to be able to see them. The flood water mostly came from subterranean sources and it continued rising for 150 days while the rain stopped after only 40 days. At the point Genesis says God had not sent rain on the earth it was only day two of the creation week so it is speculation to say it did not rain after the 6th day when the creation was finished.
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