Day 2
The second "official" day of creation is in Genesis 1:6-8. In this day, God creates the heavens..
Chapter 1:6-8
6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
7 God made the £expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
8 God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Now the earth has some form and energy from which other things can "run" or operate. It is still void of inhabitants. However, God now separates what is on the "globe" and determines the levels of heaven. On the first day, much of the earth was water. The word firmament (Hebrew: raqia) means "expanse" or "spread-out-thinness". The firmament and heaven appear to be synonymous. Therefore, it appears to be the separation of the firmament into heavens.

There are three heavens defined in the Bible: the atmospheric heaven (Jer. 4:25), the sidereal heaven (Isa. 13:10), and the heaven for God's throne (Heb. 9:24).

Now we discuss one of the most difficult concepts in the creation. The environment was very different during creation. That is obvious. However, those differences followed afterward in many generations until after the Flood. There were no mountains, rivers, etc. yet. God is generating a system of perfection. If, somehow, we could have an atmosphere with certain qualities, we could have perfect weather and environmental conditions good enough for everything that exists (or will exist). What kind of an atmosphere could that be? Enter the "DOME" concept. If a dome of moisture could be continuously over and around the earth, dew dropping and evaporation rising could balance each other out and be a perfect system. So how could that happen? If somehow the waters on the earth, which are now organized and in a spherical shape, could be separated vertically then there could be a layer of water on the bottom, a separation layer (spread out thin), and a thickness of water above that center separation. Some writers have described this system as a "shell" of ice or water around the earth. Look at the advantages of such a system:
  • the highest water vapor would have the ability to transmit incoming solar radiation and still retain and disperse much of the radiation reflected from the earth. In other words, we would have a built-in greenhouse effect maintaining a uniformly pleasant warm temperature all over the world.
  • Uniform temperatures would preclude and storms and windstorms.
  • With no global air circulation, the water cycling as we know it could not be implemented. There would be no rain because of the balance of water and atmosphere.
  • With no air circulation, there would be no turbulence. The water vapor in the "canopy" would be stable and not precipitate itself (i.e. rain).
  • Planet would be a constant temperature and comfortable.
  • Combinations of warm temperature and moisture everywhere would also result in no sand deserts or ice caps; but, would result in lush vegetation all over the world.
  • The canopy would filter out UV radiations and other radiation.
  • Would the weight of the vapor be great enough to induce greater pressure on the bodies (to come later). Even today barometric pressure is being studied with its affects on the body. At this time, increased pressure would be an advantage to us.
  • Later, this dome will contribute greatly to the Flood

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