Bible Cosmology (6)

Earth
Dropping down to earth, the picture is very different from the modern view. Earth is set on foundations (1 Sam.2:8; 2 Sam.22:16; Job 38:4,6; Psa.82:5; Psa.104:5); the sun, moon, and stars are all in “the expanse of the sky” but below the firmament that holds up heaven. There is water above that firmament and water below it. The waters below are the oceans we are familiar with. Isaiah talks about the “ends of the earth” (Isa.41:5) and the Psalmist says “their words [go] to the ends of the world” (Psa.19:46; Psa.22:27; Psa.72:8; Isa.13:5) —something that a globe doesn’t have but a flat earth does. Again, a globe hardly fits the picture when Zophar talks about the mysteries of God, that “their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.” (Job 11:8,9) In fact, the Lord suggests that the dawn “might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it.” (Job 38:12,13) In the same vein, the Psalmist talks about the sun, when “it rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other” (Psa.19:4-6) —or the whole span of the earth “from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting” (Isa.45:6; Mal.1:11) — again, not unique places on a globe, but well-defined on a flat earth. And when the same prophet refers to God, Who “sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” (Isa.40:22), there is really no question of a spherical shape because all other references are to a flat earth. The “circle” is the horizon, which stretches in equal distances in all directions and so constitutes a circle, with the viewer at the centre. Job and the Psalms mention how the pillars of the earth can tremble. (Job 9:6; Psa.82:5) At the same time, the Lord questions, “on what were its footings set?”(Job 38:6), and Job even goes so far as to say that “he suspends the earth over nothing.” (Job 26:7) It seems that these pillars hold the earth out of the sea. (Psa.24:1,2) If these pillars fail, the earth will give way and fall into the sea. (Psa.46:2) Along this line, Psalm 136 talks about God, “who spread out the earth upon the waters.” (Psa.136:6) Peter talks about how “long ago by God’s word…the earth was formed out of water and by water.” (2 Pet.3:5)

Matthew tells of how the devil took the Lord ‘to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour.” (Mat.4:8) Once again, this is not something you could show from any mountain on a globe, but it would be theoretically possible on a flat earth.

Isaiah says that “all the starry host will fall,” (Isa.34:4) and this would only be possible on the view that they are attached to a dome above the earth and are small but powerful lights. Obviously, one star as we know it, falling to earth, would destroy it instantly. In Mark, even Jesus uses this language of accommodation when He quotes Isaiah: “The stars will fall from the sky.” (Mark 13:25)

Terminology has gotten much more specific in 2000 years. At one time “stars” could mean “stars”, but also “planets” (wandering stars) and meteors and comets, as well as conjunctions of planets. We shouldn’t fault the ancients for semantics.

Martin Luther’s Lectures on Genesis give a similar picture: “Scripture simply says that the moon, the sun, and the stars were placed in the firmament of the heaven, below and above which heaven are the waters…It is likely that the stars are fastened to the firmament like globes of fire, to shed light at night.”

Bible Cosmology (5)

More about Heaven
Now that we’ve established that the firmament up there is solid, what is above it? For one thing, water. “God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it.” (Gen.1:7,8) The word “expanse” in NIV and NASB really is a bit of a cop-out; Genesis 1:7 in the KJV says “God made the firmament.’ The water is held back in the heavens by some type of dam, with “floodgates”. (Gen.7:11) In times of blessing, “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season.” (Deut.28:12) But then, “He waters the mountains from his upper chambers.” (Psa.104:13) At times there can be no rain, “when the heavens are shut up.” (1 Kings 8:35) The Lord tells Job, too, that there are “storehouses of the snow” and “storehouses of the hail”. (Job 38:22) Manna was up there too. (Psa.78:23-25) To be sure, the psalmist calls forth praise from the “waters above the skies.” (Psa.148:4) Amos refers to him “who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth.” (Amos 9:6)

This hard sky holds up God’s bounty in water jars (Job 38:37) that can be tipped over; and, when the floodgates of heaven in this hard sky are opened, rain falls on the earth. Storehouses of snow and hail can also use these “windows” or “doors”. Even here, we can’t get away from imagery. God’s dwelling place in the heavens is termed His “pavilion”, His “tent”, His “palace”, so that when He comes down below the sky, He “parts” the heavens, He “rends” the heavens, He “opens the doors of heaven.” It seems that those ancient writers liked best the idea of a solid sky, partly because how else would the “waters above the firmament” be held up there? [Firmament: Strong’s #7549] They also spoke of pillars holding it up, presumably out beyond the circle of the horizon, at the region referred to as “the ends of the heavens.” And God’s power can make those pillars quake, and those foundations shake.

To the writer of Genesis, heaven was just “up there”, but fairly close, because, when the Babylonians tried to build “a tower that reaches to the heavens” (Gen.11:4), it was not unreasonable to him or to them. They were going to build their tower right up against the hard sky, the solid “floor of heaven”, break their way through, and so physically enter heaven. This idea of physically reaching heaven comes up in several other places as well: perhaps Jacob’s dream in Gen. 28:12; certainly the spies of Joshua’s day described Canaanite cities ‘with walls up to the sky.” (Deut.1:28) Jeremiah says that “even if Babylon reaches the sky” (Jer.51:53), God will “send destroyers against her.” Daniel describes a tree whose “top touched the sky” (Dan.4:10,11) —a really big tree but still with that solid dome of sky up there. And Amos says “though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.” (Amos 9:2) And again, the Apostle John talks about the sins of Babylon “piled up to heaven.” (Rev.18:5)

Bible Cosmology (4)

Heaven
To expand on the previous blog, let’s look at one aspect of the Bible picture of heaven, as described by Moses, Samuel, Job, Isaiah, Malachi, Mark, and various Psalmists. The Apostle John and Jesus Himself have passing comments as well, so the picture isn’t isolated to one or two writers.

The previous blog mentioned the “firmament”. Now, how would God separate water from water? Could oceans, lakes, and rivers on the earth, be separated by a bit of air, from clouds holding the waters above the firmament? Not a very satisfactory division. Something more solid was needed. How about “something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself?” (Ex. 24:9,10) This is an outstanding event because Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up the mountain and saw the God of Israel. Since God is Spirit, they obviously didn’t see Him in all His glory, they must have seen a dimmed down representation. But the point is that they saw an image representing the sky, in a clear, hard, blue form, with God above it.

Or, how about “skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?” (Job 37:18) The speaker is Elihu, who has just gone through a magnificent list of God’s works, from His communication with man through dreams, visions of the night, or even pain; His knowledge of their every step; His power in nature in, for example, the water cycle or in fierce storms and driving wind. Then the imagery becomes personal—the breath of God produces ice, He directs the clouds over the whole earth to punish or reward. At last, Elihu addresses Job directly: “Can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?” Elihu didn’t really know what the skies were made of but the thought of hard and polished bronze was the best simile he could come up with.

Or even “an expanse, sparkling like ice?” (Ezek.1:22-26) Ezekiel was among the Jewish exiles by the Kebar River in Babylonia when, he says, “the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” Ezekiel’s visions are tough ones to understand but here and there we may be able to pick up some details of his world view. A gigantic windstorm came out of the north, and four living creatures appeared to him. We don’t really know what or who those creatures were but we do know that, “Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome…Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.” This is another simile for the sky overhead, still hard and still bright.

And what is the shape of the sky? Job calls it a vault or arch (Job 22:12-14) and likens it to a mirror. The idea of a vault or dome would be the first picture that would come from simply observing the sun, moon and stars. These rise from the horizon, arc upward, then drop to the horizon again, e.g., “the sun knows when to go down,” (Psa.104:19) and “the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.” (Ecc.1:5) Other metaphors for the firmament are tent (Psa.19:04-06; Isa.40:22), pavilion (Job 36:29) and scroll (Rev.6:14). Isaiah says that one day “all the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll.” (Isa.34:04) These are the metaphors that allow the Psalmist to say, “Part your heavens, O Lord, and come down,” (2 Sam.22:10; Psa.18:9; Psa.144:5) or, “rend the heavens and come down.” (Isa.64:1)

Isaiah quotes “the king of Babylon” when he says, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…I will ascend above the tops of the clouds.” (Isa.14:13, 14) Heaven is thus “above the stars”, and “above the tops of the clouds.” What can hold such a firmament up? Obviously, pillars—Job knew that God could make “the pillars of the heavens quake.” (Job 26:11) Isaiah talks about the heavens trembling. (Isa.13:13) And David knew that “the foundations of the heavens shook.” (2 Sam.22:8) In fact, God is the One “who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth.” (Amos 9:6) Where is that foundation, where are those pillars? Well, remember that the heavens are “vaulted” (Job 22:12-14), they are “arched”, so according to Isaiah, they must be far away, at “the ends of the heavens,” (Isa.13:05) where they come down to earth. The vaulted ceiling of a cathedral (Exeter in this image) was a perfect picture on a scale the ordinary man could understand.

Bible Cosmology (3)

Before Time Began
“Pre-beginnings”, as I have termed it, are the details that scripture may be giving us about the situation before creation. Scripture indicates that the world, as we know it, had a beginning. In fact, the whole age of the existence of the universe is called simply "time". The Apostle Paul looks back and talks about a wisdom “that God destined for our glory before time began.” 1 Cor.2:7. Later he talks about "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time." Titus 1:2. Peter refers back to that era too, when he praises Christ, “a lamb without blemish or defect”, “chosen before the creation of the world.” 1 Pet.1:20. In this context, I always enjoy C.S.Lewis’ description of “Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time” in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Beginnings

The very first verse of the Bible tells us that, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The next verse tells us that the earth was formless, empty and dark. In verse three, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” This is completely inexplicable from a modern scientific point of view— light had to come first from the “Big Bang”, then stars should have coalesced, then planets. The only way the description presented in the Bible makes sense is in a so-called three-storey or “three-decker" universe, as J.I.Packer terms it. These three storeys would be first, heaven proper, where God dwells; second, the “flat” earth that we know, with a solid dome or vault over it and the ground beneath; third, everything beneath the earth, that is, the “underworld”.

Concordists have tried every variation imaginable to make the six days of creation match up with some form of scientific development. They’re barking up the wrong tree. The fact is that none of the Bible writers had any inkling of the astronomy that we know. The ideas of a spherical earth and a solar system with other planets and an immense sun were utterly unknown, as will be shown in later blogs. They didn’t know the science so they couldn’t say.

To help set the stage for later developments in this presentation, look at what happened on Day 2: “God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” The word “expanse”, as used in the NIV is pretty vague. I would tend to go back to the KJV and use the word “firmament”—it seems to give a better idea of what the ancients had in mind—and even the King James translators. Something solid or, so-to-speak, “firm”. An apt quotation from the same era would be Shakespeare’s, “Sit, Jessica: look, how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold.” [The Merchant of Venice]

Bible Cosmology (2)

A few modern authors have touched on the understanding that the ancient Bible writers present to us. For instance, J.I. Packer, in Beyond the Battle for the Bible, says “biblical references to nature and history, so far from being “scientific” in the modern technical sense, are simply declarations, naïve, phenomenal, and non-technical, about God in relation to the world of our direct experience;…expressed in such concepts of nature as contemporary culture provided (e.g., the three-decker universe, active consciousness diffused throughout the body, etc.)…God accommodated himself to the historical and cultural situation of the human speaker and hearers…”

Dickin, in On a Faraway Day, gives a drawing (attached) of the world these old writers envisioned. At first sight, it seems amusing; then, going a hundred Bible references beyond even Dickin, we realize that this is the cosmos as the writers understood it. They usually meant their descriptions literally, not in any way figuratively. In contrast, Unger’s Bible Dictionary (p.366) talks about foundations of the heavens, windows or doors in heaven, etc., then goes on to say, “But these expressions are manifestly figurative in nature.” How so? This comment is surely wrong. Another scholarly volume, the New Bible Commentary Revised says, regarding Gen.1:6-8, “The waters above are the clouds (Cf. Prov.8:28) or, poetically, the rain reservoirs in God’s ‘lofty abode’. (Ps.104:13)” [emphasis added]. We think not— the ancient writer really did mean literal rain reservoirs.

The conclusion that Wayne Grudem reaches in Bible Doctrine [p.132] is probably our best guide: “Descriptions in the Bible of the sun rising and setting (Eccl. 1:5, et al.) merely portray events as they appear from the perspective of the human observer, and from that perspective, they give an accurate description. The lesson of Galileo…should remind us that careful observation of the natural world can cause us to go back to Scripture and re-examine whether Scripture actually teaches what we think it teaches. Sometimes, on closer examination of the text, we may find that our previous interpretations were incorrect.”

When I look at the multitude of scripture references to the cosmos— mostly Old Testament, but many from the New Testament as well, I’m amused to remember my own attitude to each one. I’ve always called myself a believer in a literal interpretation of the Bible but, somehow, I managed to fluff over each of these scriptures. At that time I understood that the writers were obviously using figurative language when they spoke of the floodgates of heaven, the pillars of the heavens, the storehouses of the snow, the earth’s foundation, walls up to the sky, the vaulted heavens, the four quarters of the earth, the circle of the earth.

Suddenly it hit me that maybe the ancient writers meant all these statements literally. Then I started to find current authors who had recognized the same facts. So here is the picture that started to emerge. It has huge repercussions in other areas of science and Bible study, such as modern geography, geology, cartography, astronomy, etc.

Bible Cosmology (1)

For several years now, I’ve been thinking about how the Bible writers viewed this physical world. The most common word to express this branch of knowledge is “cosmology”. By dictionary definition, it is “a branch of astronomy that deals with the origin, structure, and space-time relationships of the universe.” Reaching out over several blogs, I hope to cover the Bible view of the cosmos— its view of “pre-beginnings”, beginnings, heaven, earth, underworld, and endings.

From my vantage point, as I look back on some of the debates I’ve heard over the years, they were really nonsensical, when we take into account the ancient writers’ views of the world. A second problem is that churches sometimes raise particular views of science or technology to the level of dogma. A young person then has to accept it or hit the road. This should not be. A Christian should never become closed-minded about the inter-relationship of science and scripture. The analogy of God’s two books is still appropriate—there is the Book of His Word, namely God’s revelation of Himself to us; and there is the book of nature, namely what we can study and learn about His creation. To the believer, these may seem to conflict at times but we don’t know everything. We should keep working at finding resolutions; it may even be part of our assignment to “subdue the earth”.

To some, this may seem to smack of liberalism. In my defence, what started me on this track was looking at all these Scripture references not as figurative but as literal. A recent book raises the question—or perhaps throws out the challenge— about “how the Bible can present a flat-earth cosmology and yet remain free of error.” Perhaps these blogs will throw some light on the matter.

To my mind all Scripture interlocks—details tie in with one another, they mesh like well-made gears. One example is “The Math of Solomon’s Sea”, shown elsewhere in the blog.

Another interlocking example is the entirety of Psalm 145. This is an acrostic, each verse starting with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. However, in verse 13b, the letter Nun is missing. The NIV rightly restores this verse, saying, “Your dominion endures through all generations.”

Other examples would include all the prophecies of the Messiah. For instance, if the Messiah is David’s son, why does David call him Lord? (Luke 20:41) Another example is the many-dimensional claim by Jesus to Deity when He says,”Before Abraham was, I AM!” (John 8:58)

I’ve tried to take this interlocking view, where supposedly incompatible facts can be resolved, as I look at all the Scripture references I can find that bear in any way on the old writers’ understanding of the universe. Including Old and New Testaments, I found over 200 such references, some clear and unmistakable, some oblique. My purpose is to compare scripture with scripture or, in other words, put them together so they interlock, much as a Sudoku puzzle does.

The Math of Solomon’s Sea

Back in high school, I heard one student mocking another for saying that the Bible indicated that pi was 3.0. It turned out that he was quoting from the dimensions of the “sea” in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 7:23-26 and 2 Chronicles 4:2-5): the perimeter was 30 cubits and the diameter was 10 cubits— obviously pi was 3.0.

A check of Geisler & Howe’s The Big Book of Bible Difficulties shows only this “solution”: “This is not an error…the scripture simply provides a reasonable approximation. The rounding of numbers or the reporting of approximate values or measurements was a common practice in ancient times when exact scientific calculations were not used.”

What the student failed to allow for was the thickness of the rim— a handbreadth. The solution is simple if we allow an inside perimeter and an outside diameter. This may seem an odd way to measure, but the perimeter may actually have been taken from the mould rather than the bath or sea itself. And we can use the true value of pi.

Realism in Hollywood?

Movie producers seem to think that realism means adultery, murder, drugs and foul language. Of course, that reflects what’s happening out there and, since people can’t help copying what they see, our old Enemy loves it. But there is another reality. There are dedicated believers out there who try to remain pure and faithful. This other reality may not get much coverage but it breaks through in some of the strangest places.

A while back, I watched the DVD “My Dog Skip”. It’s a family movie, pretty innocuous— but one brief scene lifted it into a far higher artistic (and realistic) class. The young protagonist, Willie, is bullied by some schoolmates into staying in Greenwood Cemetery overnight. We know, but he doesn’t, that they are, themselves, afraid to stay there. As the boy cowers under a tree among the gravestones, as wind lashes the branches and spatters of rain fall, I had the very strong thought, “This is phony. What does this boy have that the others don’t?” And just at that very moment, he started to softly sing, “A sunbeam, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam. A sunbeam, a sunbeam, I’ll be a sunbeam for Him.” The reality of his faith took my breath away. The writer showed the power of Jesus to carry him through any night.

The “C.S.Lewis Society” and a “Christian Society”

C.S.Lewis in 1947

An old family friend died in September of 2009, and part of her obituary read, “fondly remembered by her many friends in church and educational circles, and the C.S.Lewis Society.” I’ve been a fan of C.S.Lewis all my adult life, and he did write some wonderful things, but the statement started me thinking. If we Christians could take all the debris from our lives, all the “fill” that just takes up our time, what would we want left? It seems to me that we would want to be left with Jesus alone.

It seems that every local church should be a community or “society” whose chief occupation is to study and follow Jesus. We don’t really want to be “Lewisians” or even “brethren”— we want to be “Christians”—people who follow Christ, study Christ, talk to Him, worship Him, emulate Him and above all are filled by His Spirit.

I know a bit about C.S.Lewis— I know that his name was Clive Staples— I know that he chose his own nickname of “Jack”— but how well do I know Jesus’ name? “Your name is like perfume poured out.” (Song 1:3) “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” (Phil.2:10)

C.S.Lewis suffered and was wounded in the back, in the trenches of World War 1—by the friendly fire of a British shell! What do I know of the sufferings of Christ? Psalm 22 tells us a bit about that—“All my bones are out of joint—my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth—they have pierced my hands and my feet” (Psa.22:14,15,16) — and I should even know the psalm well enough to quote it, if I’m serious about knowing Him!

C.S.Lewis endured long years with no one close but his brother and his scholarly friends. Late in life he found his true love, only to have her die of cancer after only a few years of marriage. He was overlooked for promotion for many years at Oxford, simply from jealousy of his Christianity and his writing gifts. Do we ignore the friendship of Jesus, do we overlook Him—“I am…scorned by men and despised by the people.“ (Psa.22:6) Do we leave Him out of any of our plans? We shouldn’t.

Finally, C.S.Lewis was honoured when Cambridge University gave him a professorship that he had long deserved. In fact, in 1947, Time Magazine featured him in a cover article as, “one of the most influential spokesmen for Christianity in the English-speaking world.” What about our Lord? Do we honour Him anything like He deserves? Let’s try to. “He is altogether lovely…this is my friend.” (Song 5:16) Let’s tell Him so!