Space is So Cool! || Deeper Creation || Week 3

Welcome back! This series is “Deeper Creation,” We’re taking a deeper look at Genesis 1 and 2 to see how the Creation story gets told throughout the Bible!

Last week, we looked deeper at Day 1 of the creation story. We looked at the power and beauty of God’s voice. We also discussed how Paul shares that the light God created is the same light we carry via the Holy Spirit.

This week, we’re moving to Day 2. We will discuss creating the “space” between the waters we know as the sky. It will be a unique discussion because it was always confusing to me as a kid in Sunday School. The modern-day understanding of what this meant needs to be explained better, at least to the best of my ability. Let’s get this discussion started by reading our focus scripture. It’s Genesis 1:6-8 

6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.”

7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. 

8 God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, making the second day. 

The Space Between 

Isaiah paints us a good picture of how the Israelites understood this space. Hear what it says in Isaiah 40:22:

22 God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. 

The Israelites understood the sky as a dome that God created. Picture a bowl made out of clay getting shaped on a kiln. The maker has to form the clay in a way that allows the bowl’s open space to exist for its purpose. The Israelites believed the sky was this open space separating earth from heaven. 

It’s also interesting that Isaiah explains that God opens up the heavens like a curtain to create this safety barrier for all creation. This concept paints very descriptive imagery of how we can picture God on their throne looking down upon us. 

I’ve always thought that when you go outside and look up at the sky, God and the heavenly realm exist beyond what our eyes can physically see. Is this an accurate understanding based on what we know today? No, because we’ve been to space, and we know that the universe has different layers. We have the technology that shows us layers of separation between earth, other planets, and other galaxies. Yet, the thought still applies beyond what lies outside of what we can’t see. Faith reminds us of things hoped for that we cannot see, and there’s something about how I view it that gives me hope. 

God gives us some information about their work to Job about this day. Hear what God says in Job 38:8-11: 

8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,

9 and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?

10 For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. 

11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’

The waters separated to create this space had a boundary that God created. This concept reinforces the Israelites’ belief that the space is a dome to keep the waters back from flooding. (We read in Genesis 6 of this barrier-breaking from above and below.) The significance of rain is just the barrier leaking, almost like a reminder that the barrier could break at any minute, and Noah’s Flood 2.0 could happen. 

It’s also interesting that the barrier was covered with clouds and wrapped in thick darkness. I’m unsure what this represents, but the imagery that comes to my mind feels unique. What if the dark thickness was space as we know it? I’m not saying that the rain from Noah’s flood came down from space, but the barrier gets hidden by the night sky like the clouds hide the barrier in the day. Something about this image makes the creation story very personal to earth. As we go further into the atmosphere, we see the light transition to darkness anyways, reinforcing the living space created in the light we see on Day 1. It’s a fun thought experiment, but at the end of the day, I will most likely never understand the whys and the hows of our creation. I trust God’s reasoning, as we’ve discussed through the promise and purpose we’ve talked about over the past two weeks. Let me share some connective tissue that pieces Days 1 and 2 together and Days 2 and 3. 

Setting the Tone

We’ve already discussed the Day 1 and 2 connection, but let me share with you something Job said. It’s Job 26:10, and it says this: 

10 He created the horizon when he separated the waters; he set the boundary between day and night. 

I already mentioned that I believe the barriers to the heavenly realm get covered by the day and night sky separation. This verse solidifies this for me. The horizon is an interesting term used here. Horizon is “the line at which the earth’s surface and the sky appear to meet.” As humans, we can only perceive things so far, and with current technology, that even has limits. What exists beyond what we can see? The only rational answer I can give is God, and I believe their existence is there. Let me share what a psalmist said that connects days two and three for me. Join me in Psalm 138:5-6:

5 Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully. His faithful love endures forever. 

6 Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters. His faithful love endures forever.

You may be asking: “How does this connect? This section of scripture says nothing about the next day’s creation.” With all good things biblically, let’s read between the lines. 

Day 2 is the only day of creation we don’t see God call something “good.” It’s because God didn’t finish creating this part of the universe yet. Days 2 and 3 could’ve happened simultaneously, but for some reason, Moses separated them. I say this because of a phrase in verse 6: “…who placed the earth…” The earth, or “land,” isn’t named until Day 3. It shows me that the preparation of the universe for living beings is still in progress. We have the separation of light and dark to allow living beings to grow and flourish. We have the separation of waters to give living beings oxygen and a climate. Then we have the separation of land and oceans to living beings a physical place to live in, plus other things that we’ll discuss next week!

Sorry to leave you on that cliffhanger; I had to do it to you! This blog was an intense discussion, more profound than I initially thought, but we call this “Deeper Creation” for a reason, right? We discussed what the space between represented to the Israelites and how we can understand it in our culture today. We also talked about how today sets the tone for how we see God’s creation process happening. 

Stay tuned for Day 3 of creation next week, where we’ll discuss the separation of the lands, the seas, and the self-giving vegetation. Until then, stay blessed!