GENESIS 1:6-8

Day Two of Creation

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it separate waters from waters. And God made the firmament. And He divided between the waters above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, Let there be…

Again we see God accomplishing His work of creation simply by speaking the word, and God said. There is no period of time here or process of evolution. God (eloheem – the almighty God) says it, and immediately it is so.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast Psalm 33:6-9.

The Hebrew jussive is used (hayah) which is an emphatic imperative of command (it is not a suggestion), “Let there be” and there is! Immediately, instantaneously, when God speaks and gives the command it is done. End of discussion!

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And God made the firmament. And He divided between the waters above the firmament.

The word firmament is the Hebrew word “raqiha”, meaning “expanse” or “stretched-out space.” It is synonymous with our modern term “space” or “atmosphere.”

The firmament served as a divider between the waters above and the waters below.

Ezekiel 1:22-25 Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome. Under the expanse their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body.  When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings. Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings.

The picture here is of a vast expanse, a protective layer that overlays the earth and divides the waters below from the waters above. And in between the waters above and the waters below was the earth’s breathable atmosphere.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it separate waters from waters. And God made the firmament. And He divided between the waters above the firmament.

The Hebrew verb translated “made” (asah), is a synonym of the Hebrew word for “created” (bara) used in verse one. They are used in a parallel sense in Genesis 2:3, which says, “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because He rested from all His work which God created (bara) and made (asah).”

It is clear from the context that the verb made describes the act of fiat creation (creation by the decree of God). God ordered the firmament to come into being. It also clearly involves the creation of something that never before existed.

This was a creative act, accomplished by decree from God. It was not a natural process that occurred spontaneously through long natural processes.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it separate waters from waters. And God made the firmament. And He divided between the waters above the firmament. And it was so.

The Hebrew verb “hayah” is used here meaning, “it is so or to come to pass.” It is a Waw-consecutive which is linked to emphatic action that has gone before it, God ordered the creation of the firmament and the dividing of the waters “and it came to pass,” “it was so!”

Isaiah declares The LORD Almighty has sworn, Surely, as I have decreed, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand…  For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? Isaiah 14:24, 27

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it separate waters from waters. And God made the firmament. And He divided between the waters above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament heaven.

The Hebrew word for “called” is qara, a primitive root meaning “to name.” “God named the firmament heaven.” This statement confirms the fact that “firmament” and “heaven” are synonymous terms, both meaning “space” or “atmosphere.”

In the Old Testament there are two particular “heavens” mentioned:

1. The lower heaven (Jeremiah 4:25 I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away).

 2. The upper or outer heaven (Isaiah 13:10 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

In the New Testament Paul speaks of a man being “caught up to the third heaven,” (2 Corinthians 12:2). This is the heaven where God dwells, the heaven of God’s throne (Hebrews 9:24).

So the first heaven is the earth’s atmosphere, the second heaven is the space beyond the earth’s atmosphere, and the third heaven is God’s special dwelling place.

On the first day of creation there was yet no atmosphere on the earth but on the second day, God spoke it into existence. He released some of earth’s water and sent it up, and He made a firmament of breathable gases between the water above and the water below.

Psalm 104:2 paints a beautiful picture of God’s work of creation on day two: You stretch out the heavens like a curtain. The Psalmist goes on to how the Master Builder (God) held the waters above in their place when he says: He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters and makes the clouds His chariot and walks on the wings of the wind.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it separate waters from waters. And God made the firmament. And He divided between the waters above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Remember, And there was evening and there was morning, Day One is a literal translation of the Hebrew word order. It doesn’t describe a billion-year-long process; it describes a 24-hour day—one cycle of light and dark—evening and morning.

Listen again to the Psalmist: Praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He set them in place forever and ever; He gave a decree that will never pass away. Psalm 148:5-6

No wonder Nehemiah called God’s people to Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. Nehemiah 9:5-6