Much, much more could be said about the evolution of the Earth's atmosphere.
Young Earth Creationists fairly much arrived at the same conclusion about the "firmament" meaning an "Atmosphere" vs. the Babylonian mythology superimposed on the Genesis 1 chronology by certain Agnostics and Atheists.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v13/i2/firmament.asp
I just have one thought to add. This is something I was not aware of when I wrote that article. Ancient languages usually had no more than a few thousand words. In contrast to modern languages like English, which has over a million.
To show there is any sort of problem, the critics need to suggest a word that should have been used in place of raqiya. As it is, I find it to be the best word that they had available to describe the atmosphere.
If a word is suggested, it needs to be one they had back then, also. In a similar context I had a guy suggest a word that was not around until modern times.
JP
Water would've been primarily "hot steam" in the earliest period of Earth's evolution... cooling would cause the effect I've shown in the video. (We see it happening even today... in the form of water molecules/steam... forming clouds...which cool and become heavy and fall in the form of rain to the ground.
Genesis 1:6 And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Genesis 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
The Original Hebrew
There was a definate cooling phase early in Earth history, where _all waters_ were in the form of hot steam just above the boiling rock/lava, and no possibility of cool oceans to exist, yet. The formation of "seas" are mentioned in the next phase, the third day, or third "epoch of creation" / as Louis Agassiz might call it)...
I was made aware very young, that when you see italicized text as in italicized it denotes a word thrown in, to better clarify the original Hebrew.
Where the text is saying "above" the firmament and "below" the firmament.. it could have originally meant "upper level atmosphere" and "lower level atmosphere"... as in "above, inside the firmament" and "below inside the firmament"... but it is difficult to tell. However the case may be... there was _ABSOLUTELY_ a division of waters when the cooling phase of earth began. Because, science itself teaches that at one point, the earth was a chunk of boiling lava... all the earth (i.e., Hawaii) is what volcanos have spewed to the surface, and cooled... so with that in mind, we can deduce the early earth was INHOSPITABLY HOT at one time, and surrounded by a _solid body of Hot, Heavy Steam_.
It was indeed divided to allow ground water, and humidity (in the form of clouds)...
Image Source: http://www.greatdreams.com
Science certainly teaches it *was*... and still is to this day. Imagine what would happen if you scraped away that thin layer of crust.. See attached image. . . there was no "ocean" on that thing, nor was there an atmosphere, in early earth history... just hot, heavy steam blown off from volcanic activity.
Even that the verse states "firmament, (an expansion) in the _midst_ of the waters" tells us there was a solid body of water, and it divided IN THE MIDST (MIDDLE) OF IT, into upper level and lower level waters.
It is the atmosphere the Hebrew is speaking of.
Getting a little more detailed
The Hebrew appears to indicate something in the atmosphere (a little more detailed than simply saying "Atmosphere" in the general sense)... but a specific layer in the atmosphere, responsible for actually cooling and causing rain to fall....
ANSWERING THE RIDDLE:
The firmament is an "expansion" that caused "hot steam" to divide into upper level water (clouds and humidity), and lower level water (ground waters).
It must be a layer in the atmosphere, perhaps, that causes cooling of water...
May the good Lord reveal the answer!!
In the midst (middle) of the waters (hot steam of early earth).... I wonder if this is it ... smack square in the middle of the atmosphere.
Stratosphere: The stratosphere extends from approximately 10-12 km to around 50 km above the Earth's surface. The air temperature remains relatively constant up to an altitude of 25 km, then increases gradually having a stabilizing effect on atmospheric conditions. The stratosphere contains nearly 90 percent of the atmospheric ozone, which plays a major role in regulating temperatures as solar energy is converted to kinetic energy when the ozone molecules absorb ultraviolet radiation, resulting in the heating of the stratosphere.
Troposphere: The troposphere is the layer closest to the Earth’s surface, containing more than 80 percent of total atmospheric mass - composed of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, other trace gases, water droplets, dust, and other particles. The troposphere is where most weather occurs; the circulation of air in intensive vertical movements results in the formation of clouds, while horizontal movements results in wind. Both temperature and water vapor content decrease rapidly as altitude increases within the troposphere. Nearly 99 percent of atmospheric water vapor is contained within this layer, which plays a major role in regulating air temperature as it absorbs solar energy and thermal radiation from the planet's surface.
~ http://www.enviroliteracy org/category.php/1.html
Ask any Meteorologist if the Troposphere is not a SOLID "structure"... in fact, the Stratosphere/Troposphere is a more "solid" scientific case, than any dome in Babylonian mythology.
The Troposphere is directly responsible for "weather" and rain... a "solid" ... firm ... layer in the atmosphere, that does indeed divide the water, into either clouds, and causes water to fall in the form of rain.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin firmmentum, from Latin, support, from firmre, to strengthen; see firm2.]
~ http://thefreedictionary.com/firmament
See attached firmament.jpg as a footnote in the King James.
It means an
1) "expansion" that
2) divides the water... and
3) even a solid / firm structure (layer of the atmosphere).
4) that God would call "Heaven". (Genesis 1:8)
Genesis 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven.
The troposphere certainly qualifies to fit that description. And possibly, the Strastophere which could possibly be "the waters above the firmament" that are spoken of in Genesis.
How large is ice cloud formation in the stratosphere and why doesn ...
Sep 16, 2007 ... How large is ice cloud formation in the stratosphere and why doesn't ... will grow large enough to comprise snow crystals and snow flakes. ...
~ wral.com/weather/blogpost/1820593
So much for "Babylonian Mythology".
More like "Modern Meterology".
A couple corrections
# 1 ... not smack dab in the middle of the atmosphere... but in the midst of THE WATERS...
#2 ..."Firmament" is defined as an,
1) "expansion" that
2) divides water... and,
3) has water above it, and below it
4) even a solid / firm structure (layer of the atmosphere).
5) that God would call "Heaven". (Genesis 1:8)
The Firmament is the Troposphere.
What a divine riddle!
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