First, it is not irrelevant that the Scripture mentions three heavens. Paul says very clearly that there is a "third heaven." (See 2 Corinthians 12:2).
Second, the word firmament is in reference to "sky" in Genesis 1:6.
God calls the sky or atmosphere (firmament) as "heaven." (See Genesis 1:8).
"And God called the firmament Heaven." (Genesis 1:8).
So firmament = Heaven.
But we read in Genesis 1:14 the following,
"And God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven..." (Genesis 1:14).
Okay. Stop right here. Firmament means Heaven according to Genesis 1:8.
So if firmament means Heaven or sky, then Genesis 1:14 would read as:
"And God said, Let there be lights in the
heaven of the heaven..."
It would be illogical to say there are lights within the sky of the sky.
This means God had set lights in the heaven, or firmament (sky) of the heaven (outerspace where even the third Heaven resides).
In fact, we see a different Hebrews words used for "firmament" vs. the Hebrew word used for "Heaven." If what you say is true, then the same Hebrew word should have been used for "firmament" as for "Heaven."
I believe the word "heaven" is a broad term or use that can refer to either the "sky" or "outer space." or to "God's dwelling place."
The fact that there are more than one 'heaven' can be shown by
Psalm 115:16, "The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S." There are obviously two different 'heavens' being addressed in this one verse.
In 1 Kings 8, we see three Heavens mentioned.
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?" (1 Kings 8:27).
So there are three different Heavens and yet they can all be referred to as Heaven (singular).
This makes sense because God is three persons and yet He is one God.
For He said, "Let
us make man in
our image, after
our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26).
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." (
1 John 5:7).
Side Note:
You claim that the stars are IN the firmament (sky or atmosphere).
I have conclusive proof that this is not the case. You are either forgetting or you are unaware of things taught to us about cameras and exposure. For when the sun is above the horizon it's light is too bright, overexposing the sky, so we only see darkness.
This video on YouTube (which I also posted in
Post #181) shows the flight of a weather balloon to the stratosphere at Night.
In a high altitude: We see the capturing of the light of stars away from the earth. Also, the supposed flat earth sun is nowhere to be seen from 27 km altitude. The reason we don't see the sun is because it's below the horizon, illuminating the other half of our spherical Earth.