- Jan 4, 2019
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I have a question about the primordial waters of Genesis 1.
I want to make clear that the creation account is literal, accurate, and consistent. Now, this isn't to say that we should read this account like a scientific textbook, so we should be careful. Scripture is "phenomenological," in that expresses matters simply, and from the standpoint of ancient observers. So while we do see the sun set and rise, and Scripture uses such language (as we still do in our everyday conversations), we cannot deny that really our earth rotates relative to the sun. Why do I bring this up on a topic like this?
When I read Genesis 1:6-8, I cannot tell if this is just poetic language for the clouds above the "Heaven" or if this was something that pre-existed before the flood, but what in the world is the "waters" above? Obviously, from the text, it is the same kind of primordial water that was below the expanse, signifying that a layer of water is above "heaven." Moses, lead by the divine inspiration of the Spirit, isn't so dull to speak of precipitation as anything but from the clouds. No one was that dull in any time in history. Matter of fact, Scripture acknowledges clouds and their function (Gen. 9:13; Job. 37:16; Jude. 1:12 etc).
Now, I don't agree with Dr. Donald B. DeYoung on many things (ex. Old Earth and literal thousand-year reign), but he proposed a vapor canopy theory, that there was a different kind of firmament prior to the flood that we do not have today, listing these seven reasons in his argument for it.
Is this possible? I do not know too much about such subjects to verify how possible this vapor theory is. What are your thoughts?
I want to make clear that the creation account is literal, accurate, and consistent. Now, this isn't to say that we should read this account like a scientific textbook, so we should be careful. Scripture is "phenomenological," in that expresses matters simply, and from the standpoint of ancient observers. So while we do see the sun set and rise, and Scripture uses such language (as we still do in our everyday conversations), we cannot deny that really our earth rotates relative to the sun. Why do I bring this up on a topic like this?
When I read Genesis 1:6-8, I cannot tell if this is just poetic language for the clouds above the "Heaven" or if this was something that pre-existed before the flood, but what in the world is the "waters" above? Obviously, from the text, it is the same kind of primordial water that was below the expanse, signifying that a layer of water is above "heaven." Moses, lead by the divine inspiration of the Spirit, isn't so dull to speak of precipitation as anything but from the clouds. No one was that dull in any time in history. Matter of fact, Scripture acknowledges clouds and their function (Gen. 9:13; Job. 37:16; Jude. 1:12 etc).
Now, I don't agree with Dr. Donald B. DeYoung on many things (ex. Old Earth and literal thousand-year reign), but he proposed a vapor canopy theory, that there was a different kind of firmament prior to the flood that we do not have today, listing these seven reasons in his argument for it.
1. The initial separation of water above and below the firmament (expanse, sky, atmosphere) may refer to the origin of a canopy (Gen 1:6,7)
2. Genesis 2:5-6 hints that the early earth did not experience rain. A canopy would have greatly affected weather patterns, very likely limiting precipitation.
3. During the great Flood, the windows or floodgates of heaven were opened for forty days and night (Gen. 7:11-12). The present-day atmosphere could not hold enough moisture for such a lengthy deluge. Thus, the sky was likely different in the past in a way that could have included a vapor canopy.
4. Many ancient cultures have traditions telling of a canopy-type phenomenon above the earth. The Babylonian creation account, Enuma Elish, refers to Mummu, representing fog, clouds, or mist. Perhaps this was a canopy description.
5. There is abundant evidence of a warmer earth in the past. We have found fossils of palm trees in Alaska, crocodiles in New Jersey, and petrified wood in the desert. A canopy would have warmed the entire earth like a blanket. Seasonal cold and heat are first mentioned after the Flood in Genesis 8:22.
6. A canopy would have increased atmospheric pressure, perhaps doubling its present value. This may explain the mystery of the flying reptiles, such as the pteranodon with its seventy-foot wingspan. In today's world it is doubtful that such creatures could fly. With higher air pressure in pre-Flood time, however, they may have been buoyed up by the increased air pressure. These magnificent creatures were certainly created and designed to fly above the early earth.
7. The canopy may hold the key to understanding the longevity in Old Testament chronologies, and also giantism of plants and animals in the fossil record. Increased air pressure can be very beneficial to health, as evidence by experiments with hyperbaric or high altitude pressure surgery. The healing process is sometimes found to accelerate when the patient is placed under higher than normal air pressure. The vapor canopy may also have increased the human lifespan by absorbing harmful radiation. The aging process is still not well understood today, so it is difficult to speculate on the beneficial effects of a pre-Flood canopy.
A biblical hint that a type of canopy may be restored during millennial times is in Psalm 148:4, 6, which describes waters that will be above the heavens forever and ever. Isaiah also mentions future weather protection above Mount Zion (Isa. 4:5,6).
(Donald B. DeYoung, Weather And The Bible, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1992, pp. 110-112).
Is this possible? I do not know too much about such subjects to verify how possible this vapor theory is. What are your thoughts?