Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.“

Genesis 1:8

When God names the expanse – granting it permanence – He called it ‘sky’ or ‘heavens’ (Hebrew: ‘shamayim’) and not ‘expanse’ or ‘firmament’. The word firmament (or expanse) indicates a cover that separates and divides – which it does. But God chose to name it a word which indicates peace, not separation. Shamayim is made up of the words for fire and water – which would HAVE to make peace between themselves in order to co-exist. God is a God of togetherness, not separation. All of the devil’s works and character are about separating (1 Peter 5:8).

These heavens are distinct from the heavens in verse one. These are the expanses that are part of our physical world (atmosphere and space itself), rather than the heavens which are the spiritual abode of the Father (Ezekiel 1:22-26; Psalm 68:33; Deuteronomy 10:14). We are told nothing in scripture about the order, timing, or process by which the spiritual realms were created – though by the language of Genesis 1:1 it has always been assumed they were made in tandem with the physical world (the time period in which God was creating).

This section (verses 6-8) closes with the statement that an evening and a morning had again passed, marking another day (the second). This also establishes the universal constant of the arrow of time (moving forward). This is the second universal constant of creation (the first being Light). God is not limited by any kind of constants. Instead, He inhabits them and gives them their meaning (He is Father of Eternity, not subject to it – Isaiah 9:6). This day is not mentioned as being good. It would seem that is because the two major things created (waters in their place and firmament) were BEGUN, but not COMPLETED. The Sages also teach that everything God labels ‘good’ are observable as beneficial to humanity. While beneficial, the air and the emptiness of space (not the phenomena it contains) aren’t really observable. Since they cannot be ‘seen’ to be good and useful by our natural senses, they are therefore not labelled good. That designation is reserved for the phenomena within them that we CAN see.