Tags
dome over earth, earth footstool, earth is flat, flat earth, genesis 1:6-8, isaiah 40:22, Revelation 7:1
These are some of the most common verses that people who believe in a flat earth use to justify or support their beliefs. The problem is that these verses have been taken out of context.
Isaiah 40:22
It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in.
This has NOTHING to do with the physical earth. It is about the sovereignty of the one, true living God.
Revelation 7:1
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree
It means everywhere on earth. It is a term used to mean that it encompasses everything.
Isaiah 66:1
Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Now many try to use this as saying that God uses the earth as His actual footstool. The truth is, God is a spirit. He doesn’t have any feet.
So, there’s that.
Further, we see this footstool reference come up several times in scripture in both the Old and New Testaments. Psalm 110 says that the Lord will make our enemies our footstool.
Isaiah 66:1 we see the Hebrew word hshmim (הַשָּׁמַיִם) which translates to “of heaven, or “that sky.” That is the heavens.
It simply means that God is everywhere and He is Lord over everything. For the purposes of this discussion, that is as far as I will go into the explanation of the chapter.
Genesis 1:6-8
6 God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the water; let it divide the water from the water.” 7 God made the dome and divided the water under the dome from the water above the dome
In the Hebrew texts, we see some interesting words.
מַבְדִּיל, – Distinguishes
רָקִיעַ – Heavens or heavenly, sky, skyline
When you look at the scriptures in Hebrew, it repeatedly refers to making a distinction between the water of the earth and the atmosphere (which is largely water).
This has nothing to do with a dome or anything else, just a distinction between our atmosphere and the earth. In other words, the sky.
It does not say “dome.” In the KJV it says firmament.
Scripture is not talking about a physical, solid dome any more than it is referring to a triune godhead in Genesis 1:26.
Firmament actually refers to the arch of the sky – the heavens. In Genesis 1:20 we see that the birds fly IN the firmament – the heavens, the sky.
But we can get an even better picture by looking at an obsolete definition of firmament.
A more obsolete definition of firmament is basis or “a fixed pattern or system” which may be a little more in line with what the early translators meant. In other words, the fixed pattern or system of the atmosphere being divided from the earth by the sky or heavens creates a fixed pattern.
Now some people say that firmament also means vault but that merely means something resembling a dome, such as the sky.
People may misinterpret the word of God and there are many reasons that this can happen. They may not have studied adequately, they may need deliverance, they may have preconceived notions about something, they may not be Holy Ghost filled or submitted to the Holy Ghost.
And no, believing that the earth is flat is not a heaven or hell issue.
BUT when they try to use scripture to support those beliefs, they take the scripture out of context and THAT is a problem.
When a person twists scripture to support their agenda, they rob themselves and those they share the perversion of scripture with of the TRUTH of scripture. They don’t get to learn what those verses really mean and that is a serious problem. It keeps them from knowing the ONE TRUE GOD and understanding his word.
If they will twist and pervert those scriptures, then they will twist and pervert other scripture as well.
Yes, it’s a problem – a big one.