“The sky is definitely red!” Another classmate spoke, “That’s impossible, the sky has always been blue and my teacher said it was true.” If we overheard two kindergartners speaking to one another about the color of the sky, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear them disagree. We all agree that the sky is blue, don’t we? Well, that is, until the sky isn’t blue. In other words, we hear truth until we hear a more accurate version of the truth.

Genesis 1:1 states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (English Standard Version) We all agree that the author of Genesis wrote in English, right? Right! Just making sure. Now that we agree on this indisputable fact we can move quickly through this post. It’s very easy to see that God created Heaven and God created Earth in the beginning. Wait a second. Sorry! One of the kindergartners is whispering in my ear… “Oh! I see. Uhhhmm, well let’s attempt to work this out.” Audience, it appears that I’ve been told the word Heaven is not the English word used in Genesis 1:1. Instead, the letter s attached to the end of this word, making it plural, heavens. Never mind that, though. Let’s continue.

As I was saying, it’s very easy to see… Audience, just a second please. “You must stop interrupting… Ah. You’re saying, not English? I see. Then Earth is what? Oh my! I’ll be sure to include this as well.”

It appears we have some…huh-hmm…homework.

Let’s begin again. The first sentence of our Bibles definitely reveals truth. That is, until we, or I, learn even more. This is the case for all of us. We’ve all read Genesis 1:1 as though it was telling us that God created the planet and Heaven, as in the third planet from the Sun, Earth, and that destination which awaits every follower of Jesus after they perish on Earth.

Apparently, Genesis wasn’t originally English. It was Hebrew. How many times have people read the 10 words of Genesis 1:1 and failed to recognize they’re reading a translation of ancient Hebrew? There aren’t ten original words in Genesis 1:1. There are only 7 and they are Hebrew words, not English.

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ (Right to Left: Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim v’et ha’aretz). These are the original words: Bereshit (In the beginning) bara (created) Elohim (God) et (and) hashamayim (skies) v’et (and) ha’aretz (land). The Hebrew words et and v’et are in the original Masoretic Text (the authoritative Hebrew text of the Old Testament, and a text with margins) and these point to direct objects, the land being the second direct object.

Beginning with the word skies which is translated heavens, the word heavens is correct yet not clearly defined for English readers. Genesis 1:8 states that God called the expanse Heaven. Heaven is the same word as heavens in Genesis 1:1. It seems as though the expanse contains the skies. Thus, even the word Heaven is plural if read in Hebrew. Huh?

We’re getting closer to the truth about the skies. If you noticed, the English translation calls an expanse Heaven. The expanse is named raquia רָקִיעַ in Hebrew, or a solid dome beaten out to keep the waters above it in check.

So, pausing for a moment, what are we talking about? Obviously, this description we’re hearing is not of a disembodied location that has been believed to be Heaven, but simply the place above dry land where birds fly. The raquia is the dome above the sky. How do we know? Genesis 1 continues to speak.

Genesis 1:9, And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens (hashamayim) be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. Also,Genesis 1:14–18, “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.” How can these lights exist in a disembodied non-physical world? They simply don’t. So, we are hearing an ancient account of creation. That means we need to reorient what we may have thought was ordered truth.

Genesis appears to be providing functional meaning for the skies, the seas, the dry land, the stars, sun and moon. Each serves God’s purposes. God controls everything. Then which part does humanity play in this divinely controlled world? [That’s coming up soon.]

{Genesis is attributing all things in creation to one true God whereas Israel’s contemporary cultures definitely had polytheistic explanations for creation. Egypt’s sky goddess, Nut, is depicted as forming the heavens, similar to the description in Genesis 1.}

This is just a taste of hearing a more accurate version of the truth about God and creation. The margins of our Bibles need a lot of expanding in order to begin grasping and processing the meanings or truth intended by the authors of the Bible, don’t they?