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January ___ Page 2

Genesis 1:6 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which [were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.	The firmament created a stable climate around the earth. The absence of this firmament causes the extreme climatic differences we see today.		In verses 6 and 7 God commanded there to be a firmament. The Hebrews believed the firmament to be a solid that supported the waters above the sky. Could these have been the waters that fell during Noah's Flood? No one really knows. In any case, there was some agent that caused a greenhouse effect creating  warm tropical conditions throughout the entire earth. This fact is supported by abundant fossil evidence. Unbelievably, fruit trees are found preserved in what are now arctic regions.
	The firmament above the horizon might have looked something like this.		In keeping with the order of things, God had already put in effect everything necessary on day one needed to accomplish day two. In order to separate the waters, water had to be there, which it was. The laws of science also needed to be established which they were. Note this sequence of events during the entire creation.

Genesis 1:9 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land] appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry [land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that [it was] good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. ; Registration code (if you have it) ; Optional URL link when the applet is "clicked". ; Reglink opened in new frame? ; Name of new frame for reglink ; Statusbar message ; Image to load ; resolution (1 .. 8) ; Speed of hue shifting (1..1000) ; Optional image over applet ; Over image X offset ; Over image Y offset ; Memory deallocation delay ; Task priority (1..10) ; Min. milliseconds/frame for sync Sorry, your browser doesn't support Java. ; Msg in no java browsers	Sorry, your browser doesn't suppor Java.		If all the waters are in one place as presented in verses 9 and 10, then the land that appeared must also have been in one place. The idea of a large single continent is consistent with scientific ideas. There is also evidence to suggest that the land formed instantly just as God said.
			In verses eleven and twelve we see the creation of the first life on earth . Note that the grass, herbs and trees were created full grown and bearing seed to reproduce. Not only were the simplest plant forms created, but also the most complex.   Verses 29 and 30 of Genesis One tell us why plants were created on day three and before the animals. These verses say that the plants were to be food for all the animals and man. Naturally, the plants were in place, ready for the animals to eat upon their creation.

Genesis 1:14 14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that [it was] good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.	The Orion Nebula		Verses 14 and 15 tell us the purpose of the stars. They were created to help us follow time periods and directions. By using the stars we can know when to plant crops and navigate ships.
	The sun shines across the Earth.		Verses 16, 17 and 18 refer to the sun ( the greater light to rule the day), and the moon (the lesser light to rule the night along with the stars). But what about the time it takes for light to travel such vast distances. As it was with the plants and animals, God creates everything mature and fully functional. Therefore it seems reasonable to assume that in some fashion the stars were visible upon their creation.
	The Lagoon Nebula		In verse 19 God again uses the same phrase as used in each of the previous three days to reinforce the literal 24 hour meaning of the word "day".

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