

They relied on what their senses told them. There were no telescopes, space exploration, or means of testing the atmosphere. 9-10), the water below the raqia is “gathered to one place” to form the sea and allow the dry land to appear.Īncient Israelites “saw” this barrier when they looked up. The waters above are kept at bay so the world can become inhabitable.

It separates the water into two parts, so that there is water above the raqia and water below it (v. Biblical scholars understand the raqia to be a solid dome-like structure. One of those issue concerns the second day of creation (Genesis 1:6-8), where God made the “expanse” or the “firmament.” The Hebrew word for this is raqia (pronounced ra-KEE-ah). Genesis 1 and 2 tell the story of creation, and it says things that are at odds with what modern people know to be true of the world and universe around us.
