In continuing our quest for multiple heavens, we now find that we start
to examine the originally unplanned territory of this paper and make a stunning discovery off-piste (if you pardon my very
appropriate French!).
Going back to Genesis
1, in Verse 26 God gives mankind dominion over the flying creatures ‘of the heavens’ which, for some reason, now
appear to have lost the term ‘face of the firmament’ compared with verse 20. Is this now referring to all the
flying creatures in all the heavens and therefore the first intimation that eventually man will have dominion over the angels
in the symbolic meaning?
26 And God went on to say: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have
in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every
moving animal that is moving upon the earth.” (Genesis 1)
The second chapter of Genesis continues where the first chapter left off in referring to the heavens without
a ‘firmament’. It also refers to all the host therein literally rather than symbolically this time:
1
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (Genesis 2)
God created a mist to water the ground to enable
the plants to grow. This mist presumably represented the first clouds which brought the first rain water. Since this is described
separately from the ‘waters’ of Chapter 1, it would seem reasonable to understand that this ‘water’
of Chapter 2 was different from the waters above the firmament. The mist rose from the earth and was therefore
presumably derived from the waters, below the firmament, which had been brought together to form the seas. This would seem
to follow the pattern and nature of rainfall as we would understand it today. It would appear that Job 36 confirms this interpretation
in that the same Hebrew word for mist or vapour is used in both these scriptures:
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before
it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
(Genesis 2)
27 For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour
thereof:
28 Which the clouds do drop and distil upon
man abundantly. (Job 36)
On this basis
the waters above the firmament still need further explanation. Where did the flood waters of Genesis 6 come from? Was this
from another unmentioned mist from the lower waters or was this supplied from the waters above the ‘firmament’?
17 And,
behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven;
and every thing that is in the earth shall die. (Genesis 6)
The next two verses from Genesis 7 suggest that the waters of the flood came from above the firmament since
there is no mention of a mist arising from the earth prior to the great flood. Also this verse refers to floodgates being
opened in the heavens presumably releasing the waters above the firmament. For the waters to cover ‘all the high hills’,
this would have required the watery deep to be returned to the earth’s surface in full measure. Hence we have the need
to return the waters above to their original resting place on earth’s surface to reform the watery deep since it was
the removal of this that enabled the earth’s dry land and seas to be uncovered and shaped:
11 In the six hundredth year
of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast watery
deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. (Genesis 7)
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon
the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. (Genesis 7)
So what conclusions can we arrive at here? If we review
what we have learned so far we could consider creation being structured in three-dimensional layers around concentric spheres
if you will. Apologies for the atheists among you, who have probably left this web-site by now (if indeed their browsers inadvertently
caused them to land here out of mere idle curiosity in the first place!) but you will notice that earth represents the centre
of the known physical universe in this model. This is not intended to represent anything like the astrophysical
build of our universe since the earth is clearly not the centre of the known universe never mind where it sits in the whole
scheme of physical and spiritual realms. No, this is merely a schematic construct to enable us to visualise
the key components of the Genesis account of the creation of the universe, each layer in the model existing above the preceding
layer in this numbered list:
1. The earth
is at the centre of the model;
2. The lower waters are upon and below the surface of the Earth in the form of its seas;
3. The outer surface
of the sky (i.e. the outer edge of Earth’s atmosphere) being above the lower waters which were contained within Earth’s
atmosphere either as clouds in the sky or on and below the Earth’s surface as the seas;
4. The heavenly bodies (stars, sun and
moon) contained within the visible universe of outer space (the firmament) being above the outer surface
of the Earth’s atmosphere;
5. The upper waters being above the visible universe. On this basis we must reach the inescapable conclusion
that the upper waters were (and perhaps still are!) contained within the invisible heavens of God’s domain or are, at
any rate, somewhere beyond the stars at the very edge of the physical universe (wherever that is!).
Just in case it was not obvious from this analysis, scripture confirms
the notion that the heavens are above the earth which is therefore below the heavens. It is a matter of normal convention
that the heavens that we can see, i.e. the earth’s atmosphere and space are above the Earth’s surface, space being
above the atmosphere. We are therefore left wondering where God’s home is in relation to these. Well the bible makes
clear in Genesis 11, through God’s going down to sort out mankind’s Tower of Babel, that the Earth is below all
the heavens, although where His home is in relation to the universe is not stated explicitly:
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a
city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of
the whole earth.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city
and the tower, which the children of men builded. (Genesis 11)
(As an aside and later in Genesis 11, God decided to confound the works of men by giving them a variety of
languages to slow down their progress, knowing mankind to be a determined and, in a purely secular sense, a successful species
being in His image. It would seem that God’s plan was for mankind not to destroy themselves totally until our current
times. In those days, it appears that they had a one world government speaking with one tongue. With what we read in today’s
news it seems that we are headed once again for this State of a New World Order (NWO). This time around the NWO will be destroyed
by Christ.)
If we take the structure of creation
one small step further, Exodus 20:4 references the heavens above the Earth’s surface which in turn is above the waters
of the sea below. Whilst this is fully compatible with the notions expressed above, the added ingredients are the heavenly
images referred to in this verse which could be angels or stars or birds depending on which heaven one is referencing:
4
“You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the
earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. (Exodus 20)
OK,
Who Mentioned Wormholes?
From our
earlier paper on the Dark Stuff (A Brief History of Darkness) we arrived at a possible scenario being that Heaven was a separate co-existent universe to
our own. If we continue along this theme we must consider the possibility that the upper waters therefore exist(ed) in a universe
other than our own. Whilst the flood waters coming from an extra-universal source is on a much larger scale, is this really
any more stunning a possibility than the miracle of the loaves and fishes which were conjured up from somewhere? If we are
therefore contemplating the transportation of baryonic matter, e.g. water molecules, between universes, there is only one
theoretically possible mechanism that comes to mind for inter-universal travel. Yes, you guessed it: wormholes.
The reader may find the following web-site helpful in getting to grips with the fundamental concepts of wormholes:
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/wormhole.html
Once the Flood Waters ceased falling what caused the waters to subside? Did the wind merely evaporate
the water into the atmosphere? Not likely given the volume involved. Since the flood was only around 4.4 K years ago, the
basic topology of the earth would have been largely unaltered compared with today’s earth. I can only think that the
‘wind’ that took the water level back down to pre-flood levels took the waters back to whence they came,
i.e. back up to heaven via a wormhole or two. Many bibles translate the OT Hebrew word 'shoob' in Genesis 8:3
below as 'recede' which, in the context, sounds like a plausible translation. However a more precise translation is
'returned' as per the KJV translation below. The use of the word 'return' would much more clearly support
the current thesis:
1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him
in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
2
The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of
the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. (Genesis 8)
In the following two verses of Deuteronomy, it is interesting that heaven was shut up to prevent the rain
and opened for the production of rain. Comparing this to the Great Flood waters, these latter specifically needed the ‘floodgates’
or ‘fountains’ or ‘windows’ of heaven to open and then be shut up thus suggesting that the nature
of the flood waters was somewhat different than that of normal rainfall which apparently did not specifically need gates or
fountains or windows:
17 and Jehovah’s anger does blaze against YOU, and he does shut up the heavens so that no rain will
occur and the ground will not give its produce and YOU have to perish speedily from off the good land that Jehovah is giving
YOU. (Deuteronomy 11)
12 Jehovah will open up to you his good storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain on your land in its season
and to bless every deed of your hand; and you will certainly lend to many nations, while you yourself will not borrow. (Deuteronomy
28)
The following verse from Malachi could
potentially be used against this argument in that the use of the word ‘floodgates’ here could be taken to be referring
to normal rainfall. However, I think the study of the context would determine that some special blessing beyond the normal
physical ability of the Earth to supply is intended here:
10 Bring all the tenth parts into the storehouse, that there may come to be food in my house; and test me
out, please, in this respect,” Jehovah of armies has said, “whether I shall not open to YOU people the floodgates
of the heavens and actually empty out upon YOU a blessing until there is no more want.” (Malachi 3)
Proverbs also intimates that God not only split the waters apart but identifies
the lower waters, residing as clouds in the sky, with light rain perhaps to draw the comparison with the rather heavier
version experienced during the flood.
20 By his knowledge the watery deeps themselves were split apart, and the cloudy skies keep dripping down
light rain. (Proverbs 3)
Whilst
I would have to confess that the book of Ezekiel is thus far well beyond even the Lords’ Witnesses’ ability to
fully comprehend either literally or symbolically, the following verse of that prophet’s writings looks rather interesting
in the context of our current thesis. It seems as if the waters above are perhaps being described as ‘awesome ice’.
What a tantalising description that would be for a body of water that was put in place for a particularly cataclysmic purpose
by our God:
22
And over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse like the sparkle of awesome ice, stretched
out over their heads up above. (Ezekiel 1)
It is interesting that the doors of heaven opened to rain down manna as food for the Israelites wandering
in the wilderness. This manna is described as angel’s food so I think it seems highly likely that manna was akin to
the flood waters in terms of where it came from and how it was transported to earth. This further confirms the unusual nature
of the flood waters in comparison to our normal experience of rainfall:
23 Though he had commanded the clouds from
above, and opened the doors of heaven,
24 And had
rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
25
Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full. (Psalms 78)
If manna from heaven is indeed another wormhole manifestation, then it would seem that this can be directed
with some accuracy to a particular physical location on earth in the case of baryonic matter transfer. This clearly compares
with the Flood which did not require significant accuracy except to somewhere on the Earth’s surface as far as we can
ascertain. We know already that the spiritual matrix can execute spiritual transfers to and from an individual soul, so this
latter type of wormhole can certainly exhibit a very precise form of transfer in accurately pinpointing both ends of the wormhole:
4 Then said
the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate
every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. (Exodus 16)
The nature of the raining down of brimstone and fire
also requires some explanation. Is this a different form of wormhole flood from heaven perhaps or merely a common or garden
volcano since no floodgates appear to be mentioned in this case? Having done a little research on the matter, it seems that
there are many theories abounding on this subject so I will leave this one as a topic for a future paper to ensure that I
do not get side-tracked from this current project:
24 Then the LORD rained (Heb. ‘mawtar’) upon Sodom and upon
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; (Genesis 19)
Clearly I perceive that the source of the floodwaters is other than regular rain that we are used to seeing fall
from a cloudy sky today. Whilst the OT Hebrew noun for rain ‘geshem’ appears in Genesis 8:2 for
example and the OT Hebrew verb ‘mawtar’ (to rain) appears elsewhere in the Genesis Flood account,
both words are used in the OT not just to describe regular rain but also in the ‘raining’ down of ‘fire
and brimstone’ and the like. Given this I would still consider my current hypothesis remains intact notwithstanding
the use of these common or garden words for precipitation in the Genesis account. The key point here is the references
to floodgates and the like in the relevant scriptures
But before I become unduly defensive in my presentation perhaps I should direct the reader to the slam dunk
that I think quite clearly confirms these thoughts. Now while ‘waters’ likely refers to God’s heavenly hosts
in the symbolic meaning, which literal waters do you think are being referred to in Psalms 148?
4 Praise
him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. (Psalms 148)
The other thought that suggests my theories are correct is that, as far as I can tell, no other church has
come to any thinking remotely close to those above regarding the nature of the flood waters. Experience of the insight that
is the hallmark of the Lords’ Witnesses doctrine and scriptural understandings is that they are correct for that very
reason as well as being supportable by a very close reading of the Word of God. This is an apparently arrogant notion perhaps
but is one that should not be surprising if the Lords’ Witnesses truly are the Fourth and Last True Christian Church
as I fervently believe.
The Aftermath of the Flood, Part 1 - Rainbows
Before we leave the subject of the Flood no such dissertation would be
complete without due consideration of the sign of the rainbow which marked the end of the Flood for ever. The Flood was a
one time event, so either the source of the water or its transport mechanism was removed, or perhaps both, for all time in
this system.
Genesis records two major changes in
the earth’s atmosphere. The first is that at some time before the flood, it did not rain on the earth. Then the earth
was watered by a mist that rose up from the ground, i.e. as already discussed above God caused it to start raining as we know
it today:
5
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God
had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6
But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. (Genesis 2)
Some Creationist commentators maintain
that this was the mechanism by which the ground was watered until the rains came during Noah’s Flood. They reach this
view that normal rain was a new thing which caused the Flood since rain is not explicitly mentioned in Genesis until
the onset of the Flood. My view, clearly, is that Genesis 6:2 is the description of the first
rainfall prior to the Flood.
The second
major change in the atmosphere is the creation of rainbows. God set rainbows in the clouds, and told Noah that the rainbow
was a sign of God’s covenant with Noah, and with all mankind:
11 And I will establish my covenant
with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood
to destroy the earth.
12 And God said, This is the token of the
covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between
me and the earth.
14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring
a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
15
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters
shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 And
the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every
living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is
upon the earth. (Genesis 9)
The Creationists
go on to maintain that this was a new phenomenon justified on the basis that both rain and rainbows were changes on the earth
at the time of the Flood. Clearly if it had not rained until after the Flood then rainbows "in the cloud," would
be a new phenomenon. Except that rainbows presumably could have existed while the Flood waters were still falling if
they were in fact normal rain as the Creationists would have it. Certainly it is true that rainbows could not have existed
before the Flood, if it had not rained, since rainbows are created by the refraction of light passing through suspended water
(raindrops). Other commentators say that the rainbow existed before the flood when it rained, albeit unmentioned in
Genesis until Chapter 9, but that it was only here they were associated with the covenant. This would be like bread and wine
existing before the Passover of Christ but after the Passover these pre-existing emblems took on new meaning. Again, this
latter represents my own view on the matter.
The following two scriptures confirm that clouds were formed in the early days of God's creation
and the third scripture indicates I think that God did not create clouds without intending that they produce rain from the
outset:
8
And [who] barricaded the sea with doors, Which began to go forth as when it burst out from the womb;
9 When I put the cloud
as its garment And thick gloom as its swaddling band,
10 And I proceeded to break up my regulation upon it And to set
a bar and doors,
11 And I went on to say, ‘This far you may come, and no farther; And here your proud waves are limited’?
(Job 38)
27 When he prepared the heavens I was there; when he decreed a circle upon the
face of the watery deep,
28 when he made firm the cloud masses above, when he caused the fountains of the watery deep to be strong,
29
when he set for the sea his decree that the waters themselves should not pass beyond his order, when he decreed the foundations
of the earth, (Proverbs 8)
14 As
vaporous clouds and a wind without any downpour is a man boasting himself about a gift in falsehood. (Proverbs
25)
For the interested
and open-minded student of the Flood account the following web-sites should prove entertaining although many of the views
expressed therein are not subscribed to by this particular writer:
http://www.biblestudy.org/question/was-there-rain-on-the-earth-before-the-flood.html
http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/rain.html
The Aftermath of the Flood, Part
2 – The Geological Record
Psalms 104 is
used by our Creationist friends to demonstrate that scripture states that the world’s mountains and valleys of today
were created at the time of the flood. Whilst I would acknowledge that this might be one valid meaning of this scripture,
another might be that they were created during the first three days of creation as described in Genesis 1. The key to the
real meaning here lies in verse 9 where the scripture talks about God’s setting of a boundary for the waters so they
should not again cover the earth. The first question here is what waters are being referred to: the waters below or the flood
waters which comprised the waters below plus those above? The second question is at what point in time did God set the boundary
for the seas: during creation or during the flood?
5 He has founded the earth upon its established places; It will not be made to totter to time indefinite,
or forever.
6 With a watery deep just like a garment you
covered it. The waters were standing above the very mountains.
7 At your rebuke they began to flee; At the sound of your thunder they were sent running in panic—
8 Mountains proceeded to ascend, Valley plains
proceeded to descend— To the place that you have founded for them.
9 A boundary you set, beyond which they should not pass, That they should not
again cover the earth.
10 He is sending springs into the torrent valleys; Between
the mountains they keep going on. (Psalm 104)
When God was
asking Job where he was when He, Jehovah, was creating the earth, He mentions the fact that He set the barriers for the seas
during those early days of creation, presumably during the third day of creation as part of making the waters below into the
seas. So this barrier was set during the first six days of creation, not after the flood, and would therefore have applied
to the waters below only since the dividing of the waters occurred on the second day of creation. So it would seem that the
mountains and valleys were also created somewhat earlier than the time of the flood since their formation would have physically
set the barrier. This also seems to confirm that the waters above returned to their place after the flood forever and therefore
‘evaporated’ completely out of Earth’s atmosphere if those barriers set by God are to remain in place to
‘not again cover the earth’:
4 Where did you happen to be when I founded the earth? Tell [me], if you do know understanding.
5 Who set its measurements, in case you know,
Or who stretched out upon it the measuring line?
6
Into what have its socket pedestals been sunk down, Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars joyfully cried out together, And all the sons of God began shouting in applause?
8 And [who] barricaded the sea with doors,
Which began to go forth as when it burst out from the womb;
9 When I put the cloud as its garment And thick gloom as its swaddling band,
10 And I proceeded to break up my regulation upon it And to set a bar and doors,
11 And I went on to say, ‘This far you may come, and no farther; And here your proud waves are
limited’? (Job 38)
Proverbs 8 and
Jeremiah 5 further emphasise the theme of the setting of the bounds of the sea at the time of creation:
27 When he prepared the
heavens I was there; when he decreed a circle upon the face of the watery deep,
28
when he made firm the cloud masses above, when he caused the fountains of the watery deep to be strong,
29 when he set for the sea his decree that the waters themselves should not pass beyond his order, when
he decreed the foundations of the earth,
30 then I came to be
beside him as a master worker, and I came to be the one he was specially fond of day by day, I being glad before him all the
time, (Proverbs 8)
22 ‘Do YOU not fear even me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘or are YOU in no severe
pains even because of me, who have set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an indefinitely lasting regulation that it cannot
pass over? Although its waves toss themselves, still they cannot prevail; and [although] they do become boisterous, still
they cannot pass over it. (Jeremiah 5)
Whilst it seems
as if I am in total disagreement with the Creationist interpretations of the post-flood archeological record, I hope they
will not become too disgruntled by this. I needed their ideas on the relevant scriptures to arrive at my conclusions on all
this; my response to their theories seems to vindicate not only my thoughts on the flood events as they affected the physical
earth but also confirms my ideas on the upper waters being outside of our own universe. The Creationists provided a necessary
stepping stone to enable God’s work to be better understood by we mere mortals. They are clearly blessed by our loving
God. The Lords’ Witnesses have learned, through the hard toil needed to decode God’s word correctly, that He does
not yield up any of His true nature or secrets except to those He chooses and even then He will not provide any more information
than is necessary before its proper time for revelation.
Whilst the variety
of Creationists that specialise in the Flood Geology no doubt have our best interests at heart in treating the flood as responsible
for all manner of geological phenomena, I think the interested reader will find an appropriate alternative Christian view
at the following web-site:
http://www.atlantaapologist.org/rtb/resources/Papers/floodgeology.htm
I wonder if the web-master of that web-site would subscribe
to my wormhole theory?