Flat Earth or Spherical Earth, What does the Bible Say

Many people will think, you gotta be kidding!  For the consummate iconoclast, every belief should be seriously pondered.  The lover of truth must allow all assumptions to be overthrown or upheld, with adequate consideration.  So bare with me as we consider this question:  Flat Earth or Spherical Earth, What does the Bible Say?

He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,
and hangeth the earth upon nothing. (Job 26:7)

IN THE BEGINNING

Many years ago I was confronted with the idea that the earth does not actually spin on an axis. After much due diligence I came to the conclusion that, it may be that the earth is fixed because there is absolutely no conclusive evidence to the contrary.  The Michelson–Morley experiment was deemed a failure because they could not detect the rotation of the earth.  However for the Fixed Earth Proponent the experiment was not a failure, the results should perhaps have been accepted at face value.  You see they weren’t seeking to answer the question: Does the earth rotate or not?  They were trying to verify a predetermined outcome.

Tychonic System

Consider taking the Copernican Sun-Centered Solar System model, make the Earth the Fixed Center, and everything else works relatively the same.  Which one is true?  Because we cannot prove the earth moves, it only comes down to theoretical belief, and we were taught to believe that it does move! Question everything! My Bible also says, that the earth is fixed and that it does not move — honestly this may only be a figure of speech meaning that the earth will remain as God created it. If I had more information perhaps I could say, “I will not be moved.” I will admit that all the heavenly bodies seem to be moving, relative to the earth and each other, that much I know, after which every opinion is hypothetical and theory.

Thus, many Flat Earth Proponents extend to ridicule the Spherical Earth Model based upon the weakness of the rotating earth theory.  Since none of the  flat earth models rotate, this is not even their argument and the hypothesis that the earth does not spin by no means lends credibility to any flat earth model I have seen. If one were honest they would stop using this specious argument to convince others of their belief.  Its like saying that 911 was an inside job, it is a different argument.  The flat earth model has much higher hurdles to overcome.

As I have done, and I have spent hundreds of hours, I encourage all to honestly research all of these topics to their own satisfaction, or desired result if that is good enough for you and you are unteachable.  Me, I want no less than the truth, and if it cannot be discovered, I must rightly divide the Word of God and let It be the deciding factor if it has anything to say on each subject.  So I am going to share what I have found in the Bible and show you some of the other hurdles that I encountered on my investigation into the flat earth models.  But please do your own research, it should be fun!

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Gen 1:1)

This is the opening statement of the Bible, the very definition of the word: universe (the single spoken sentence).  It is a proclamation of the first three things that God created.  He created the beginning, that is time.  He created the heaven, notice that it is explicitly singular.  And He created the earth, which He goes on to describe in the very next verse.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

At this point on the first day, what does the earth look like?  How could it be without form?  It must have its own form, but no other form.  Does this mean that it must be uniform?  Which of the following two are uniform?

A PERFECT sphere has only one form and would be void of additional form. If you took a gallon of water and proportionally placed all of the minerals that make up the earth into it and let it set it would separate by density leaving the water on the surface, now throw that gallon into a limitless void (no gravitational pulls, no light – a true void) it would form a perfect sphere with water on the surface… This is a picture of the earth on the first day before God said, “let there be light” – before He created the other heavenly bodies… before He formed anything else. If Genesis Verse One is a complete description, this is the picture that emerges without using conjecture.

The flat earth model cannot be uniform unless it is infinite, that is, it goes on forever!  But not even the Flat Earthers are claiming this.  And it cannot be just flat because in reality only three dimensional objects can exist in our universe, so really we are looking at a type of platter earth model because it must have depth and circumference.  Therefore the flat earth model is composed of at least three forms: 1. flat, 2. a 90 degree angle or curvature to form the edge and 3. the curvature around the circumference, which cannot be equal to the first curvature, otherwise it could only form a perfect sphere.  The geometric shape with least surface area to mass is a sphere.  Matter itself, especially liquids tend to get spherical to minimize their surface area.  In conformity to this fact, a Spherical Earth would be the natural formation created by God.  Only a perfect sphere can be without form and void.  We also notice that the earth was covered with water, only described as deep.

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  (Gen 1:2)

Because the Bible uses the figure of speech “the foundation or pillars of the earth” many people jump to the conclusion that that foundation must be like the foundation of a building built by man. I can also use the figure of speech to say that, “The Bible is the pillar and foundation of my faith.” But nobody actually believes that I am literally affixed to or standing upon a literal Bible.

He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,
and hangeth the earth upon nothing. (Job 26:7)

This verse from Job explicitly confirms that the Genesis 1:1 description of the Bible is complete. Before God’s Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, there was nothing but this perfect formless and voidless sphere called the earth as the central focus in an infinite and otherwise empty time/space continuum called the heaven which you couldn’t even see if you were there, because there was no light.  Notice that there are no defined boundaries to the heaven that God created on the first day, only an infinite universe is described here, with the Flat Earth models the description is incomplete and wrong in every way.

Now the scripture speaks of three heavens, the first of which was created on the first day; the third heaven is where the prophet was caught up and where God and the angels dwell, which could perhaps be described as a parallel dimension because it is rarely (according to the bible) but not readily observable on earth.  But I do believe that we can explain the additional, or second heaven by the creation of the firmament on the second day when God separated the waters from the waters.

THE FIRMAMENT

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 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. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.  (Gen 1:6-8)

One of the most convincing lies is the use of the Hebrew dictionary definition for the word “firmament” rather than the Bible definition given in the text itself: Gen. Verse 20 clearly states that the birds “fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven” this is the atmospheric firmament that God created between the waters above (clouds, mist) and waters below (oceans ,seas, lakes, rivers)” on the second day. This is what it actually says and this is reality’s witness. “open firmament of heaven” is not a “solid dome.”

On day one there was only one body of water, and that was on the earth, which God separated, the water above from the body of the water below.  So what is this firmament that God made here between the waters?  Verse 20 speaks of …fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. (Gen 1:20)  We know that birds do not fly in outer space because they need the atmospheric heaven or firmament to live in, neither do they fly in the dry land.  So as some Flat Earthers claim, the firmament is not a pounded out metal type dome fixture that has stars attached to it over a flat earth.  Notice also that God called the firmament that He created on the second day “heaven” and not “the heaven”, these are not interchangeable in the creation account, they are not the same thing – one was created on the first day, the other on the second day.

click to enlarge

The Heaven that God created on the first day is where He placed the lights on the forth day:  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: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 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.   (Gen 1:14-16)

v. 1 says “the heaven” was created on the first day. On day two He creates a firmament between the waters. We look around and we see waters below on the earth: oceans, seas, lakes etc. We see waters above in the form of mist and clouds: what is in between is where the birds fly per v.20. These are 2 different firmaments/heavens. One created on day one, the other created on day two.
Q. Did God create the same firmament heaven on two different days?
No. One is infinite as there are no defined boundaries. The other has two boundaries: the water below and the water above.

So the lights that God created on the forth day, are not in the “firmament heaven” between the waters that He created on the second day where the birds fly, but they are in “the heaven” that he created on the first day.  And many Flat Earthers digress to proclaim that the moon is luminous in itself and does not reflect the suns light as if reflected light from the moon would not qualify as the “lesser light” to rule the night, this specious claim only tends to discredit their major thesis.  Mere observation of the phases of the moon in conjunction with the position of the sun verifies that the sun is shining upon a spherical moon.

THE CIRCLE OF THE EARTH

It is he that sitteth upon the circle (H2329) of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:  (Isa 40:22):

Well the earth is definitely round, the Flat Earther would claim that Isaiah 40 describes the circumference, but honestly whether its circle is a sphere or a platter cannot be determined by the Isaiah 40 reference unless we consider:
1. if the earth is Flat, the Isaiah 40 verse is an incomplete description of it;
2. only if the earth is a Sphere is the description complete.  The Sphere is only and perfectly a circle from any perspective, the Flat earth is not.

There are only two other verses where the (H2329 חוּג) is used in the scripture:

(Pro 8:27)  … he set a compass (H2329) upon the face of the depth.

A definite reference to the Genesis One creation account.  Again notice the omission of any description of flatness, it must be assumed.  However, this verse seems to suggest a roundness upon the face of the deep,  which only describes the face of a Spherical Earth.  The face of a Flat Earth would not encompass, or include its edge or underside.

The Hebrew word for ball would not be used to relate what we conceive of today as a perfectly spherical pneumatically filled soccer or basket ball, but the reference would be to a grain or otherwise filled sewn sack for game playing, therefore not really an apt description of a perfect sphere. An apt description of a perfect sphere would be the “circle” in 3d by adding the descriptive phrase “deep.” Which two descriptions are the only contextual descriptions that the Bible offers for the earth. Circle and deep without a third modifier exclusively describes the sphere. You would need to add flat and corner etc. to get the flat platter or cylinder form.

THE CIRCUIT OF HEAVEN.

(Job 22:14)  …he walketh in the circuit (H2329) of heaven.

The Job 22 verse verifies that the hosts of heaven have a circuit which is easily observable.  Which model below explains all of our easily observable phenomena?

Flat earth models:

Neither of these adequately explains the phases of the moon, especially the lunar eclipse which is impossible with either.   Neither of these explain the six month days and nights in both the arctic and antarctic at opposite times of the year.

The first and most recent model violates the scriptural requirement of a sun that rises and goes down:
Gen:15:12 … the sun was going down.
Gen:19:23   The sun was risen…
Jdg:9:33 …as soon as the sun is up
In the first model above the sun is always up, it only fades into the distance, and it never goes down.  In the second model the sun must immediately appear from the underside of the flat earth in the east to be consistent with our experience. Does that even work?  Can the Flat earth proponents come up with model that satisfies all of the above problems?  I have yet to see even one.

Spherical Earth Model

The Spherical Earth model perfectly satisfies all of the biblical criteria, observable lunar phase phenomenon including the lunar eclipse and the six month day/night in both the arctic and antarctic.

SPECIOUS ARGUMENTS

1. The earth does not spin.
2. satellites are not real.
3. airline flight paths, GPS hoax.
4. Moon Hoax and NASA lies.
5. the UN flag.
6. some people in the past believed it.
7. 911 was an inside job.

None of these, though they may or may not have merit in themselves, none of them prove that the earth is flat and their constant insertion into the debate should only be considered obfuscation. I have found in my research upon this topic that the Atheist uses conjecture to divine a flat earth from the Bible to discredit it, now Christians are doing the same thing to uphold a thesis that is not really there!  Things stated in visions, dreams and other Bible topics are not biblical doctrine on the shape of the earth, but conjecture.  Bible Doctrine on the earth is only what is explicitly stated as such: The earth is explicitly described as circular, deep, and hanging upon nothing – this description can only be the sphere.  God is smarter than all of us. A circle is a hypothetical 2D object, add the word “deep” , a 3rd dimension, without additional description and the sphere emerges.  Nowhere does the Bible explicitly state, “the earth is flat.”  It must be assumed or conjectured from unrelated scripture.

Please show me these things on your flat earth: ends, edges, corners, domes and pillars, if and when you find them, then I will need to explain them to you.  You cannot show them to me because they are all symbolic.  In Isaiah, God used the one word which completely describes a three dimensional earth from every perspective, a circle.  He did not call it a ball, because the earth is not a toy, created to play a game.  Some ancient Hebrews did use conjecture to develop a cosmology, others observed the heavens and discerned that the earth was spherical as explicitly described in the Bible, much as I do.

By conjecture you can make the Bible say anything you want on any topic as simply as you can use a dictionary to write another book.  Conjecture allows the reader to read whatever he wants the Bible to say on any topic. What does it mean to rightly divide the word of God?

8. Exaggerated Optical Arguments. (click to enlarge)

First you start with a false assumption, “that this could only be seen if the earth is flat.” But, there is actually only about a 4 inch rise in the curvature of the water per mile at the center point between, times 56 miles equals about a 20 foot rise between the Michigan and Chicago shore. Because my camera is 6 feet above the water edge, and the buildings start at least 6 feet above the water, the actual rise between my eyes and the foot of the buildings is only 14 feet, therefore in round figures,  I should be able to see the buildings across the water starting at 34 feet above the Chicago water level, which would be about floor level of the third story. Would the picture be consistent with this calculation?   YES!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Nowhere in the creation account is there any boundary placed upon The Heaven that God created on the first day.  Did an infinite God create anything less that an infinite universe?

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. (Psa 19:1)

That the bible describes the earth as flat can only be arrived at through assumption or conjecture, nowhere is the earth explicitly described as flat, it is only described as a circle, therefore:
1. if the earth is Flat, then a circle is an incomplete description of it;
2. only if the earth is a Sphere is the description complete because the Sphere is only and perfectly a circle from any perspective, the Flat earth is not.

The Bible does not explicitly support a Flat Earth, period.

Keep your eyes on the more important prize, continue to Walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit. Our Creator calls His Elect to obey His commandments, allow His Holy Spirit to bring forth the fruit of repentance in your life, “the good works which God has before ordained that we might walk in them.” If you cannot obey Him now, how do you think He will lead you when the time is critical.  Learn to trust and obey Him now and you will be able to hear and obey Him through the present tribulation, coming World Conflicts and Mark of the Beast Inquisition.  Cross the Border into His Kingdom, obey the King and live forever, nothing is more important!

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. (Mat 23:13)