Day 2: Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,

and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus 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.... So the evening and the morning were the second day (Genesis 1:6-8). Smith's Bible Dictionary says of the word firmament, means expanse and does not convey the sense of solidity, (as some have read into the word)  but of stretching; the great arch of expanse over our heads, in which are placed the atmosphere and the clouds, and in which the stars appear to be placed and are seen.  But actually they will not be seen until day 4 (verse 14).  The waters that are above are water vapour and clouds, but recall from day 1 that at this stage the atmosphere is not yet transparent. And perhaps until day 2,  like a deep impenetrable fog without separation from the water below.

Hugh Ross (The Genesis Question) comments that day and night were necessary so that life would not face a single unrelenting temperature.  Also no less necessary is a modulated water cycle of condensation and precipitation.  This would need to be maintained withing certain boundaries in spite of all the changes in the evolution of the earth and the known increase in the sun's luminosity.  We hear much in certain quarters about the greenhouse effect.  Carbon dioxide and water vapour work like a car's window trapping heat. Earth's early atmosphere contained more of these things than our current atmosphere,  and it needed  plants (day 3) to extract carbon dioxide ad evaporation to produce oxegen.   Earth' gravitational pull is not strong enough to hold all the necessary atmospheric water indefinitely. Balance is maintained by water-rich comets of various sizes raining down on the earth. This miraculous fine tuning is one of a myriad necessary for life to exist.   


Just as physical water is essential for physical life, so spiritual water is essential for the abundant life. Spiritual water comes in two varieties living water, and still water. Living water is water that flows. On the last great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, 38). Jesus offered living waters to the woman at the well.  When we are beat up by the happenstances of life, whether our fault or not, we need the living water of the Holy Spirit to bring us out of that death into life (John 4:10; 7:39; 5:24).  But we also need to still waters that refresh and restore our souls, and bring peace and spiritual rest (Psalm 23:2, 3; Matthew 11:29). These waters  fortify us to go without fear through the valleys of the various deaths we experience in life (Psalm 23:4).

Father, thank You that You have promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).   You will never be to us like a deceitful brook, as waters that fail,  promising sustained sustenance but drying up in the difficult times  (Jeremiah 15:18; Isaiah 58:11).  You never promised there would not be difficult times.  Thank You Lord that did promise times of refreshing, but only after we have repented and been converted (Acts 3:19). So then we come to You again this morning Lord,  to drink freely of the waters of life in Jesus Name Amen