On the second day God separated the waters and created the sky. It requires a little imagination to try to figure out what these verses mean. We may still not get it exactly right, but that’s OK too. God didn’t give us these verses to burden or confuse us, they were intended to give us understanding.

I’m left with these questions: Did God take just enough of the water mass to make the earth, leaving the rest to make everything else in the universe? Or did he separate just enough water to make clouds and leave the rest to become the earth and it’s oceans and rivers? We can’t speak with authority on this since the information is not complete – nor was it intended to be.

The book of Genesis was never intended to be a science book. One chapter in a book can’t scratch the surface as it describes the process God used to create the earth. It was given to people who only knew a few forms of agriculture and the basics in making clothing, shelters, and housewares. There were no people with science degrees at the time. As we progress through the days of creation we will be able to recognize a progression that is firmly founded in scientific reason, however. This is a progression that I don’t believe early people had the ability to produce out of their own imaginations.

Back to day two – We read that God created an “expanse” between the waters and he called it sky. Since God hasn’t yet created the Sun, moon, stars & planets, I prefer to entertain the idea that God started the earth inside a huge bubble of air which God named “sky.” The rest of the water mass could be used to start the Sun, moon, and stars.

Our sky is not empty and void. It has volume and mass. If you blow up a balloon, it increases in size according to the amount of air you blow into it.The air inside the balloon and the air we breathe was created by God to support both plant life with carbon dioxide and animal life with oxygen. This would all need to be in place before God could introduce plants and animals on the earth. The sky supports the clouds.

Take a deep breath of air and enjoy a glass of cold fresh water. Isn’t God good!

The Creation, a Bible storybook for children by Janice D. Green