3. The Second Day

I. On the second day “God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament from those that were above the firmament, and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven” (Gen. i. 7, 8). By the “firmament” the Jews understood what we call the atmosphere. Here Moses accurately describes a most important operation that took place early in the earth’s history. At that epoch there was a seething indescribable mass of matter, shrouded in thick poisonous vapours of carbonic-acid gas, which made life impossible for breathing creatures. The forms of life belonging to this geological period include no air-breathing animals. In order to prepare the earth to be the abode of higher creatures, the next step was to dispose of this poisonous gas, and to combine the proper gases into air and water. The formation of the atmosphere extended through this and the following day, but the two stages in which it was accomplished were so different that they may well be considered as different epochs, according to the arrangement of the Mosaic narrative. The work of this second day was the condensation of oxygen and hydrogen into water, and the formation of dense clouds by the evaporation of the water under the influence of the still intense heat. Admire the wonderful and gigantic contrivances of nature, i.e., of the Author of nature, by which He brings about His purposes. Equally wonderful, though more hidden, are the spiritual contrivances by which He leads you to salvation.

II. As the dry land had not yet appeared, the aspect of the earth now presented to the eye would have been as Holy Scripture describes it. There was a great expanse of newly formed waters covering the earth in one universal ocean. From this arose a second great body of water in the form of steam and clouds, suspended high above the surface of the ocean, floating on a thick stratum of the heavier air still intermingled with carbonic-acid gas, which did not disappear till the end of the next period. This was the expanse of the firmament which separated the waters from the waters, the upper ones from the lower ones, or the watery vapours from the actual water. Under the changed conditions, air-breathing animals begin to appear in the strata laid down at this period. Thus did God work a great revolution, changing what was noxious into bright wholesome air, and multiplying higher forms of life accordingly. So in the spiritual order God dissipates the clouds of error and prejudice and sin, and brings you into a new atmosphere of faith and holiness.

III. The atmosphere is a wonderful and beneficent work of God. It extends round the whole earth to a height of perhaps fifty miles, or even as some think to two hundred miles in a very rarefied condition. It moderates the burning heat of the sun by day, and keeps the surface warmth from entirely evaporating by night; thus it prevents extremes of heat and cold which would make life impossible. It is also a shield to protect us from being bombarded by the millions of shooting stars which fall to the earth every day; it reduces them by its friction to gas, which, on cooling, falls gently in a very fine dust. The movements of the atmosphere in the form of winds convey the evaporations of the ocean from the tropics towards the poles, depositing snow and rain, filling the rivers, irrigating the fields, cooling one district and warming another. The air also provides men and beasts with oxygen, which enters the lungs and supplies the fuel that maintains life and energy. Glorify God for all these wonders by adoring His greatness, beneficence and providence. In the words of the Scriptures call on the winds and rains, the heat and cold, to bless the name of the Lord by carrying out His will and manifesting His perfections.