Firmament was made on Day 2 of Creation
Firmament in Hebrew is Raqia
These words all translate the Biblical Hebrew word rāqīa, used for example in Genesis 1:6, where it is contrasted with shamayim, translated as “heavens” in Genesis 1:1 Rāqīaʿ derives from the root rq, meaning to beat or spread out thinly and concerns the hammering of the vault of heaven into firmness (Isaiah 42:5; Psalms136:6). The Hebrew lexicographers Brown, Driver and Briggs gloss the noun with "extended surface, (solid) expanse (as if beaten out)" and distinguish two main uses:
1. (flat) expanse (as if of ice), as base, support
2. the vault of heaven, or 'firmament,' regarded by Hebrews as solid and supporting 'waters' above it." A related noun, riqqua, found in Numbers 16:38, refers to the process of hammering metal into sheets.
Rāqīa means that which is firmly hammered, stamped (a word of the same root in Phoenecian means "tin dish"!). The Vulgate translates rāqīa with firmamentum, and that remains the best rendering.
Descriptions of the Firmament (Heaven) of God
Strong like Glass
Spread out like a Tent
Genesis 1:8
And God called the firmament Heaven...
Job 37:18
Hast thou with Him spread out the sky,
Which is strong and as a molten
looking glass?
Spread out like a Tent
Spread out like a Tent
Isaiah 40:22
It is He that sitteth upon the circle 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:
Vaulted Dome
Throne of God sits on top
Amos 9:6
It is He that buildeth His stories in the heaven, and hath founded His troop (vault) in the earth; He that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is His name.
Throne of God sits on top
Throne of God sits on top
Ezekiel 1:26-28
And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it…
Psalms 33:13-14
The LORD looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
Undeniable Evidence
Psalm 19:1-6
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork... In them hath he set a tabernacle (tent) for the sun...
Why this passage matters
Psalm 19:1-6 serves to remind humanity that the natural world provides undeniable evidence of a Creator. It establishes that no one has an excuse to deny God's existence because the "testimony" of creation is broadcasted to everyone, every single day. See also Romans 1:20-22
Better Explained on a Stationary Plane and not on a sphere
Genesis 11:4-5
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. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
Acts 1:9-11
...which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.