The heavens stretched above the Earth
Posted on October 6, 2024 by Patrick Shabi with an estimated reading time of 15 minutes
Last updated on October 6, 2024
“This is what God the LORD says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it…” (Isaiah 42:5)
To properly grasp how our current view and understanding of the universe came about (the Big Bang Theory), we must first briefly visit a debate that has been happening since the time of the ancient Greeks – whether the universe is infinite or finite. This debate spanned across many ancient cultures, but the ancient Greeks began and influenced this debate greatly due to their mastery and excellence in so many different scientific and philosophical fields. There were differing views among the ancient Greeks with some arguing, such as Anaximander and Democritus, the universe was infinite, boundless, and had no size or shape. Others, such as Pythagoras and Aristotle, believed the opposite to be true. That is that the universe was bounded, limited (finite), and essentially spherical in shape.
Massive objects like planets and stars curve the fabric of space and time. This curvature tells objects how to move. Instead of considering gravity a force, this theory shows that objects follow the curves in space created by these masses.
By the 20th century, considerable technological and scientific advancements had been made, allowing humanity to peer into the heavens for the first time, and approach this ongoing debate from a new perspective. In 1915, the prevailing consensus of the scientific community was that the universe was static (unchanging), ageless, and infinite. This was before Albert Einstein introduced his theory of general relativity, which provided a new framework for understanding the nature of space, time, gravity, and ultimately the universe. His theory argued the opposite of the prevailing consensus, that the universe was finite, had a beginning, and was ever-expanding. Einstein’s theory was the groundwork which allowed Edwin Hubble and other astronomers to make groundbreaking observations during the 1920s, demonstrating that the galaxies were moving away from each other, suggesting that the universe was expanding. These observations are what ultimately led to the Big Bang theory being solidified as the predominant view in the scientific community.
The Big Bang theory continues to be dominant view in the scientific community today, however, recently cracks have begun to appear due to the recent launch of the James Webb telescope in December 2021. Some of the early images released from the James Webb telescope show six large galaxies (each consisting of millions of stars) being presumed to have been formed just 500-600 millions years after the Big Bang.
The image from the James Webb telescope, taken in December 2021, which shows the six large galaxies presumed to have been formed just 500 - 600 million years after the Big Bang.
Why is this such a problem and contradicts, or at the very least, calls into question the established model of the Big Bang?
Nancy Levenson, the Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates the James Webb telescope for NASA, says this of the unexpected find: “The reason why it [the released images] flies in the face of our current understanding of cosmology is because our cosmological theory predicts that it should take much longer for galaxies of this mass to form. We think that it should take about 2 billion years, at least, to form these large galaxies with so many stars.” These findings are still being reviewed and further research into this matter is needed. However, based on the initial findings and statements made, it seems like there will certainly be some new understandings that come from this discovery.
We shouldn’t be surprised that the Big Bang model is beginning to be challenged. Although it is true that the universe had a beginning (Genesis 1:1), the actual workings of the universe are far more complicated, which we are beginning to see revealed to us through the findings of the James Webb telescope. Even though these things are coming to light now in the scientific community, the Bible already has some of these things recorded, and helps us to understand some of these complexities with a term that’s used throughout. This term appears in Isaiah:
“Thus says the LORD God, He created the heavens above, and stretched them out…” (Isaiah 42:5)
The word “stretch” is derived from the Hebrew word natah which is used approximately 215 times throughout the Bible with over 25 different meanings. Through this word natah we begin to see some of the complexity that God built into the universe.
Before we continue, it should be noted that many writers, and even some scholars, have attempted to correlate this Hebrew word natah to the concept of an ever-expanding universe, in order to align it to contemporary scientific theories, such as the Big Bang. A primary example that many of these writers use to make this point is given to us in Isaiah and is located near the end of the verse in question,
“…And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” (Isaiah 40:22)
Instead of natah being translated as “stretched”, in this instance it is translated as “spreads” which some online writers and scholars interpret as a constant and expanding universe. However, in order to see what this word, and thus the verse, actually means we need carefully analyze this Hebrew word. The first time natah is used in the Bible is found in Genesis 12:8, where it is states that Abram pitched (natah) his tent. Pitching a tent would have caused fabric to stretch out over the poles, but this fabric wouldn’t keep expanding or even be stretchy. Once the fabric was fully stretched out, it stopped. When the Bible describes God as "stretching the heavens," it refers to an initial action of arranging the stars and their positions, similar to stretching fabric over tent poles. This action was completed, but God’s ongoing maintenance of the universe continues, as suggested in Hebrews, where the author says,
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3)
This dual aspect of the universe—its initial creation and its ongoing maintenance—parallels the Big Bang Theory and modern cosmology, which hold that the universe expanded rapidly at its creation but continues to expand at just the right rate to sustain life. The Bible’s description of cosmic stretching aligns closely with these concepts. In fact, the Bible goes beyond the initial creation event, suggesting that the universe's expansion is both completed and ongoing. Isaiah 40:22 employs two distinct Hebrew verb forms: one to describe the ongoing stretching of the heavens and another to indicate that this stretching has already been accomplished.
Moreover, this biblical claim of simultaneous completion and ongoing maintenance is not limited to the universe’s expansion. For example, the same principle is applied to God’s laying of Earth’s foundations. Isaiah 51:13 and Zechariah 12:1 refer to this process, which aligns with the geophysical discovery that long-lived radiometric elements were placed into the Earth’s crust more than four billion years ago. These elements were positioned in just the right quantities to ensure the continual building and sustaining of continents. This concept of completed yet ongoing creation echoes the scientific understanding of the universe's precise, finely tuned nature.
Through the preceding verses that we covered we looked at the word natah and the true meaning to this Hebrew word as “stretch” or “spread out.” However, we are introduced to another concept which is connected to this word in Isaiah 40:22, which may surprise you.
“It is He that sits upon the circle of the Earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” (Isaiah 40:22)
We previously looked at the first part of this verse and its implications to a spherical Earth, but the ending is just as important and has implications to the universe. The word translated as “curtain” in the last part of this verse is more closely translated as “canopy.” This verse is the only time that this Hebrew word “dōq” is used in the Bible. This Hebrew word dōq is strongly correlated to the Hebrew word “dāqaq”, which you can see in many online Biblical concordances, and means “to crush, pulverize, thresh; to crush or to be fine; to pulverize and make dust of.” Essentially, Isaiah 40:22 says this “canopy” that God spread or stretched out above the Earth was finely beaten, pulverized, and small powder or dust. Take a moment to consider and fully grasp what’s being said in this verse, since a full understanding wasn’t available to humanity until 1970, when Don Brownlee at the University of Washington in Seattle first reliably identified the extraterrestrial nature of collected dust particles. His discovery resulted in other scientists looking into cosmic dust and the role it plays in the universe, and its importance. The information they discovered was actually contained and given to humanity some 2,700 years prior in the Bible.
An image taken by the James Webb telescope of cosmic dust. Through pictures like these showing the expansiveness and vastness of cosmic dust throughout the universe, we are beginning to understand just how important cosmic dust is to the origin and makings of universe.
As we continue to deepen our understanding of the universe, we are reminded of the ongoing dialogue between science and the Bible, particularly as it relates to the origins and nature of the universe. From the debates of the ancient Greeks to the groundbreaking theories of the 20th century, humanity's quest to comprehend the universe has evolved dramatically. The proposed discovery of cosmic expansion reshaped our perception of space, time, and the universe and led us to accept the Big Bang Theory as the predominant view held in the scientific community. Yet, the recent findings from the James Webb telescope hint at complexities in the universe that challenge these most established scientific models and concepts.
The Bible has long contained references that align with some of these cosmic truths, offering insights that science is only beginning to uncover. The Hebrew word natah — meaning "stretch" or "spread out" — in Isaiah provides a glimpse into how the Bible has described the structure and maintenance by God of the heavens for thousands of years. These ancient scriptures speak of God stretching out the heavens like a canopy. Now, with modern discoveries about cosmic dust and the expanding universe, we can appreciate the depth of these descriptions in a new light. As scientific inquiry and biblical wisdom intersect, we gain a fuller picture and understanding of the universe's grandeur and the Creator's sustaining power.