The “Stretching Out” of the Heavens

The “Stretching Out” of the Heavens

Concerning the origin of the universe and of the earth, both the Bible and the Big Bang theory
provide us various unambiguous claims. However, the focus of the Genesis account appears
very much centered upon the earth, whereas the focus of the Big Bang theory is on the entire
universe as a whole. For this reason, it is difficult to use the Genesis account as a basis for
evaluating whether the Big Bang theory agrees with scripture, since the Big Bang theory is
primarily a description of the entire universe. Fortunately, we do find occasional scriptural
references to the origin of the universe in various books of the Old and New Testaments.
Collectively, they give us a sense of a process whereby God prepared the universe and the earth,
with the ultimate purpose of creating mankind.
But we must realize that the Old Testament was written over 2400 years ago, and the New
Testament over 1900 years ago. In these ancient times, much of the world considered the sky
above to have a covering or dome upon which the Sun, Moon, and stars moved. Indeed, the
Hebrew word for “heavens” was used in reference either to the sky above or to the abode of the
Sun, Moon, and stars. Constellations were already well known and remain virtually identical to
what we see today, but the study of modern astronomy would not begin until 400 years ago. The
Bible claims divine inspiration of its authorship, despite the human hands used to record it and
the limited human understanding of its authors. As such it should give us a correct description of
how the universe was created that agrees with modern scientific evidence. While Christians
today consider the Bible a book for all times, written for a reader today as well as for the reader
long ago, the language used was necessarily one that would be understood by the ancients,
without the benefit of modern science. Therefore comparisons of scripture with modern science
should only be made with this in mind.
Nevertheless, scriptural references alluding to the process God used in the creation of the
heavens bear a remarkable resemblance to what the Big Bang theory describes. Ten times in the
Old Testament, included in 5 separate books, we find references to creation in which God
“stretched out the heavens” [27]. One example in Isaiah 42:5 states: “Thus says God the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out...” and again in Isaiah 40:22: “It is He who sits
above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the
heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” There are 3 other such
references in the book of Isaiah. Similarly, Psalm 104:2 speaks of the majesty of the Lord:
“Covering Thyself with light as with a cloak, stretching out the heavens like a tent curtain.” In
Jeremiah 10:12 we see the intent of this repeated expression: “It is He who made the earth by His
power, who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out
the heavens.” We are informed that the Lord God of Israel is the maker of all heaven and earth.
Only through His divine wisdom could all that we see have come about. The process God used
in creating the heavens is described simply as “stretching out”. Similar passages are found in
Job 9:8 and Zechariah 12:1 [1].
Although the language is different from that of modern science, this process seems suspiciously
similar to what we understand today as the expansion of the universe. Indeed we could very well
use the same language to properly understand the expanding space-time. As described in chapter
2, the expansion of the universe does not “spread out” matter in pre-existing space; rather spacetime
itself is growing larger, being stretched out to an increasingly larger volume. We find that
the Bible describes an expanding universe in references over 2000 years old, whereas modern
science has come to this conclusion independently within the last 80 years. This demonstrates
once again that the Bible has a divine authorship, even though written with human hands. This is
explained by II Peter 1:20,21 which states “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of
Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of
human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
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The evidence of the physical universe is supporting the accuracy of the Bible. Both speak of a
moment of creation for all matter, space and time, a process of preparation necessary for planet
Earth to become a fit habitation, and the stretching out of the heavens we now refer to as the
expansion of the universe. We are witnessing fulfillment of the prophecy given in Psalm 19:1-4:
The heavens are telling of the glory of the God; and their expanse is declaring the
work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night-to-night reveals
knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their
line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world
[1].
Without a sound, the heavens are declaring a message to us that cannot be silenced, revealing the
error of various worldviews that do not acknowledge the Creator God. Accordingly, we have
seen that modern science has not displaced Scripture from its position of authority concerning
ultimate truth; rather it is demonstrating the reliability of Scripture. A respect for the testimony
of science actually leads us to accept the Bible as truth. Once we accept this, we are led to
consider the central messages of the Scriptures, which science cannot adequately address. The
Scriptures reveal to us the person responsible for creation and a purpose behind it.