Dear friends
Some Theologians and Semitists say that the picture of the universe the Bible depicts is one of a three storey building. That is to say, the universe are made up of a flat disc, called earth, waters under the earth also referred to as the flood or the abode of dead (Sheol), and the water dome above the earth, called the heavens.
On the earth, mount Zion, Jerusalem or the temple is seen as the middle (or the navel) of the world. The earth disc is held up by the mountains that reach into the abode of the dead or the waters under the earth. It is these mountains that shake in God’s presence to indicate God’s power over the universe.
The heavens consist out of three parts, the waters above the earth that is the blue sky, the store rooms for hail, rain, snow and mist which is opened when it hails, rains, etc and the third heaven which is God’s throne room and where his presence is announced by the cherubim and/or seraphim.
Sheol (sometimes translated with ‘pit’) is seen as the abode of the dead, the place where humans become shadows after a life here on earth. Sometimes it is seen as a place where God is not present, sometimes God’s presence in Sheol shows that God cannot be limited, He is omnipresent. It may also be the chaos waters that want to engulf the whole universe and destroy it. It is the place of monsters like the Leviathan.
What do you think of this cosmology? Do you think it is how the Bible depicts the universe?
How would you understand verses like, Exodus 20:4,
Jonah prays in Jonah 2:2-9,
What do you think? Is this type of interpretation too way off?
Kind regards
[FONT="]Elimelek[/FONT]
Some Theologians and Semitists say that the picture of the universe the Bible depicts is one of a three storey building. That is to say, the universe are made up of a flat disc, called earth, waters under the earth also referred to as the flood or the abode of dead (Sheol), and the water dome above the earth, called the heavens.
On the earth, mount Zion, Jerusalem or the temple is seen as the middle (or the navel) of the world. The earth disc is held up by the mountains that reach into the abode of the dead or the waters under the earth. It is these mountains that shake in God’s presence to indicate God’s power over the universe.
The heavens consist out of three parts, the waters above the earth that is the blue sky, the store rooms for hail, rain, snow and mist which is opened when it hails, rains, etc and the third heaven which is God’s throne room and where his presence is announced by the cherubim and/or seraphim.
Sheol (sometimes translated with ‘pit’) is seen as the abode of the dead, the place where humans become shadows after a life here on earth. Sometimes it is seen as a place where God is not present, sometimes God’s presence in Sheol shows that God cannot be limited, He is omnipresent. It may also be the chaos waters that want to engulf the whole universe and destroy it. It is the place of monsters like the Leviathan.
What do you think of this cosmology? Do you think it is how the Bible depicts the universe?
How would you understand verses like, Exodus 20:4,
Psalm 139:7-10,You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (ESV)
(I think that the spirit here indicates God’s presence, like in Genesis 1, and doesn’t necessarily refer to the Holy Spirit.)Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. … (ESV)
Jonah prays in Jonah 2:2-9,
In one of the darkest Psalms in the Bible the Psalmist prays (Psalm 88:2-7, 10-12),I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.' 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!" (ESV)
Reading texts with the above as background may illuminate difficult passages, such as 1 Samuel 28 where a dead Samuel is brought “up” (1 Sam 28:12-15). If may also make a passage such as Revelation 4 more understandable.2 Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. 4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength, 5 like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. 6 You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. … 10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah 11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? (ESV)
What do you think? Is this type of interpretation too way off?
Kind regards
[FONT="]Elimelek[/FONT]