Bible References to God Stretching Out the HeavensNew International Version of the BibleThanks to Otis Graf for compiling this list. ofgraf@gmail.com Job 9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens _ and treads on the waves of the sea.Psalm 104:2 The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment; _ he stretches out the heavens like a tentIsaiah 40:22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, _ and its people are like grasshoppers. _He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, _ and spreads them out like a tent to live in.Isaiah 42:5 This is what God the LORD saysÑ _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 itIsaiah 44:24 ÒThis is what the LORD saysÑ _ your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, _ the Maker of all things, _ who stretches out the heavens, _ who spreads out the earth by myself,Isaiah 45:12 It is I who made the earth _ and created mankind on it. _My own hands stretched out the heavens; _ I marshaled their starry hosts.Isaiah 48:13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, _ and my right hand spread out the heavens; _when I summon them, _ they all stand up together.Isaiah 51:13 that you forget the LORD your Maker, _ who stretches out the heavens _ and who lays the foundations of the earth, _that you live in constant terror every day _ because of the wrath of the oppressor, _ who is bent on destruction?Jeremiah 10:12 But God made the earth by his power; _ he founded the world by his wisdom _ and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.Jeremiah 51:15 ÒHe made the earth by his power; _ he founded the world by his wisdom _ and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.Zechariah 12:1 The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares: 2 ÒI am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.Hugh Ross has referred to some of these passages in his writing to correlate with the evidence for fine-tuned expansion of the universe. He was criticized by William Lane Craig for taking the interpretation of scripture far beyond what could possibly have been understood by the original audience for those scriptures. That generated a lively debate among the RTB volunteer apologists, and one of the things that came out of it was this list of scriptures from multiple locations that speak of the spreading of the heavens like a tent. Part of the discussion was trying to make a distinction between scriptures that obviously had a specific intent for a specific group of people, like Jeremiah 29:11, versus scriptures that were directed toward universal and timeless truths. One of the arguments presented was that universal truths were written to apply to future generations as well, and that it was plausible to assume that there might have been an intent to speak to the understandings of the heavens that exists in our day. It's still a stretch."
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