In Scripture, Earth is Enclosed with Bounds

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The earth is a closed system, bounded at its edges by ice/rock, below by dense land/rock, and above by the glass-like firmament of heaven. Recall Job 38 where God questions the wise on their knowledge of earth.  Can they know the boundaries of it or its peripheral limits where the waves go no further?

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?”

Job 38:4, 10-11 ESV

“He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.”

Psalm 104:5-9 ESV

And recall Proverbs 8:27-29: 

“When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,”

Proverbs 8:27-29 ESV

Isaiah 52:10 says the earth has ends or limits: 

“The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

Isaiah 52:10 ESV

The earth is also enclosed with a firmament, or vaulted dome, which contains or makes visible aspects of the heavens above.  

“And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.”

Genesis 1:6-8 ESV

“It is He who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has established His vaulted dome (the firmament of heaven) over the earth, He who calls to the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth— The Lord is His name.”

Amos 9:6 AMP

This expanse above us encloses us from the waters, (separates the waters from the waters).  It is firm as a mirror or cast metal.  Some translate it as a firm looking glass.  

“Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?”

Job 37:18 ESV

“Hast thou with him spread out the sky, Which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?”

Job 37:18 KJV

If conceptualizing as a firm, domed looking glass, the rotations and counter rotations of the stars are understood. 

YouTube Video: “Star Trails viewed through a glass dome” (By Curious J)

The heavens essentially travel a circuit, and we view them through a glass like firmament, which give clockwise and counter clockwise rotations depending on our location.  This firmament is a prime example of God’s handiwork with which we observe the circuit of heaven. 

“The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, And night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, Where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.”

Psalm 19:1-6 KJV

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