In the previous study, we saw that God had created a “firmament” or “dome” that separated the waters above from the waters below.
Genesis 1 6 God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the water; let it divide the water from the water.” 7 God made the dome and divided the water under the dome from the water above the dome; that is how it was, 8 and God called the dome Sky. So there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
The Easy-to-Read Bible version (ERV) translated the “dome” as a bowl turned upside down in Ezekiel 1:22. We found out that the “dome” was as hard as a cast metal mirror in Job 37:18. We also learnt that God’s throne is just above the “dome,” which acts as God’s footstool, something that Jesus Christ Himself said in Matthew 5:35.
Today, let’s look at another description of this wonderful creation of our CREATOR. Although I personally prefer KJV, today I’m going to use ERV and NET lest I get accused of being biased and for easier reading for many people.
Exodus 24:10
ERV – On the mountain, these men saw the God of Israel. He was standing on something that looked like blue sapphires, as clear as the sky!
NET – and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear like the sky itself
Ezekiel 1:26
ERV – There was something that looked like a throne on top of the bowl. It was blue like sapphire. There was also something that looked like a man sitting on the throne.
NET – Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man.
Other Bible versions like HCSB and ISV also mention lapis lazuli, I think because they have the same color.
Let’s look at just two features of sapphire here.
Hardness:
The hardness of minerals or their resistance to scratching is usually measured by Mohs scale, which was developed by a German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. Minerals are assigned values between 1 (least resistant to scratching) and 10 (greatest resistance to scratching).
Diamond is the only mineral with the value of 10 in the scale, and guess what? Sapphire is just after diamond, with a value of 9. You can find Mohs scale ranking here.
Color:
While sapphire comes in a variety of colors, it’s generally blue. Indeed, there is even a color known as sapphire blue.
Whether the sapphire stone describes God’s throne, the throne’s pavement or the earth’s dome upon which the throne rests, it’s strong and blue in color.
Now, which color do you see when you look at the clear sky? So, do you still think our Creator is billions of light-years away from us?