He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
(Psalms 18:9-12) KJV
He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet. He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness canopies around Him, Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled.
(2 Samuel 22:10-13) NKJV
If heaven, the firmament, is a sphere of rigid crystal then we can resolve several passages of scripture which describe heaven, or pieces of heaven, as literally rigid crystalline structures.
For example: this gives us a way to account for a passage in Psalm 18 where in the same context the Bible refers to God being in light and darkness at the same time. Things which we have to resolve include:
- And darkness was under his feet,
- He made darkness his secret place,
- his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
- At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed.
How can there be darkness under his feet and brightness before him at the same time? We’re talking about two dimensions.
- Vertical: Under his feet is down.
- Horizontal: Brightness before him is in front, beside or around him.
If the firmament is made of material that shines brightly, but that’s hidden from below by a layer of black on its inner concave surface, then that’s how how brightness can be before God and there can be darkness under his feet at the same time. We have a physical model that accounts for the fact that God’s heaven is a place where there’s no need of the sun for light, but that he also made darkness his secret place.
