I know many have strong opinions about the Book of Enoch. Whatever your opinion may be on it, the fact remains, it was well known to the authors of Scripture, to the point where Jude even quoted directly from it, while under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. At the very least, it shows the mindset of the Hebrews (including the authors of the canonized text), confirming the belief they (and the entire Ancient Near East) had concerning the shape and nature of the Earth and its place in the cosmos:
This view was held well into the New Testament timeframe, as also indicated by the writings of Josephus in the 1st Century:
CHAPTER 1. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WORLD AND THE DISPOSITION OF THE ELEMENTS
1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. But when the earth did not come into sight, but was covered with thick darkness, and a wind moved upon its surface, God commanded that there should be light: and when that was made, he considered the whole mass, and separated the light and the darkness; and the name he gave to one was Night, and the other he called Day: and he named the beginning of light, and the time of rest, The Evening and The Morning, and this was indeed the first day. But Moses said it was one day; the cause of which I am able to give even now; but because I have promised to give such reasons for all things in a treatise by itself, I shall put off its exposition till that time. After this, on the second day, he placed the heaven over the whole world, and separated it from the other parts, and he determined it should stand by itself. He also placed a crystalline [firmament] round it, and put it together in a manner agreeable to the earth, and fitted it for giving moisture and rain, and for affording the advantage of dews. On the third day he appointed the dry land to appear, with the sea itself round about it; and on the very same day he made the plants and the seeds to spring out of the earth. On the fourth day he adorned the heaven with the sun, the moon, and the other stars, and appointed them their motions and courses, that the vicissitudes of the seasons might be clearly signified.
The "Early Church Fathers" also wrote quite a bit about this "crystalline firmament" but that's a topic for a whole other essay. OK. This is what really got me though. Check out how the author of 1 Enoch describes the Flood, as given through the vision/dream of Enoch prior to the Judgment occurring...
The Deluge and the Deliverance of Noah
CHAPTER 89:
2 And again I raised mine eyes towards heaven and saw a lofty roof, with seven water torrents thereon, and those torrents flowed with much water into an enclosure.
3 And I saw again, and behold fountains were opened on the surface of that great enclosure, and that water began to swell and rise upon the surface, and I saw that enclosure till all its surface was covered with water.
4 And the water, the darkness, and mist increased upon it; and as I looked at the height of that water,that water had risen above the height of that enclosure, and was streaming over that enclosure,and it stood upon the earth.
5 And all the cattle of that enclosure were gathered together until I saw how they sank and were swallowed up and perished in that water.
6 But that vessel floated on the water, while all the oxen and elephants and camels and asses sank to the bottom with all the animals, so that I could no longer see them, and they were not able to escape,(but) perished and sank into the depths.
7 And again I saw in the vision till those water torrents were removed from that high roof, and the chasms of the earth were leveled up and other abysses were opened.
8 Then the water began to run down into these, till the earth became visible; but that vessel settled on the earth, and the darkness retired and light appeared.
I'm in the process of trying to take the descriptions given in the canonized texts along with what we can read in books like Enoch and other writings contemporary with the Biblical texts - which clearly illustrate the worldview of the Biblical authors - and creating a 3D model, taking these descriptions as literally as I can. This is still very much a work in progress, the following is what I've come up with so far:
A New 3D Model of YHWH's Terrarium as conceptualized by Rob Skiba
(a work-in-progress)
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. - Job 22:14 (KJV)
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he sees not; and he walks in the circle of heaven. (King James 2000)
'Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; And He walks on the vault of heaven.' (NASB)
The above shows the complete "Heaven-Earth System" essentially as a "vault," depicting the floor of YHWH's Throne Room atop the firmament, which is His "footstool." Essentially, the idea is that the "circle of heaven" upon which YHWH walks on is surrounding the top of the dome. His Throne would be toward the back (North) end of this picture. The "four corners" where Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel stand are the four edges of the gold-plated floor.
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. - Revelation 7:1
The book of Enoch goes into a fair amount of detail concerning these four angels who stand on the four corners of the earth. I'll write more about that later, in my blog concerning angels.
Even though the word "earth" (erets in Hebrew) means "land," it occurred to me that if we can consider the atmosphere, clouds, oceans and land collectively as "Earth" - meaning the whole "Earth system" - as in the globe model above, then, I suppose we could apply the same logic to the entire system depicted in my 3D model. In other words, the entire compartment depicted there could be the "Earth system." Thus, if true, then the 4 corners don't necessarily have to be part of the "circle of the Earth" below, but rather they could be part of the "roof" above the system, within the Heavenly realm, surrounding the Throne, which looks down on the Earth (land) below. If true, this then causes a departure from views such as this one:
Now I'm not being dogmatic about any of this. I fully acknowledge this is pure speculation on my part. I'm just trying to think "outside the box" and doing the best I can with the information provided to depict this stuff visually in a way consistent with the texts. This is very much still a work-in-progress, but the images below are cut-away views, looking into the interior of the Heaven-Earth System.
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
- Genesis 1:1-2 (KJV)
Have you ever noticed that water is never described as having been created? It's just there immediately after the declaration that God created the heavens and the earth. In many ways, this model helps reconcile something about which I've always struggled. The word for "heaven" is "shamayim" (the KJV should read heavens as it is not a singular word), which includes the word "mayim" (water). Some scholars have suggested that "heaven" thus means something akin to "water in it." But I've always wondered how that would work. This model seems to answer that question - at least for me anyway.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. - Genesis 1:6-8 (KJV)
In my cutaway view, note that there is water beneath the Throne of YHWH, inside an enclosed system, collectively known as Earth. This system has a "firmament" (dome) separating the water above from the water below, forming essentially a bathysphere - an enclosure of air - within which the dry land appeared in the Genesis 1 account. Being that this water surrounded Earth system is literally under the Throne of YHWH in Heaven, this shows how the water is in it.
I'm thinking that during the Flood, some of that upper water was drained into the "enclosure," filling it enough to cover all of the dry land. I say, "some" because over a thousand years after the Flood, Kind David wrote:
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. - Psalm 148:4
So, there still is water above us. Peter seems to also confirm this...
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: - 2 Peter :3:5
It would appear that when the "windows of heaven" were opened, only enough of the water above necessary to fill the bottom of the enclosure up to 15 cubits (about 20 feet) above the highest mountain (Gen. 7:20) was released. No more than that was needed to do the job.
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. - Psalm 33:7
It was then drained out, like a bathtub - perhaps into the "storehouses of the deep," which I've depicted as the box-like containers inside the outer walls:
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them. - 1 Samuel 2:8
You will also note in the cut-away, I have depicted the "pillars of the Earth." I have created them with essentially "shock absorbers" at the top. This would certainly allow for the Earth to be shaken up as needed (in YHWH's wrath), but yet still remain firm as a whole.
1 Then Job answered and said, 2 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? 3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. 4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? 5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger. 6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
- Job 9:1-6
With the floor of Heaven and containing walls removed, we see the Earth "standing in the water and out of the water" (as Peter described) set atop pillars, firm and unmovable. Again, this is all speculation, but it is at least putting a visual together for me of the things I've been reading in the canonized and biblically-endorsed, extra-biblical texts. One thing is certain though... the book of Enoch is certainly a slam dunk for the Enclosed World Flat Earthers.
But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. - Matthew 5:35
Heaven is My throne, and the earth a footstool of My feet. What kind of house will you build Me? Says the Lord, or what isthe place of My rest? - Acts 7:49
No question about it... the ancient texts clearly describe YHWH's "footstool" as essentially a snow globe, with the still, flat, circular Earth set on pillars, under a dome, within which the sun, moon and stars were placed on Day 4 of Creation. But the question I'm now wondering about is... are there more of these types of systems out there?
In my Father's house are many mansions{Greek: "moné" = "dwelling places"}: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. - John 14:2
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. - 1 Corinthians 2:9
