The Heavens are Stretching - The Bible said it First
“In 1917, Willem de Sitter used Einstein's general relativity equations to predict the discovery of an expanding universe. In a letter from Albert Einstein to astronomer Willem de Sitter, he complained that the expanding-universe theory implied a moment of CREATION: “To admit such possibilities seems senseless to me,” -Einstein, NYT
Declaring God's Stretching of the Heavens:
Verses with the Qal Active Participle (Continual Stretching):
Job 9:8: This verse describes God as "stretching out the heavens alone," emphasizing His singular power and ongoing action in maintaining the universe.
Psalm 104:2: Here, God "stretches out the heavens like a tent," highlighting the vastness and flexibility of the cosmos under His control.
Isaiah 40:22: This verse, uses both the Qal participle ("stretches") and the Qal perfect ("spread") forms. This interplay emphasizes both the ongoing process and the established order of the universe's expansion.
Isaiah 42:5: God is declared to be the "stretcher out of the heavens and the founder of the earth," emphasizing His dual role in shaping both the celestial and terrestrial realms.
Isaiah 44:24: Here, God declares, "I stretched out the heavens, and no one was there," highlighting His sovereign power and independent action in creation.
Psalm 51:13: The psalmist pleads, "Remember, O Lord, what has come upon us; consider and behold our reproach. Our inheritance has turned to strangers, our houses to aliens," contrasting the vastness of God's creation with the temporary troubles faced by humans.
Zechariah 12:1: This verse describes God as "stretching out the heavens and laying the foundation of the earth," emphasizing His role as the architect and sustainer of the universe.
Verses with the Qal Perfect Form (Completed Stretching):
Isaiah 45:12: This verse declares, "My hands laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand established the heavens," showcasing God's definitive and complete action in creating the universe.
Isaiah 48:13: God proclaims, "My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens," reiterating His singular and finished act of creation.
Jeremiah 10:12: The prophet describes God as "the one who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding," emphasizing the knowledge and purpose behind creation.
Jeremiah 51:15: This verse depicts God as "the one who made the earth by his power, who established the universe by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding," similar to Jeremiah 10:12 but focusing on the universe as a whole.
Isaiah 40:22 and Its Significance:
Isaiah 40:22 stands out by employing both the Qal participle and the Qal perfect forms of the verb "natah." This unique combination suggests two complementary aspects of God's action:
Ongoing Expansion: The participle emphasizes the continual process of the heavens' stretching, highlighting God's active role in maintaining and guiding the universe's growth.
Completed Creation: The perfect form points to the initial act of creation, where God established the universe with the property of ongoing expansion.
Therefore, Isaiah 40:22 affirms both the present reality of a dynamic universe and the past event of a purposeful creation. This verse offers a profound insight into God's relationship with the cosmos, revealing Him as the ongoing designer and the initial architect of the ever-expanding universe.
The “Stretching” aka the Cosmological Constant
The measurement of the cosmological constant is a complex topic, and its connection to "stretching" the universe requires careful explanation. Here's a breakdown:
Measuring the Cosmological Constant:
Methods: Several methods achieve this, including:
Type Ia Supernovae: These standardized explosions serve as "distance candles" by revealing how fast distant galaxies are receding based on their observed brightness and redshift. This information helps quantify the universe's expansion history and constrain the cosmological constant.
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): Studying the temperature and polarization of the CMB, the faint afterglow of the beginning, offers clues about the universe's early geometry and expansion, influencing the estimated cosmological constant.
Large-scale structure: Gravitational interactions between galaxies shape large-scale structures in the universe. Analyzing their distribution helps constrain the cosmological constant.
The fine-tuning of the Cosmological Constant one of the Christians's most excellent Apologetic proof
The Cosmological Constant was measured to be one chance in 10^123 to one. The famous physicist and father of string theory says this in 3 min. He says “no one believes that this was just luck.”
Stretching:
The space between galaxies increases over time due to the expansion driven by the cosmological constant and other factors. Stretching isn't directly related to individual galaxies moving away but rather the increasing spatial distances between them on average.
Dr Jason Lisle's writes in Answers in Genesis: The Universe Confirms the Bible
“The Bible indicates in several places that the universe has been “stretched out.” This would suggest that the universe has actually increased in size since its creation. Most astronomers today believe that the universe is expanding. This expansion is a very natural result of the physics that Einstein discovered, general relativity. There is observational evidence that the universe is indeed expanding If the entire universe were being stretched out, the galaxies would all be moving away; and that is exactly what they appear to be doing. It is interesting that the Bible recorded the notion of an expanding universe thousands of years before secular science came to accept the idea.”
Dr Lisles uses in this figure in his blog:
Initial Conditions of the creation of the Universe
Hebrews 11:3
“By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
Most world religions posit a creation out of previous “stuff.” Rolling of the back of a great turtle comes to mind. Yet the writer of Hebrews says it came from the invisible. And the OT says when it came about it was constantly being stretched out. There is no mention of a rudimentary “stuff” or an “already certain sized” universe in the bible. Instead it starts off invisible and stretches out forming space continually.
Based on Using red shifts Edwin Hubble developed the Hubble Constant.
It might be surprising to some however the redshift model is supported by AiG.
Dr Danny Faulkner says,” There clearly is a trend of increasing magnitude with increasing redshift, which is expected, if redshifts are cosmological. The linear fit merely emphasizes that there clearly is a trend of increasing apparent magnitude with increasing redshift. There are no situations where a greater redshift corresponds to smaller distance. I encourage fellow recent creationists to abandon their doubts that extragalactic redshifts are cosmological.”
So if we use this linear shift (the redshift) as Faukkner suggests we can see how far space has stretched over different time frames.
The Hubble constant measures the red shifting and its estimate is that space expands at around 70 km/s/Mpc. A megaparsec (Mpc) is a measurement of distance equal to one million parsecs or 3.26 million light years.
Calculating how much expansion over a brief period of time
According to the Hubble constant estimates (around 70 km/s/Mpc), the average distance between galaxies would have increased by approximately 0.0022% in 6000 years. This is an incredibly small change, highlighting the vastness of cosmic time and distances.
How much expansion over one million years?
On average, galaxies would have moved apart by approximately 0.70 meters over one million years due to the universe's expansion. This is a very small distance compared to the vast scales of the cosmos.
Calculating how much expansion over one billion years:
Over a billion years, at this constant rate, galaxies on average would separate by another 700 million light-years.
It's estimated the universe has stretched to roughly 93 billion light-years in diameter.
Conclusion
Creation is an act of love and generosity by God, who brought the universe and everything in it into being out of nothing. Its a manifestation of God's power and glory, demonstrating his infinite wisdom and ability. Its a gift to humanity, allowing us to experience the beauty and wonder of the world around us. Creation is a process that is still ongoing, as God continues to work through nature and history to bring about his purposes.
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