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Before land surfaces appeared, the surface of the entire globe was one circular (spherical) mass of surging waters.—<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/43/0" data-bid="44-1" class="b">Gen. 1:2</a>.</p> <p id="p21" data-pid="21" class="sb">Bible writers often speak from the standpoint of the observer on the earth, or from his particular position geographically, as we often naturally do today. For example, the Bible mentions the “sunrising.” (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/44/0" data-bid="45-1" class="b">Num. 2:3;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/44/1" data-bid="45-2" class="b"> 34:15</a>) Some have seized upon this as an opportunity to discredit the Bible as scientifically inaccurate, claiming that the Hebrews viewed earth as the center of things, with the sun revolving around it. But the Bible writers nowhere expressed such a belief. These same critics overlook the fact that they themselves use the identical expression and that it is in all their almanacs. It is common to hear someone say, “it is sunrise,” or “the sun has set,” or “the sun traveled across the sky.” The Bible also speaks of “the extremity of the earth” (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/45/0" data-bid="46-1" class="b">Ps. 46:9</a>), “the ends of the earth” (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/46/0" data-bid="47-1" class="b">Ps. 22:27</a>), “the four extremities of the earth” (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/47/0" data-bid="48-1" class="b">Isa. 11:12</a>), “the four corners of the earth” and “the four winds of the earth.” (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/48/0" data-bid="49-1" class="b">Rev. 7:1</a>) These expressions cannot be taken to prove that the Hebrews understood the earth to be square. The number four is often used to denote that which is fully rounded out, as it were, just as we have four directions an] sometimes employ the expressions “to the ends of the earth,” “to the four quarters of the earth” in the sense of embracing all the earth.—Compare <a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/49/0" data-bid="50-1" class="b">Ezekiel 1:15-17;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/49/1" data-bid="50-2" class="b"> Luke 13:29</a>.</p> <p id="p22" data-pid="22" class="sb">The Bible describes the earth as having an expanse or firmament, an atmosphere, and indicates that prior to the Flood there was a heavy canopy of water vapor above the expanse. (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/50/0" data-bid="51-1" class="b">Gen. 1:6-8</a>) The expanse was an air-filled space between the earth and these waters above. The apostle Peter therefore describes the situation as “an earth standing compactly out of water and in the midst of water.” (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/51/0" data-bid="52-1" class="b">2 Pet. 3:5</a>) It seems that, because of such an arrangement, the ground was watered by a mist rather than a direct rain. (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/52/0" data-bid="53-1" class="b">Gen. 2:5, 6</a>) Peter says that it was by “those means” (the arrangement of the waters above described) that the world of that time, the people, suffered destruction when the earth was deluged with water.—<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/53/0" data-bid="54-1" class="b">2 Pet. 3:6</a>.</p> <p id="p23" data-pid="23" class="sb">Geologists have uncovered evidence that the now-frozen wastes of the Arctic and even of ice-covered Antarctica enjoyed a temperate climate in the past. Even frozen mammals of tropical habitat have been found in far-northern areas. McReady Price states the following in his book <em>The New Geology:</em> “There is but one climate known to the ancient fossil world, as revealed by the plants and animals entombed in the rocks; and that climate was a mantle of springlike loveliness which seems to have prevailed continuously over the whole globe. Just how the world could have been thus warmed all over may be a matter of conjecture; that it was so warmed effectively and continuously is a matter of fact.” And George Gamow, in his book <em>Biography of the Earth,</em> 1948, writes: “While the areas now covered by temperate vegetation were occupied by tropical jungles, such ordinary trees as oak, chestnut, and maple were growing in Alaska, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Northern Asia. Finally, the typical boreal plants, such as dwarf birch and dwarf willow, were very common in regions which are so far north that no vegetation at all can grow there today. Data concerning the Southern Hemisphere are again rather meagre, but the finding of coal deposits in several places along the shore of Antarctica indisputably proves that there were times when this continent, at present almost completely glaciated, was covered by rich vegetation.” These facts would support the above-mentioned vapor-canopy arrangement, which could bring about the conditions Biblically described and scientifically discovered.</p> <p id="p24" data-pid="24" class="ss"><strong>FIGURATIVE AND SYMBOLIC EXPRESSIONS</strong></p> <p id="p25" data-pid="25" class="sb">The earth is spoken of figuratively in several instances. At <a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/54/0" data-bid="55-1" class="b">Job 38:4-6</a> it is likened to a building, when Jehovah asks Job questions that he obviously cannot answer, concerning earth’s creation and Jehovah’s management of it. Jehovah also uses a figurative expression describing the result of earth’s rotation. He says: “[The earth] transforms itself like clay under a seal.” (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/55/0" data-bid="56-1" class="b">Job 38:13, 14</a>) In Bible times some seals for “signing” documents were in the form of a roller engraved with the writer’s emblem. It was rolled over the soft clay document or clay envelope, leaving behind it an impression in the clay. In similar manner at the arrival of dawn, the portion of the earth coming from the blackness of night begins to show itself to have form and color as the sunlight moves progressively across its face. The heavens, the location of Jehovah’s throne, being higher than the earth, the earth is, figuratively, his footstool (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/56/0" data-bid="57-1" class="b">Ps. 103:11;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/56/1" data-bid="57-2" class="b"> Isa. 55:9;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/56/2" data-bid="57-3" class="b"> 66:1;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/56/3" data-bid="57-4" class="b"> Matt. 5:35;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/56/4" data-bid="57-5" class="b"> Acts 7:49</a>) Those who are in Sheol or Hades, the common grave of mankind, are considered as being under the earth.—<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/57/0" data-bid="58-1" class="b">Rev. 5:3</a>.</p> <p id="p26" data-pid="26" class="sb">The apostle Peter compares the literal heavens and earth (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/58/0" data-bid="59-1" class="b">2 Pet. 3:5</a>) with the symbolic heavens and earth (vs. 7). The “heavens” of verse seven do not mean Jehovah’s own dwelling place, the place of his throne in the heavens. Jehovah’s heavens cannot be shaken. Neither is the “earth” in the same verse the literal planet earth, for Jehovah says that he has established the earth firmly. (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/59/0" data-bid="60-1" class="b">Ps. 78:69;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/59/1" data-bid="60-2" class="b"> 119:90</a>) Yet God says that he will shake both the heavens and the earth (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/60/0" data-bid="61-1" class="b">Hag. 2:21;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/60/1" data-bid="61-2" class="b"> Heb. 12:26</a>), that the heavens and earth will flee away before him and that new heavens and a new earth will be established. (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/61/0" data-bid="62-1" class="b">2 Pet. 3:13;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/61/1" data-bid="62-2" class="b"> Rev. 20:11;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/61/2" data-bid="62-3" class="b"> 21:1</a>) It is evident that “heavens” is symbolic and that “earth” here has symbolic reference to a society of people living on the earth, just as at <a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/62/0" data-bid="63-1" class="b">Psalm 96:1</a>.</p> <p id="p27" data-pid="27" class="sb">Earth is also symbolically used to denote the firmer, more stable elements of mankind. The restless, unstable elements of mankind are illustrated by the characteristic restlessness of the sea.—<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/63/0" data-bid="64-1" class="b">Isa. 57:20;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/63/1" data-bid="64-2" class="b"> Jas. 1:6;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/63/2" data-bid="64-3" class="b"> Jude 13</a>; compare <a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/64/0" data-bid="65-1" class="b">Revelation 12:16;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/64/1" data-bid="65-2" class="b"> 20:11;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/64/2" data-bid="65-3" class="b"> 21:1</a>.</p> <p id="p28" data-pid="28" class="sb">At <a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/65/0" data-bid="66-1" class="b">John 3:31</a> Jesus contrasts one that comes from above as being higher than one who comes from the earth (<em>ge</em>). The Greek word <em>e·piʹgei·os,</em> “earthly,” is used to denote earthly, physical things, especially as contrasted with heavenly things, and as being lower and of coarser material. Man is made of earth’s material. (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/66/0" data-bid="67-1" class="b">2 Cor. 5:1</a>; compare <a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/67/0" data-bid="68-1" class="b">1 Corinthians 15:46-49</a>.) Nevertheless, he can please God by living a “spiritual” life, a life directed by God’s Word and spirit. (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/68/0" data-bid="69-1" class="b">1 Cor. 2:12,</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/68/1" data-bid="69-2" class="b"> 15, 16;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/68/2" data-bid="69-3" class="b"> Heb. 12:9</a>) Due to mankind’s fall into sin and their tendency toward material things to the neglect or exclusion of spiritual things (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/69/0" data-bid="70-1" class="b">Gen. 8:21;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/69/1" data-bid="70-2" class="b"> 1 Cor. 2:14</a>), “earthly” can have an undesirable connotation, meaning corrupt, or in opposition to the spirit.—<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/70/0" data-bid="71-1" class="b">Phil. 3:19;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011207/70/1" data-bid="71-2" class="b"> Jas. 3:15</a>.</p> <p id="p29" data-pid="29" class="sb"></p> </article> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <ul class="results"> <li class="linkCard"> <a href="/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200011208#h=1:0-4:0" class="jwac showRuby publicationCitation html5 pub- docId-1200011208 pub-ad pub- pub-ad docClass-2 jwac showRuby ml-E ms-ROMAN dir-ltr chrome cardContainer noTooltips cardLine1Prominent lnk" data-nav-scope-data="[]"> <div class="cardThumbnail "> <span class=" cardThumbnailImage thumbnail publication icon-default publication pub-ad cat-bk " data-pub-symbol="ad" ></span> </div> <div class="cardTitleBlock"> <div class=" cardLine1 ellipsized cardHalfHeight cardLine1Prominent"><span class="sectionIcon"></span> Earthquake </div> <div class=" cardLine2 ellipsized cardLine1Prominent"> Aid to Bible Understanding </div> </div> <div class="cardTitleDetail"></div> <div class="cardChevron"> <div class="icon"></div> </div> </a> </li> <li class="result"> <ul class="resultItems"> <li class="publicationCitation html5 pub- docId-1200011208 pub-ad pub- pub-ad docClass-2 jwac showRuby ml-E ms-ROMAN dir-ltr"> <article class="scalableui"> <p id="p1" data-pid="1" class="st"><span id="page477" class="pageNum" aria-hidden="true" data-no="477" data-before-text="477"></span><strong>EARTHQUAKE</strong></p> <p id="p2" data-pid="2" class="sb">A vibration of the earth caused primarily by the slipping or dislocation of strata along a fault line, a fracture, or by volcanic eruption. Shakings and tremblings of the earth occurred throughout Biblical history, at times as a result of natural geological forces, as when Judah suffered a severe earthquake in the days of Uzziah and Jeroboam (<a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011208/0/0" data-bid="1-1" class="b">Amos 1:1;</a><a href="/en/wol/bc/r1/lp-e/1200011208/0/1" data-bid="1-2" class="b"> Zech. 14:5</a>), or as direct acts of God for judicial purposes or for purposes involving his servants. The geology of the area explains Israel’s past history of seismic activity, which still is not finished. For example, there recently appeared a very serious fault running N-NE from the center of the Gulf of Aqabah. Serious earthquakes have occurred in Palestine about once every fifty years, minor tremors being much more frequent.</p> <p id="p3" data-pid="3" class="sb">The temple area of Jerusalem is situated on a line of structural weakness within the earth. The mosque of el-Aqsa, located in the temple area (not the Dome of the Rock, which is not just an ordinary mosque but has become a shrine), has been repeatedly damaged by earthquake activity.</p> </article> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </article> </div> </div> <div id="regionFooter" class="chrome showRuby ml-E ms-ROMAN dir-ltr" lang="en" data-lang="E" dir="ltr"> <input id="returnToLibrary" type="hidden" value="Return to {LibraryName}" /> <div id="userStatus" class="hidden" data-library-color=""> <div class="ellipsized currentLibrary"> <a class="chrome librarySelectionLink spriteLink" data-lang="E" href="/en/wol/li/r1/lp-e"> <span class="icon"></span> <span class="label ellipsized showRuby ml-E ms-ROMAN dir-ltr" lang="en" data-lang="E" dir="ltr">English Publications (1950-2025)</span> </a> <div id="cookieLibrary"> </div> </div> <div class="currentUser ellipsized"> <a id="userStatusLabel" class="statusLabel" href="#"> <span class="userName ellipsized"></span> </a> <div 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