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Quest4Truth Episode 06

In this episode of Quest 4 Truth, Doug Hamp and Rob Skiba tackle Revelation 1 together. How should we read Revelation? Who are we in Christ? Who are the 7 Churches? Who are the ones in Revelation 1:7 who pierced Christ, and will see Him when He comes on the clouds? What's up with Longinus, Cartaphilus, Ahasuerus and the Spear of Destiny? Are there immortals among us or is the text simply talking about the Jews and/or Romans? And what about the Alpha and Omega (Aleph and Tav in Hebrew)? Is Revelation 1:8 giving us a clue to understanding the Hebrew of Zechariah 12:10, or is the Aleph-Tav not really a representation of Christ at all? Find out as we continue on a quest for truth.

Regarding the Aleph Tav, consider also:

For more additional commentary regarding this episode, please check out the Q4T Special Edition episode hosted by NowYouSeeTV:

For more on Doug's take on the firmament, see:

Doug contends that the firmament is just an "expanse." Rob debates that with the following counter-points:

Job 37:18 Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is STRONG, and as a MOLTEN LOOKING GLASS? (KJV)

Job 37:18 Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a CAST METAL MIRROR? (ESV)

Job 37:18 will you, with him, spread out the clouds, SOLID as a mirror of MOLTEN METAL? (NET Bible)

Job 37:18 Thou hast made an expanse with Him For the clouds -- STRONG as a HARD mirror!
(Young's LITERAL Translation)

Was the "firmament" just an "expanse" as Doug and others suggest? Or was it something FIRM and beaten out like metal as Job 37:18 clearly states and the Greek from the Hebrew of Genesis 1:6 declares?


Doug also asks if the firmament could be massively huge, encompassing the whole "universe" as modern science depicts our cosmos. In the above commentary episode, Rob said that he supposed anything could be possible, however, upon further thought he now adds:
The language used in the Creation accounts given to us in Scripture does not seem to lend itself to the massively huge view of an "expanse" as Doug suggests in his recent video concerning the firmament. In the beginning, we read...

Genesis 1:
6 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.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

In the above, we see that waters above are separated from waters below. The above waters are not named, however the below waters are called seas - and in context, specifically the seas of Earth. This does not lend itself to some interpretation of water throughout the universe on the inside of some cosmic bubble extending for billions of light years in every direction as a massively huge "expanse" surround the vastness of space. Furthermore, we see that the dry land "appears" out of this water that has been gathered together into one place. How did the dry land appear? Solomon and Isaiah hold the answer:

Proverbs 8:27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

The above is rendered from the KJV, which makes it easy to miss. The word translated as "set" is the Hebrew word "chaqaq," which means "inscribed." What was inscribed? A circle! The KJV says "compass," but the actual Hebrew word used there is the same one used in Isaiah 40:22 (chug):

Isaiah 40:
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

Note that Isaiah asks the question of have you not heard and understood from the beginning (i.e. Genesis) that this is how the world was created - as a circle (not a spinning, heliocentric ball). The ESV clears up Proverbs for us:

Proverbs 8:27 (ESV) When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep.

That's how the dry land appeared in the beginning (Genesis) - as a circle. By the way, how do you "inscribe" a ball into something? You can't. And since all of this is very localized "under the dome," within the separated waters that were called Earth's seas, I see no reason to suggest that the "expanse" Doug describes spans billions of light years across the universe. Rather, the language used in the Creation account places it quite localized, right above us. Further complicating the matter (for him) is the fact that the sun, moon and stars were placed "in the firmament," just as the birds were! The birds are not flying in "outer space." But just like the sun, moon and stars, they are located within the strong, firm dome that keeps the water above from the water (seas) of Earth below.

Today's monkey-man science calls our neighborhood of the Milky Way a "solar system." Funny... the Bible starts off with describing an EARTH system, within which the sun doesn't even show up until day 4 of Creation. Hmmm.... wonder why that might be?

Psalm 19:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he SET A TABERNACLE FOR THE SUN,

NOTE: A "tabernacle" is an ENCLOSURE.

5 Which is as a bridegroom COMING OUT OF HIS CHAMBER, and rejoiceth as a strong man to RUN A RACE.

There again, the sun is likened unto a male person IN A CHAMBER that RUNS (i.e. MOVES) in a race. Running tracks tend to be circular... as indicated here:

6 His GOING FORTH is from the end of the heaven, and his CIRCUIT unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

Circuit = Hebrew: "tequphah" - a coming round, circuit
Circuit = English: noun
1. an act or instance of going or moving around.
2. a CIRCULAR JOURNEY or one beginning and ending at the same place; a round.
3. a roundabout journey or course.

Combining David's understanding with that of Moses, we see that the sun is INSIDE AN ENCLOSURE (chamber/tabernacle) and IT moves about in a circuit (NOT the Earth).

Yeah... I see total support for a heliocentric, spinning Earth model here. LOL! Sorry. Mock if you must but Job, Moses, David, Solomon and Isaiah were all "Textured Planers" under the dome. Whether we currently believe the Earth is flat and under a dome or not is another issue. But to suggest the Biblical writers didn't have this view is to do gross manipulation and some seriously major torturing of the text.

- Rob Skiba

For more on Rob's take on these topics, see:


In rebuttal, see also Doug's latest anti-Flat Earth video:


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