Does The Bible Say The Earth Is Flat?

Name: Jerry
Question: Brandon, I have been researching the possibility of a flat Earth and wondered what your take is on it from a Biblical perspective. FEs (Flat Earthers) claim the Holy Bible says the Earth is flat (“four corners of the Earth”) and doesn’t move (“immovable”) which is against current modern science that says it not only rotates but revolves around the sun (24 hrs/day, 66,000 mph). Since the world is full of lies & deception, I’m starting to wonder what to believe in (besides God’s Holy Word of course).

Answer: Thank you for the question Jerry.

Personally, I do not believe the earth is flat, I will use Scripture to explain why. I also want to talk about things that we can observe with our own eyes, some general discussion, and some things I have learned from flat earth believers.

Let’s get started.

The Bible On Flat Earth

When you said the earth does not move, and that it was “immovable”, that thought comes from Chronicles.

Let’s see what it’s talking about.

1 Chronicles 16:30
Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.

Let’s ensure we take this verse in context.

This Scripture is not discussing the literal movement of the earth. If we read the prior verses, we are told how God created the Heavens, and we should give Him glory.

Concerning the verse in question, we are told to “fear” or “tremble” before God. We are told all the “world“, which means, “earth” and “its inhabitants” will continue to be “stable” which even means “established”. God established life on earth, and it will continue on, it will not be “moved” which means, “waver” and “fall”.

So God is not talking about the literal movement of earth.

If God was, then earthquakes would not be possible. Yet, we have all felt them ourselves.

Further, if the earth did not literally move, then why do we find various colors and compositions of rock layered one on top of another?

These are geologic changes that have occurred over time, and also document, the earth moves. I realize you are talking about a spinning planet. But hey, if some are going to take a Scripture so literal that we say the earth does not move to support flat earth theory, well then, the earth does not move.

My point, it cannot be both ways. It’s one or the other.

Nevertheless, as we learned here, the literal movement of the earth is not the subject.

Rather, the life on earth that God established is the subject. God created everything, all life, and He has ensured us that life will continue on, even the seasons which we were told way back in Genesis 8:22.

This is a beautiful promise from God about Him protecting us and the world He created.

Let’s read the next verse, I want to show you something.

1 Chronicles 16:31
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth.

Obviously, the literal heavens and literal earth cannot be happy or sad. This is just a symbolical statement, just like verse 30 was.

When we read this verse, we all know it’s talking about life in Heaven, and life on earth. Keep reading through verse 34 which proves the point. Life on earth will continue to be stable and not ‘move’ or be removed from existence until God renews the heavens and earth after the Millennium, (Revelation 21:1).

There are plenty of verses that explain the earth will not be moved. Psalms 104:5 is another which means the earth will not be removed from existence. The earth will always exist, God promised that.

The Four Corners Of The Earth

You also mentioned the “four corners of earth” mentioned in Scripture. Some Christians take those verses to mean the earth is flat with four literal corners.

Personally, I don’t believe that.

When we read Revelation 7:1, it tells us about Four Angels standing on the four corners of the earth, but that’s only metaphorical. The verse is about Bible prophecy, not telling us the earth is flat with four corners.

Let me give you an example.

Ezekiel 7:2
Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.

Now was ancient Israel really a square sized chunk of land?

No.

It’s just a metaphor to mean, all of the land in every direction; north, south, east, and west. The same goes for verses like Revelation 7:1.

The Bible Says The Earth Is Round

Further, if we think the earth is flat with four literal corners, what are we to do with verses like this?

Isaiah 40:22
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:

The Bible said, the earth is a circle, not a flat square.

I believe that is a circular sphere, some believe it’s a circular disk.

This goes to show us, flat earth believers are even divided among themselves. Some think the earth is flat with four corners, some think the earth is a flat disk.

Honestly, none of this is a salvation issue, so I am not sure why we allow ourselves to get bogged down by it.

You know Jerry, I want to talk about a few more things, they are not all necessarily Biblical, but I think you will enjoy the added perspective no less.

The Earth Cannot Be A Flat Round Disk

Now let’s think about something else here.

If a flat earther is of the persuasion the earth is a round disk, this causes a major problem. It means, we would be able to fall off the face of the earth, including the oceans. Since the oceans remain, flat earthers believe the South Pole (Antarctica) encompasses the entire perimeter of the earth, creating a wall of ice that keeps the oceans intact.

This theory is simply not true.

The earth has been extensively mapped at this point; from the sea, sky, and space. Further, just two years ago, two men raced to the South pole which is a single geographical point in an effort to be the first men to do so by themselves on foot.

None of them found a wall of ice, nor did they fall off the earth.

I am also reminded of Felix Baumgartner, the guy who jumped from the very edge of space which documented a spherical earth. Then a student filmed the earth’s curvature with a high-altitude weather balloon.

I am providing you these examples as many flat earthers believe all the space photos in existence are fabricated. Flat earthers also do not believe in gravity. For an interesting discussion on gravity, I encourage you to read this post.

We Can Observe Earth’s Curvature

Hey, if the Biblical evidence was not enough, each one of us can prove the earth is a sphere.

GPS

Today, nearly everyone uses GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) technology in order to find their way around the globe. Cruise ships, airliners, our cars, you name it. This is all possible due to satellite communication, and do not forget about television which uses satellite technology.

Many hikers and hunters also use handheld GPS systems to find their way in the wilderness, and to prevent them from getting lost. These GPS units work by receiving signals from satellites in the earth’s orbit. Pick one up and test it out.

Beach Trip

Go to the beach and bring binoculars with you. Watch the ships and you will notice the sail or top of the ship appears first, then the rest of the ship comes into view as it approaches land. This is due to the curvature of the earth. In reverse order, as the ship sails beyond the horizon, it will appear to sink as it disappears behind the curve of the earth.

Observe The Clouds

You can observe the same thing with clouds at the ocean without any equipment at all. Look at the puffy clouds on the horizon and you will notice they disappear behind the ocean. The curve of the earth causes this as you are only able to see so far.

Visit A Lighthouse

Visit a lighthouse. If they have staff members, they will explain the light from the lighthouse is only seen so far out to sea (about 12 miles), before the curve of the earth hides the light. Not that the light fades out, rather the light disappears as the water blocks the view due to the earth’s curvature.

Starry Nights

I don’t know about you, but I love the stars!

Go out on a clear night and spend some time just looking up. You are going to notice slowly moving “shooting stars”. It turns out, those are not stars at all, but satellites that orbit the globe.

Visit Heavens-Above to find the location of various satellites, and then watch them fly over your head at night. You can easily track the International Space Station as well.

Hey, while you are looking up at the stars, notice the moon is a sphere. So is our sun, and the rest of the planets, and I believe earth is no exception. God told us the earth is round which I believe is a sphere, and if we are willing, we can observe it for ourselves.

Nothing Will Be Restrained From Them

God said at the Tower of Babel,

All of the people are of “one language” and “now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do”.

Genesis 11:6

I think that’s a pretty powerful statement myself.

What has man imagined to do?

Travel to the moon, other plants, and explore space.

I believe we have done that.

Not only our nation, but many other nations have space programs as well and we can all see their photos. Ironically enough, two billionaires just traveled into space for the first time. High enough above the earth to see its curvature anyway.

This brings up an interesting point, space travel will soon be cheap enough where more and more people can make the voyage. It would be my opinion, but the flat earth concept will soon be a thing of the past as more people can see with their own eyes the curvature of the earth.

Not that we cannot see that today through the photos of numerous space programs. Not to mention the satellite communications and things like the precession of the equinoxes.

By the way, if we are going to say all the world’s space agencies, all photos and video, all the world’s scientists, all the companies dealing with space, and all world leaders are lying to us about the cosmos…

Is that really an honest and valid worldview to hold?

I don’t think so, especially when the Bible itself indicates the earth is round.

A Spherical Earth Is Deception?

You know what always baffled me Jerry?

I recall a conversation I had with a flat earth believer once.

They told me,

“Believing the earth is spherical is apart of the deception in the world.”

Personally, I thought that was odd, it just didn’t make sense to me.

So I asked,

“How exactly does believing in a massive universe deceive me”?

They really didn’t have a good answer.

So I went on to explain,

“For me, a massive universe only proves and displays God’s majesty and greatness!”

Seeing God’s heavenly celestial bodies is marvelous and increases my faith in the Being who created everything!

Just like we are told in Psalms 19:1-4 concerning the stars, and in Romans 1:20.

God’s Majesty and Greatness

This brings me to another point you may find interesting.

I have been considering picking up the book, Return of The God Hypothesis. It’s a book by Stephen Meyer, one of the people doing fantastic work for the Intelligent Design community.

During a video where he is highlighting details of the book, he goes on to explain some very relevant details about science.

He explained, when you look at all the early scientific writings, back in the 1800s-1900s, they all cited God as the Creator. This was before evolution had taken hold. Pretty much everyone concluded, God created everything in existence.

It was pretty interesting.

Mr. Meyer explained and showed clips of newspapers to cite his conclusions.

Then it became more interesting.

Mr. Hubble, the guy they named the telescope after begin using his telescope to look into the heavens and made some interesting observations. Some of his observations were rejected by Einstein himself. Hubble invited Einstein to come look through his telescope to make his own conclusions, and Einstein recanted his own theory by observing what he beheld through that lens!

Science would discover, the universe is moving further and further a part. This is due to “red-shift”, the red wavelengths of light, this has been proven.

Believe it or not, this was a huge problem for early evolutionists!

You know why?

As Mr. Meyer explained, if the universe was expanding, then it meant if you rewind the clock, the universe had a beginning!

Genesis 1:1 right?

Amazing stuff.

Just as the earth has a spin and a circuit around the sun, it also had a beginning.

So this perplexed early scientists and evolutionists, and they had to work there way around it, as they always do.

I suppose the reason I shared that is so you know more of the back story. So you know and understand, that our massive universe actually caused a problem for early evolutionists. It was due to this realization that they formed the Big Bang model. Where everything came from nothing, amazing.

So I believe we do live in a massive universe that not only proves, but magnifies God’s majesty and greatness.

Thanks for reading.

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