Is the earth flat or round?
There are some who use Scripture to teach that the earth is flat. They point to verses such as Revelation 7:1 which says, “After these things I saw four angels standing at THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH” (NKJV). In their thinking “only a flat earth could have FOUR CORNERS.” They also use passages that use the words; “ends of the earth” (see Deuteronomy 13:7; Job 28:24; Psalm 48:10 and Proverbs 30:4.” Again, they take these words LITERALLY and argue that in order for there to be EDGES (which the word ENDS would imply) the earth must be flat.
We do NOT believe the words “four corners of the world” and “ends of the earth” are to be taken literally. We believe the inspired writers were using IDIOMS, which are “expressions that take on a FIGURATIVE MEANING when certain words are combined, which are different from the LITERAL DEFINITION of the individual words.” For example, we often say “It’s raining CATS AND DOGS outside.” Everyone knows it’s not literally raining cats and dogs. This expression was coined hundreds of years ago and was possibly used because cats and dogs would often sleep on housetops and when it rained hard they would slide off from the roof. Thus it came to simply mean that “it’s raining very hard.” When we refer to the “four corners of the world” or the “ends of the earth” we are simply referring to places that are most distant from where we are, and this is what the Bible is speaking of as well.
Though the Bible doesn’t teach that the earth is round DIRECTLY, it surely IMPLIES that it is round. In Isaiah 40:22 we read, “It is He (God) who sits above the CIRCLE of the earth.” I understand that the Hebrew word for “circle” (KHOOG) means “circuit” or “compass.” When it says that God “sits above the circle of the earth” it means that as He looks down upon the earth (from EVERY DIRECTION, for He is Omnipresent), the earth appears ROUND, which means it must be a SPHERE. If the earth were a “flat circle” it wouldn’t appear to be round at some points, but oval or even a straight line.
Another passage that implies that the earth is a SPHERE is Luke 17:34-36. Jesus is talking about His return to earth in these verses and He says, “I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” So, when He returns “some will be sleeping” because it is NIGHT and “others will be outside working” because it is DAY. If the earth was flat, it could NOT be night and day at the same time. This means the earth must be a sphere. Scientists proved long ago that the earth is indeed a sphere which revolves around the sun and it’s nighttime on part of the earth while it’s daytime on another part of the earth.
I’ll offer one more thought that implies that the earth is round and not flat. In Job 26:10 we read, “He (God) drew a CIRCULAR HORIZON on the face of the waters.” The words “circular horizon” speak of the “curvature of the earth.” If you have ever looked out upon a very large body of water with binoculars you can literally see the water begins to disappear because of this “curvature.” I have personally watched ships begin to disappear, not because they were out of range of my binoculars, but because of the “circular horizon” (curvature of the earth). Thus the earth is a ROUND SPHERE. (291.7) (DO)