What Saith Genesis

Let s start at the beginning, as related in the first two chapters of Genesis. 

Earth was created as a watery, formless planet, suspended in the darkness and void of space— no sun, no moon, no stars, no other planets, nothing. This, of 

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 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. And God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day (Genesis 1 6-8 KJV). 

When the waters were divided by the firmament (the sky), some remained on the surface of the planet and some went into the atmospheric heavens. It is conjectured that this atmospheric water encased Earth at this stage in a water canopy. 

---