In _the beginning_ He created the heavens and the earth. Gen. i. He was in _the beginning_; all things were made by him. John i. In _the beginning_ he laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of his hands. Heb. i. In six days he made _the_ heavens and the earth. Exodus xx. But if the phrase "in the beginning," so frequently employed in this connection, marks the epoch of the creation of the heavens, it refers that of the earth to the same epoch. The "all things" doubtless include the invisible as well as the visible worlds, and the foundations of the earth were laid _in the beginning_. "Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the sea and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee." Neh. ix. 7. "The heaven and the heaven of heavens is Jehovah's, the earth also with all that therein is." Deut. x. 14. In these and all similar connections, as Gen. i. 1: Exod. xx. 11, where the Hebrew word is in the plural form, _heavens_, the universe of worlds visible and invisible is meant. To preclude all doubt of this comprehensive reference, Moses and Nehemiah, both having occasion to guard against the pretensions of idolatry, employ the phrase, heaven of heavens. Accordingly, wherever the work of creation is mentioned, whether distinctively as the work of Jehovah, or historically, as including all worlds, the plural word, _the_ heavens, is employed, and put in contrast with _the_ earth. "Thus," at the close of the six days, "the _heavens and the earth_ were finished, and all the host of them." Gen. ii. 1. "These are the generations of _the heavens_ and of _the earth_ when they were created, in _the day_ that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." Gen. ii. 4. "Thus saith God the Lord, he that created _the heavens_ and stretched them out, he that spread forth _the earth_, and that which cometh out of it." Isaiah xlii. 5. "Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee: I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth _the heavens_ alone, that spreadeth abroad _the earth_ by myself." Isaiah xliv. 24. "Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his maker, ... I have made _the earth_ and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched forth _the heavens_, and all their hosts have I commanded." Ibid. xlv. 12. "Thus saith the Lord that created _the heavens_; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is none else." Ibid. xlv. 18. "The Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth _the heavens_ and laid the foundations of the earth." Ibid. li. 13. "The Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King.... The gods that have not made _the heavens_ and _the earth_, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens....