THE CREATION
DAY THREE:
Psalm 24:1-2 “The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters.”
Psalm 95:5 “The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.”
Third Creative Day: God prepares the earth for life! On this day we will have the distribution of dry land from the waters and the production of vegetation (the clothing of the land).
Text:
Genesis 1:9-13
“Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be
gathered together into 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 He called Seas. And God saw that it
was good.
11
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the
herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that
yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the
earth”; and it was so.
12
And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that
yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields
fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw
that it was good.
13
So the evening and the morning were the third day.”
1. Land.
Modern science suggests that the breaking up of the waters into seas, lakes, and rivers was affected by the upheaval of land through subterranean molten pressures combined with the shrinking of the earth's crust; all of which allowed the ocean floor to shrink in and dry land to thrust up.
Psalm 104:5-9"You who laid the foundations of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever, 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains. 7 At Your rebuke they fled; At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. 8 They went up over the mountains; They went down into the valleys, To the place which You founded for them. 9 You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, That they may not return to cover the earth."
The Psalmist seems to agree with this assessment, but attributes it to God; and not over a period of eons, but that He spoke it and it was so (describing an agency or creative design).
2. Earth.
In opposition to the firmaments, which were named “Heights” (Heb. ‘Shamayim'); the dry land was named the “Flats” (Heb. ‘Aretz ' – Lat. ‘Terra' – Eng. ‘Earth '). This was the name given in its original meaning; however, as men came to understand that the solid earth was continuous under their feet, the term came to signify the whole dry surface.
3. Seas.
The term ‘seas' comes from the Hebrew ‘Yamin', which derives its meaning from the root word ‘ Yom ', to boil or foam. It is applied in scripture to any large body of water. In this text, it is used in its plural sense to show several bodies over the face of the created world.
In Genesis 14:3, the word is used in the name ‘Salt Sea', which was an early name for the 'Dead Sea'. In Numbers 34:11, we have the ‘Sea of Chinnereth' which was an early name for the ‘Sea of Galilee'; which was a fresh water lake.
4. Vegetation.
After the separation of dry land from the waters that covered the earth; God now prepares to cloth the land. The Hebrew word ‘ Kalisch ' describes plant life in a general form (vegetation); however, God wanted us to know that vegetation did not evolve, but came into existence at His design each according to its own kind.
A. Grass.
This is from the Heb. ‘Deshe'. This is used to describe the first sprouts of the earth in which seed is not or hardly noticed.
B. Herb.
This is from the Heb. ‘Eseb'. This defines plants that yield seed. These are mature herbage, which seed is one of its striking characteristics.
Genesis 9:3 “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.”
C. Fruit Tree.
This is from the Heb. ‘Peri Ets' . These are plants whose seed is in itself. It has three distinguishing characteristics. First, that it is fruit bearing. Second, is that the seed is enclosed in its fruit. Third, is that it rises above the ground.
So, which came first; chicken or egg; seed or plant? As we notice here and will notice everywhere in the creation account, the parent always precedes the child. In other words, God has created all the originals fully developed and ready to produce; each after their own kind!
5. It Was Good.
God examined and judged; investigated everything's nature, tested its properties, contemplated the use, admired the excellence in correspondence to His Divine plan, and pronounced it GOOD!
Summary:
As God prepares the world for life, God gathered together the waters into permanent homes and dry land appeared.
2 Peter 3:5 “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water”
Having prepared separate homes for all the life on earth, He clothed the land with grass, herb, and tree after its kind. From the beginning of the world this principle was established and remains a constant to this day. This abolishes the foolish idea of the evolutionists that all life is somehow related biologically. God clearly established boundaries between different organisms and the only relation they have is in the same exclusive Creator.
The evening and morning completed this third day's work!