Lesson for February 12, 2025

The Doctrine of Creation

Lesson 2

Genesis 1:9-23

Verses 9-13

“Then God said, ‘Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear;’ and it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit according to their kind with seed in them;” and it was so. The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.”

The earth was covered with water, but a very interesting thing was going to happen to this water. Most of it was going to be taken in under the earth, except in certain places where there are seas and oceans. But the seas and oceans were just a small part of this great band of water. The rest of it was pulled under the earth and when Noah’s flood came, most of the water did not come from above, it came from below the earth.

Noah’s ark could not have survived the rain necessary to cover the earth, the pressure of that amount of rain would have destroyed Noah’s ship. Furthermore, until the time of Noah there was no rain on the earth because God had a system whereby all of the earth was watered by water which came up from underground.

On the third day, we see the seas (waters) and the land (dry land) separated to their proper place on the earth and vegetable and plant life restored. This is described in detail in Psalm 104:5-10.

Notice the repeated phrase, “after their kind.” This phrase is significant in that it refutes any scientific notion that there is transmutation between species. For example, a tadpole becomes a frog, it never becomes a bird, etc.

Verses 14-19

^“Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth;’ and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”

The Hebrew word for lights in verse 14 is “maor,” meaning luminous bodies referring to the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Hebrew word for signs is “owth,” meaning signals. The Hebrew word for seasons is “mowadah,” meaning a set or fixed time. The Hebrew word for stars is “kowkab,” meaning blazing or shining.

To give light is the Hebrew word “owr,” which means illumination. Seasons of the year, days, and yearsare determined by using celestial bodies. In other words, they are used for setting up of a calendar – days, weeks, months, and years. Lights in the atmosphere (expanse) are absolutely necessary for human life, for plant growth, and for the welfare and happiness of the human race.

God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. The word expanse is the atmosphere, the space of the heavens. It is important to understand that what God did is to give mankind a 24-hour period of light and darkness, day and night. This division will continue throughout human history with one exception, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. On the day before Jesus Christ returns to the earth at the Second Coming, all of the heavenly bodies are going to be blotted out and the earth will be completely covered with darkness. (Revelation 6:12)

God saw that it was good because it came from the perfect God. It was decreed by God the Father Who is perfect. It was executed by God the Son Who is perfect. It is revealed by God the Holy Spirit Who is perfect. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. The Hebrew word for evening is “ereb,” meaning getting darker or dusk. The Hebrew word for morning is “boqer,” which means daybreak or dawn. This was the fourth day of the restoration of the earth.

Verses 20-23

“Then God said, Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.’ God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.”

Teem is the Hebrew word “sharats,” which means to bring forth (breed), abound or swarm. Living creatures is the Hebrew word “nephesh,” which is a designation for all categories of marine life.

The great sea creatures is the Hebrew word “gadhol,” for great which means exceeding, bigger, or extreme and the Hebrew word for creatures is “tannyn” meaning sea serpent or dragon. Therefore, “tannyn” can refer to creatures in or out of the water. “Tannyn” could be referring to any extremely large sea creature like a whale (some translations say whale for sea creatures). It could also be referring to a species that is now extinct. Then, God commanded the creatures of the earth to be fruitful and multiply in order to fill the seas and fill the skies.

The living creatures refers to all aquatic life in the waters. Once again, these animals were created “after their kind,” which means there was no transmutation of species. Every winged bird that flies is given its own category by God. When the Bible speaks of scientific facts, it is always correct.