Tamid Skeppeti
God Makes the Earth
This chapter is short and does not contain much information, but is necessary for points in the following chapter.
God Makes the Earth
Sometime after creating the angels, God began making earth. But when God first made the earth, it wasn’t like he wanted it to be. He had to change it and form it over the span of several days.[a]
On the first day of creation[b], God saw that the earth was dark, so God created light and he separated it from the dark. He saw that the light was good, and he called the light “day” and the dark “night”.
On the second day, God took all of the water on earth and separated it into two parts, one above and one below. He called the water above “sky”.
On the third day, God gathered all of the water that was still below into one place so that dry ground could appear. He called the dry ground “land” and the gathered water “sea” and saw that it was good. Then, he put all of the plants and trees on earth and made them able to produce seeds, and he saw that they were good, too.
On the fourth day, God created the sun[c] and the moon to further separate night from day and provide light for the earth. He also made them so that we could have seasons and days and years. Then he made the stars as well and saw that it was all good.
On the fifth day, God created all of the creatures in the oceans and all the creatures that could fly. God saw that they were good and he blessed them and made it so that they would multiply and fill the earth.
On the sixth day, God created all of the animals that walk upon the land and he saw that they were good. Then, God created humans in his image and blessed them so that they might multiply and rule over all of the animals on earth. God offered all of the seed bearing plants that he had created for the humans and animals to eat. He saw that all he had created was very good.
On the seventh day, God finally stopped working. He blessed the seventh day since it marked his work during the creation being finished.[d]
Why would a perfect[e], all knowing[f], and all powerful[g] God take several days to get the earth right?[h] After all, God himself suggests that nothing is too difficult for him.[i]
[a]Genesis 1
[b]Some people interpret Psalms 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 to indicate that a "day" to God could be a very large amount of time and not a literal 24 hour period.
[c]Some question how there could be night and day on the first day when the sun has not been created yet, but Revelations 22:5 shows that God is able to provide light without celestial bodies, so the sun is not needed for there to be days. The interpretation of the translation of what a "day" is in Genesis is debated.
[d]Genesis 1:2-31, 2:1-3
[e]Psalms 18:30, Deuteronomy 32:2,
[f]1 John 3:18-20, Jeremiah 23:24,
[g]Job 42:1-2, Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37, Revelations 19:6
[h]It is argued that God used the seven day plan to lay the foundation for future events (like declaring the Sabbath holy to Moses in the Ten commandments) and to make things understandable for the people who would be following him (lay out a work week). This argument is weak, as God could have (as an all powerful being) easily made a commandment without needing a reason behind it, easily commanded his followers to make resting one day out of seven significant, easily divined the story of creation to its author without the use of days as markers. God has certainly been said to have no need to explain himself, (Daniel 4:35, Romans 9:19-21) so it stands to reason that he wouldn’t need to pace himself in creation for the purpose of explaining his rules to his creations or making certain numbers significant.
[i]Genesis 18:13-14, Jeremiah 32:17,27