Each of Its Own Kind
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
Dear Friends,
On the third day we see a shift in God’s creative work. On the first two days, God spoke into existence light and the sky by proclaiming, “Let there be…” But now, God begins to fashion what has already been created into a world in which mankind can live.
However, there is still a common thread in God’s work on the first half of the third day – separation. On the first day, God separated light from dark. On the second day, God separated the water above from the water below. On the third day, God separated the water below from the dry ground naming them “seas” and “land,” respectively. This continuing process of separation or “setting apart” is an indication that God is creating a special, holy place for His final creation – mankind. Not only are we to be holy, but where we live is to be acknowledged as being holy as well. This is further evidenced by God’s acknowledgement that it was good.
God then calls forth from the ground all plant-life. Again, note that God does not say, “Let there be vegetation,” thus creating something out of nothing, but instead says, “Let the land produce vegetation,” thus creating something from something else. This is a key distinction. Within the land itself is the capacity to produce life. It needs only the command of God. This makes John the Baptist’s statement that God could bring forth sons of Abraham from the rocks all the more literal and gives greater understanding of Paul’s analogy that man can plant a seed and water it, but God makes it grow.
My final observation is that the author is very specific to say that each form of plant-life produces seed according to its own kind. A daisy produces seeds that grow daisies. An apple tree produces fruit with apple seeds to produce new apple trees. This is an important point to note. No where does the Bible give any indication that one species produced a new species. As creation continues to be brought forth by God’s command, we will see that every king of flora and fauna is expressly created to produce only their own kind.
I have said before that it is wrong to try to impress into any writing an outside view. Unfortunately, well-meaning individuals so often do this with the Genesis account. In an effort to reconcile creation and evolution, they will suggest that evolution occurred, but God guided its progression. This idea is absolutely not Biblical.
I encourage you to keep this is mind as you continue in your Biblical studies. Read the Bible for what it says. Do not impress outside ideas into it, but rather, understand that the Bible is an unfolding of God’s revelation of who He is and why you are here.
In Christ,
David
