9 And 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 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Genesis 1:9-13 (ESV)

Land and seas

On this third day of creation, God continues His act of separation and now sets boundaries. The waters of the earth are gathered together and dry land appears to separate them as two distinct surfaces on the earth. 

Some might say that the earth doesn’t constrain the seas; in fact it’s the other way around. Were it not for one word, I’d have the same issue. That word is “dry”. We have to remember that the Earth is not just what we see, it’s under us and the sea, see? 😅 And it was good. 

Vegetation 

Next up on God’s master plan: Vegetation. From the earth, He calls it forth. Three kinds, which I presume cover the bases: grass, plants, and trees. The grass reproduces without seeds, plants and trees have seeds to reproduce. This is the stuff to make a nice garden from! It’s also the theological basis for the idea of King Jesus being the seed of King David. 

The earth responds and bears forth vegetation. Though the earth is not a living being with a will, yet it appears to obey. We’ll also see later how God takes from the earth to make Adam.

It was good.

Separation

The separating theme continues with the vegetation. How? A very fundamental biological principle: by their kind. We’ll see this again with the fish, birds, and animals. It comes up again when the animals get on the ark.

All creatures reproduce naturally according to their kind: maple trees, maple trees, dogs, dogs, etc. “It means God allows variation within a kind, but something of one kind will never develop into something of another kind.” (enduringword.com) This is why paleontologists have never seen a caog (cat/dog) or the like in the fossil record. This presents a challenge for the random theory of evolution religion. 

RЯeflection

• Do you get stuck here with what you were taught in school about evolution religion? Check out the links from yesterday’s reflection.