-
†. Gen 1:11a . . And God said: Let the earth sprout vegetation
Before God could set out plantings; He first had to create soil for them to
grow in; which is only barely alluded to in Genesis' reference to dry land
making its appearance: and this is where young-earth theories run into
trouble because it takes a long time for nature to manufacture soil--
upwards of three hundred years to a millennium to produce just one inch;
which indicates that it took an enormous number of years after the
formation of dry land for the earth's crust to weather and break down on its
own to make soil enough for plantings; hence the aged-earth creation
theories which essentially postulate that God got vegetation up and going
with a starter kit of fertile dirt; which can't be argued with since there's
really no telling exactly how God proceeded with the manufacture of soil.
But since the earth was designed with the capability to make soil on its own,
I rather think it plausible that God was in no hurry and was pleased to let
nature take its course; as He designed it to take.
The soil requirements of different species vary widely, and no
generalizations can be made concerning an ideal soil for the growth of all
plants; e.g. avocado trees; which thrive just fine in the relatively dry, sunny
climate and alkaline soil of San Diego; do poorly in the acidic soil and much
wetter, not-so-sunny climate of Oregon's Willamette valley. There are
upwards of 30,000 different soils in the USA alone.
†. Gen 1:11b-12 . . seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth
that bear fruit with the seed in it. And it was so. The earth brought forth
vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind
bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that this was good.
All vegetation was created on the third day. Every plant since then, and all
plants that will ever be, pre-existed in the cell structures, and in the DNA, of
the original flora because God created nothing else after the sixth day. How
do I know that? Because the seventh day wasn't bounded by an evening and
a morning. In other words: God is still resting from His creation labors and
won't fire them up again till the 21st chapter of Revelation. (cf. Isa 65:18,
Isa 66:22)
NOTE: According to Gen 2:4-5, the sprouting spoken of in Gen 11a was
limited until such a time as the Earth's climatic conditions were up and
running.
God is the origin of species, but from the third day on, the various species
reproduced themselves with subsequent adaptations and mutations; which is
okay except that the ability to adapt and mutate has made possible serious
problems with organisms like Escherichia coli O157-H7.
That deadly little pathogen didn't exist in nature till the 20th century. It's the
progeny of regular E-coli adapting itself to overcome the antibiotics used to
control disease in large-scale, overcrowded, unsanitary feed lots where
animals are rapidly fattened up on a brief diet of genetically modified grain
prior to slaughtering them for food.
Although the creator made O157-H7 possible; I doubt if anybody would have
any luck suing Him for product liability since it's humanity's own greed and
stupidity that forced E-coli O157-H7 into the food distribution system. Its
mommy was just trying to give her lethal little offspring the tools necessary
to survive. It's like chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm said in Jurassic Park; "Life
finds a way"
"The prosperity of fools shall destroy them." (Prv 1:32)
NOTE: It's believed by science that there was an era in Earth's youth called
the Carboniferous period when it was blanketed by dense jungles and
forests. As those plants and trees died, and were buried beneath layers of
sediment; their unique chemical structure caused them to be "cooked" into
solid coal; and there is really a lot of it.
Why isn't the Earth currently blanketed by dense jungles and forests? Well,
you can thank Adam for that. According to Gen 3:17 the Earth's soils aren't
as productive as they were in the beginning.
†. Gen 1:13 . . And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
†. Gen 1:14a . . God said: Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky
On the fourth day, God spent time up in celestial regions. It might seem odd
that He began work on the surface of the Earth, and then before finishing,
stopped short and moved off into space. Why not finish building down here
on the planet first?
Because many types of plants and animals need sunlight if they're to be
strong and healthy. At this point in the creation, planet Earth was very dark
and freezing cold. The dark side of the Moon gets down to like 279º below
zero; so it was time to turn the Earth into a greenhouse. And besides,
temperature variations play a role in the process of erosion; which assists in
soil formation. And climate is important too seeing as how most varieties of
vegetation are geared to seasonal variations.
Oxygen is a must gas for sustaining life on earth and a very large
percentage of it is produced by photosynthesis which is a chemical process
that works best in sunlight. No doubt the original atmosphere contained
oxygen enough, but would eventually be absorbed by oxidation and other
kinds of chemical activity. Plant life plays a major role in both filtration and
replenishment; hence the need to get a Sun shining as soon as possible.
The atmosphere contains about 19.5 to 23.5 percent oxygen at any given
time and even with all the fossil fuel burned around the world, along with the
destruction of savannas, prairies, woodlands, wetlands, and rain forests,
coupled with volcanic activity, the percentage remain fairly stable.
The lights created in verse 14 are luminous objects; and one of them; the
Moon, doesn't generate its own light. It reflects light from the Sun. But for
practical purposes, both of them shed light upon the Earth just as God
intended for them to do.
†. Gen 1:14b . . to distinguish Day from Night;
On the first day; God defined Day as a condition of light; and defined Night
as a condition of darkness. Here, it's further defined that Day, as pertains to
life on Earth, is when the sun is up; and Night is when the sun is down.
These definitions occur so early in the Bible that they easily escape the
memories of Bible students as they slip into the reflexive habit of always
thinking of Days as periods of one earth rotation of 24 hours. That's okay for
calendars but can lead to gross misunderstandings when interpreting biblical
schedules, predictions, and/or chronologies.
Cont.
/
†. Gen 1:11a . . And God said: Let the earth sprout vegetation
Before God could set out plantings; He first had to create soil for them to
grow in; which is only barely alluded to in Genesis' reference to dry land
making its appearance: and this is where young-earth theories run into
trouble because it takes a long time for nature to manufacture soil--
upwards of three hundred years to a millennium to produce just one inch;
which indicates that it took an enormous number of years after the
formation of dry land for the earth's crust to weather and break down on its
own to make soil enough for plantings; hence the aged-earth creation
theories which essentially postulate that God got vegetation up and going
with a starter kit of fertile dirt; which can't be argued with since there's
really no telling exactly how God proceeded with the manufacture of soil.
But since the earth was designed with the capability to make soil on its own,
I rather think it plausible that God was in no hurry and was pleased to let
nature take its course; as He designed it to take.
The soil requirements of different species vary widely, and no
generalizations can be made concerning an ideal soil for the growth of all
plants; e.g. avocado trees; which thrive just fine in the relatively dry, sunny
climate and alkaline soil of San Diego; do poorly in the acidic soil and much
wetter, not-so-sunny climate of Oregon's Willamette valley. There are
upwards of 30,000 different soils in the USA alone.
†. Gen 1:11b-12 . . seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth
that bear fruit with the seed in it. And it was so. The earth brought forth
vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind
bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that this was good.
All vegetation was created on the third day. Every plant since then, and all
plants that will ever be, pre-existed in the cell structures, and in the DNA, of
the original flora because God created nothing else after the sixth day. How
do I know that? Because the seventh day wasn't bounded by an evening and
a morning. In other words: God is still resting from His creation labors and
won't fire them up again till the 21st chapter of Revelation. (cf. Isa 65:18,
Isa 66:22)
NOTE: According to Gen 2:4-5, the sprouting spoken of in Gen 11a was
limited until such a time as the Earth's climatic conditions were up and
running.
God is the origin of species, but from the third day on, the various species
reproduced themselves with subsequent adaptations and mutations; which is
okay except that the ability to adapt and mutate has made possible serious
problems with organisms like Escherichia coli O157-H7.
That deadly little pathogen didn't exist in nature till the 20th century. It's the
progeny of regular E-coli adapting itself to overcome the antibiotics used to
control disease in large-scale, overcrowded, unsanitary feed lots where
animals are rapidly fattened up on a brief diet of genetically modified grain
prior to slaughtering them for food.
Although the creator made O157-H7 possible; I doubt if anybody would have
any luck suing Him for product liability since it's humanity's own greed and
stupidity that forced E-coli O157-H7 into the food distribution system. Its
mommy was just trying to give her lethal little offspring the tools necessary
to survive. It's like chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm said in Jurassic Park; "Life
finds a way"
"The prosperity of fools shall destroy them." (Prv 1:32)
NOTE: It's believed by science that there was an era in Earth's youth called
the Carboniferous period when it was blanketed by dense jungles and
forests. As those plants and trees died, and were buried beneath layers of
sediment; their unique chemical structure caused them to be "cooked" into
solid coal; and there is really a lot of it.
Why isn't the Earth currently blanketed by dense jungles and forests? Well,
you can thank Adam for that. According to Gen 3:17 the Earth's soils aren't
as productive as they were in the beginning.
†. Gen 1:13 . . And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
†. Gen 1:14a . . God said: Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky
On the fourth day, God spent time up in celestial regions. It might seem odd
that He began work on the surface of the Earth, and then before finishing,
stopped short and moved off into space. Why not finish building down here
on the planet first?
Because many types of plants and animals need sunlight if they're to be
strong and healthy. At this point in the creation, planet Earth was very dark
and freezing cold. The dark side of the Moon gets down to like 279º below
zero; so it was time to turn the Earth into a greenhouse. And besides,
temperature variations play a role in the process of erosion; which assists in
soil formation. And climate is important too seeing as how most varieties of
vegetation are geared to seasonal variations.
Oxygen is a must gas for sustaining life on earth and a very large
percentage of it is produced by photosynthesis which is a chemical process
that works best in sunlight. No doubt the original atmosphere contained
oxygen enough, but would eventually be absorbed by oxidation and other
kinds of chemical activity. Plant life plays a major role in both filtration and
replenishment; hence the need to get a Sun shining as soon as possible.
The atmosphere contains about 19.5 to 23.5 percent oxygen at any given
time and even with all the fossil fuel burned around the world, along with the
destruction of savannas, prairies, woodlands, wetlands, and rain forests,
coupled with volcanic activity, the percentage remain fairly stable.
The lights created in verse 14 are luminous objects; and one of them; the
Moon, doesn't generate its own light. It reflects light from the Sun. But for
practical purposes, both of them shed light upon the Earth just as God
intended for them to do.
†. Gen 1:14b . . to distinguish Day from Night;
On the first day; God defined Day as a condition of light; and defined Night
as a condition of darkness. Here, it's further defined that Day, as pertains to
life on Earth, is when the sun is up; and Night is when the sun is down.
These definitions occur so early in the Bible that they easily escape the
memories of Bible students as they slip into the reflexive habit of always
thinking of Days as periods of one earth rotation of 24 hours. That's okay for
calendars but can lead to gross misunderstandings when interpreting biblical
schedules, predictions, and/or chronologies.
Cont.
/
