Fish and Fowl

Genesis 1:14-23

It is very difficult to imagine what the world was like at first, because it was so totally different from what we know today. While time and light and dark had been created the first day, we can only guess what it was like. My best guess is that initially, the light was somewhat like the modern indirect lighting, in which the source of light is all reflected from behind something else. Even though the light is bright, it always seems somewhat muted.

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide 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 firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” (Genesis 1:14-19)

Modern evolutionary theories usually start with a monstrous explosion of matter that produces the stars, including our sun. Various small chunks are believed to have been too small to maintain combustion and were extinguished, or were flung off by the stars, becoming planets and asteroids. Light is the result of the nuclear reactions on those stars. The Bible starts from a totally different perspective, starting with the creation of the world and establishing the stars and sun for the earth’s benefit.

Evolutionists generally believe that light could not exist without the sun, but according to Revelation 21:23-25, God himself will be the light of the new Jerusalem. “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there."

Revelation 18:1 describes the earth being illuminated by an angel’s glory. “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.” Just as a dark room can be illuminated by the energy derived from the sun and stored in a piece of wood or a candle, the sun and stars derive their energy from God. The original source is God himself, mot the stars.

To be self sustaining, nuclear reactions require a certain mass of matter. The various stars are that large or larger, but produce tremendous amounts of heat. By carefully establishing the distance from the sun, God ensured that life could exist on planet earth, without being either burned up or frozen. The sun was of an adequate size to produce sufficient energy to sustain life. By establishing the movement around the sun of the earth and the various planets, the regulation and understanding of time could be established.

While time means very little to plants, as longer periods of daylight produced increased growth, animal life needs periods of rest for growth. By clearly establishing a means of telling time, animal life could maintain itself effectively, according to the circadian rhythms of the individual life form. Think of the tremendous amount of planning required to develop such a complex system, and the care with which each stage has to be done for the next one to work.

Again we are reminded of God’s pleasure in what he had made, that he saw that it was good, that it was exactly what he wanted it to be.

“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” (Genesis 1:20-23)

When everything that was needed for plant life was in place God created the plants. Plants can obtain their nutrition directly from the soil and water around them. Animals, on the other hand, depend on plants to derive and assimilate the nutrients in a form their bodies can use. Even carnivorous animals get their nutrients from eating animals that eat plants. It was crucial that plants be available before animal life could survive. Furthermore, the nutrients the plants used had to be compatible with the requirements of the animals who would eat them.

On the fifth day, God created the sea creatures and the winged creatures. He is very specific that each animal brought forth after his kind. There was no moving from one species to another. The obvious implication is that he made many individuals of each kind.

Evolution points to similarities between species as proof of having evolved from a common ancestor. In fact, that proves only that they are designed in a similar environment and use similar foods. Certain deep sea organisms use a completely different metabolism than those nearer the surface, and have little interaction with creatures closer to the surface. Even most evolution adherents admit to serious difficulties in transitioning from one species to another, as it would be necessary for the same mutation to occur simultaneously in multiple individuals in close proximity for them to mate and pass it to the next generation. Most mutations in our day do not survive beyond the first generation because they are not passed to the offspring. Selective breeding requires repeated mating of individuals having the desired characteristics. Failure to do so results in the disappearance of the characteristics. Selective breeding only eliminates certain combinations from the gene pool, it does not add new ones. He concluded by commanding them to fill the earth. Psalm 104 describes God as making some of these creatures just to play in the sea.

“So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.” (Psalm 104:24-28)

Having seen films of whales and other sea animals playing in the sea, can’t you imagine God creating them just to enjoy watching them play?