The Land Animals

Genesis 1:24-31

Few if any sea animals are dependent on land based plants and animals for their food, but many land animals depend on the sea for most of theirs. That God created the sea animals and birds first is very logical, as it provides that the foods were available again by the time the creature needed it. Some animals, such as the shrew, can only survive for about an hour without eating, and most can only go a few days. Psalm 104 refers to the wisdom of God in providing for the needs of each creature. As Psalm 104:24 declares, “O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.”

Having provided everything needed for survival on land God now created the land animals. As we look, we realize sea creatures use various specialized means of moving through the water efficiently, and various means of obtaining the needed oxygen from the water, or as in the case of whales and dolphins, of getting large quantities from the atmosphere which allows them to stay under water for extended periods. Birds fly using the atmosphere almost as a liquid similar to the way fish swim. It is a logical progression of development, while the lungs of both birds and sea mammals are similar to land animals. The legs enable them to function on land, not having to fly continuously, as the air would not support them like it would the fish.

The evolutionist believes that the differences between different species are the result of random mutations, while the similarities are the result of a common ancestry. I believe that an intelligent mind would deliberately and systematically develop different combinations. That here would be similarities would indicate not evolution but a single mind behind the designs. Among other things it greatly simplifies the design process by using similar structures so they can eat similar foods and their bodies can be re integrated with the soil and consumed by other creatures. If they were incompatible it would be difficult to make the system work. The similarities Darwin observed are just as suggestive of intelligent creation as they are of evolution. How we interpret them is a matter of faith and choice. If our faith is in human science, we will accept the “scientific” explanation, but if we believe God, we will accept his explanation instead.

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:24-25)

Theistic evolutionists have insisted that these days were not literal days but time periods of thousands or millions of years, in which the world evolved, and that God just started each period of evolution in motion in an attempt to reconcile the claims of science with the biblical record. Just as with the sea animals and fowls, the Bible specifies that each creature brought forth after hi kind. While I have no doubt of God’s ability to have directed evolution to produce all the species we see today, The Biblical statement that the brought forth after their own kind seems to make evolution impossible. While he could have done so, the Bible says he didn’t. That the days were not thousands or millions of years is also contradicted by the statement that the evening and the morning were the first day, which clearly indicates a literal twenty four hour day, even though as II Peter 3:8 states, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

God was entirely satisfied with what he had made, seeing that it was good.