What did God create on the third day of creation week?
"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. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
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. 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. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day" (Genesis 1:9–13).
Day two may have been a quick one in regards to creation, but here on day three, we see that God has begun to lay out and piece together His eternal vision of the earth as He prepares it for the living creatures that are coming later. Here God begins with the second movement of the waters. If you are unsure why it is the second movement, take a look at the articles on day one and day two of creation to see why this is so. Having already created the atmosphere, God now gathers the waters together and dry land appears. It is an important distinction here that God does not "create" land on day three; He created that on day one. Here, God simply tells the water where to go (Job 38:8–11), and the land which is already underneath now appears. He names the land "Earth" and the waters, which He has gathered into specific places, He calls "Seas." There is no confusion here about these words; they mean the same thing in English as they do in Hebrew. God is separating water and land, much like He separated the light from the dark on day one. God establishes where water belongs, and in conjunction, where the land belongs.
Having declared that the placement of the seas and the formations of land are "good," meaning they are precisely where and in what form He commands them to be in, God sets forth with the creation of the vegetation. We can note three things of importance here before concluding the third day of creation.
First, as in each of God's acts of creation, He commands what is to be done, and it is done. God says for the waters to be gathered together and for the land to appear, "And it was so." Now, God commands the earth itself to "sprout vegetation…And it was so." The earth brings forth what God commands it to bring forth and in the exact manner in which He commands it. Plants which yield seed, fruit which does the same, and "each according to its kind."
Second, note that each plant yields seed "according to its kind." In other words, a rose does not produce a seed capable of growing a pine tree. That would be odd to see, and God is a God of order, not chaos (1 Corinthians 14:33). God here commands not only that the plants come forth, but that they are prepared to continue to regenerate themselves in their unique, individual aspects. We will see later that God commands the same standard for each living creature He creates. The continuation of a species is made possible because God has declared it to be so from the beginning of creation.
Thirdly, God here creates food for the living creatures He has already planned to make. Notice how He lovingly prepares the living space for His creation—not only establishing the ability for each plant to reproduce itself and be widely available, but creating those things which will be used to sustain the creatures that are soon to be created. God does not create the ox and then, after the fact, create food for it. He creates the things necessary for life.
Finally, as noted on days one and two, God looks upon all that He has done this day and declares that it is "good," which means it is what God intended. It is excellent and pleasing. Here, the third day is concluded with the same words we are now familiar with: "And there was evening and there was morning, the third day." Three literal days have now passed and God has created the heaven, earth, light, land, seas, and every plant that exists, or has ever existed. Just three days.
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