Friday 30th December
Read Genesis 1:6-8; 20-23
“And God said, ‘Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.’ 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault ‘sky’. And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day.”
“And God said, ‘Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.’ 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.’ 23 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fifth day.” (NIVUK)
The second and fifth day see the forming of the ocean deeps and the sky above and the filling of those domains with sea creatures and birds. In contrast to the heavens, where sun and moon are granted the rule of those domains, birds and sea creatures are not granted rule over the sea and sky. They are commanded to enliven it (‘let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky’ (v20b); ‘the water teems and that moves about in it’ (v21b)) and to fill it (v22). The author paints a glorious picture of the ever-increasing dance of life that will teem and swarm and circle and fill and enjoy the place created for it by a good and loving Creator.
In many of the ancient cultures around Israel the ‘great creatures of the sea’ played a significant role in their creation stories. Their gods tamed these chaotic sea beasts to bring order to the world. In contrast our author simply declares that Yahweh created them (v21a). These ancient chaotic waters, that God divided and imposed order on from the beginning (Day Two) and then filled with great sea beasts (Day Five) will continue to play an outsize role in biblical thought that we will not explore today. But remember that John’s revelation began with a picture of sun, moon and stars (Revelation 12) and continued with a description of a sea beast that claimed immense authority and power (Revelation 13). Authority and power never granted in the beginning…
We often see the repeated refrain ‘according to their kinds’ and have our minds drawn to questions of evolution. But what is clear from the refrain in context is that creation itself has life ‘built-in’. It is a feature, not a bug. Whilst God is the author and originator of life, He also grants the principle of reproduction, the ability to continue life, to all living creatures in sea and sky. We are meant to feel the forward momentum of the passage as life expands out to fill the available space. Rather than chaos and disorder and fear we are meant to bask in the ‘goodness’ (v21c) of it all!
