I love the bush … trees and shrubs to me always look so beautiful. Recently I drove to a city some 20 odd minutes away called Roebuck and was fascinated by all the greenery … beautiful trees in forests, lush shrubs and lovely green pastures. Although I love trees, I don’t really know the names of trees so I decided to Google the types of trees, first in Roebuck and then in South Carolina and came up with … five drought tolerant trees … Live Oak, Green Ash, Loblolly Pine, Bald Cypress and Red Maple. Other trees are Dogwood, River Birch, Saucer Magnolia, White Oak, Crepe Myrtle and Angel Oak.
God has given us a beautiful planet … and where there are trees, foliage, flowers and grass, the area is always fresh and looks so healthy. Naturally the rainfall is good with great sunshine and warm weather generally, although the winters are cold … but considered mild compared to the regions with snowfall. Please read:
Ge 1:9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
1) Day Three. Now that there is light and darkness giving 24 hour days (day one) with the water masses separated and a water canopy install above the atmosphere (day two), God was ready to take the earth to the next level in preparing a home for man to live in.
(1) The first thing God did was to create another two distinct facilities for habitation. The first was adding light, creating night and day. The second was creating an atmosphere or sky. The third was creating a water canopy above the skies.
(a) Now He takes the water mass below the sky … that is the water on the planet and separates it into controlled and contained areas. We are not told how the earth was shaped … elevations (mountains) on dry land and depressions for the seas … or how the waters were collected or drained into these depressions. God called it seas and though not mentioned, it would include all the rivers and catchment areas (water storage damns and lakes) as previously mentioned:
Ge 2:10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
(b) Completely separate was the dry land. Unlike the water (a liquid mass), the dry land was a solid mass. When you think of man, God would create him to exist on dry land like land animals. Man’s design was not to be a sea creature. An interesting point that one commentator makes is that the separation of water and land, each having their one space reveals permanency. Because we have read the text often we know that there would be sea creatures for the waters and land creatures, including the human being for the dry land.
(2) Then God creates vegetation in the form of plants and trees. The first life on the planet is decorative greenery for the soil. God spoke these into existence. We know that plant life exists under the seas, in rivers, lakes and damns. It exists on the face of the planet too … then add trees. What we ought to store in our memory is that the planet and its general shape were different at creation to that which was after the universal flood in Noah’s time. The picture we have is of the vegetation covering the earth. God makes the planet beautiful, appealing to the eye for mankind. It’s almost like building a house and during the early process you plant grass and flowers and foliage and trees so that when the house is completed, the external esthetics is appealing and enjoyable. God looked and saw He creativity and we read … God saw that it was good. Before the animals arrive, God creates food for them in the form of seeds and fruits. So be it the birds of the air, the animals or the humans, by the time they arrived there was both food and water to sustain them. Another dimension of the vegetation was shade for the animal kingdoms.
(3) And there was evening, and there was morning, the third day.
2) There are a few things to consider there.
(1) God is a God of order and organization. When we look at these first three days of creation we quickly see that God organized His creation plan well and He executed it well. Everything was ordered precisely as God wanted it to be … all in preparation for what was to follow, especially man.
(2) God is a God of beauty. Even though we live on this side of the fall of man into sin in the Garden of Eden where God cursed the earth and even though we live on this side of the global flood which caused substantial damage to the planet, we are still able to behold the beauty and majesty of God’s creation.
Rom 1:19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
His eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen from that which has been created. This includes the beauty of creation. Just looking and seeing proves there is a God! Surely these two are demands upon the race …
(i) Order and organization. Because God is a God of order and a God who organized His creating so well it demands that we His people try to be ordered people who are organized in our minds and lives, as well as in our homes, churches and places of employment.
(ii) Beauty. God decorated this planet so well. We cannot deny it. Part of us ruling the planet is keeping it looking as beautiful as we can. Cleanliness is important and easy. We do not need to be professional landscapers to put together a garden or rockery that is appealing to the eye. Surely if this planet is home until we meet the Lord at the Judgment, we can do our part in keeping it clean and aesthetically beautiful. Bringing glory to God is not only through the way we live, but how we look after His planet!
Our glorious Father, thank You for the beauty of creation. Help us to keep Your world looking attractive. Amen.