Page 20 - ADAM IN GENESIS

be everything from the horizon upward; everything in view as one looks upward. From
his vantage point the raqiya appeared to be a dome above the earth that rotated around
the earth. That is how we should understand the expanse as we read the events of the
Creation account.

As with the light in verse 3, the phrase let be does not refer to the origination of the
expanse but rather to the designation of its purpose. The light was to shine on the earth
and the expanse was to separate the waters. Scientifically speaking this most likely refers
to the earths early atmosphere. The atmosphere in the beginning (Gen. 1:2) was
apparently toxic and required the help of photosynthetic organisms to begin to transform
it into a habitable place for humans. As mentioned before it is possible these organisms
were created in verse 2 as the Spirit of God was hovering or brooding over the face of the
deep. Scientists estimate the content of the early atmosphere was about 80% water vapor,
10% CO , 5-7% H S, and small amounts of N, CO, H, CH and inert gases. The
4
2
2
cyanobacteria would have begun to eradicate the toxins, but the raqiya would need the
assistance of land plants to complete the task of making a hospitable atmosphere for
human beings.
By the close of Day 2 (the refrain of verse 8), the atmosphere was still not ready for
animals and humans which may be the reason for the omission of the common phrase and
God saw that it was good. This phrase is found in every other Workday. While the LXX
includes it in an attempt to parallel the other Days, it is not found in the Hebrew and its
omission is significant. Something was not quite good yet about the expanse. It was still
toxic and fairly opaque. While light was getting through, an observer was not yet able to
make out the light-bearers, and no life was yet able to populate it.
Creation Day 3:
When Creation Day 3 starts we have a poorly lit earth with a toxic atmosphere. When
Day 3 ends we will have an earth with enough land vegetation to make an oxygen-rich
atmosphere in which land animals and humans will later thrive. But to start, God calls out
to the waters under the heavens. Verse 9 is brought to mind in Ps. 104:6-9 where the
waters flee at God's rebuke. In Genesis, God's rebuke consists of gathering them together
into one place. The Hebrew word qawa means to "collect", or here in the niphal stem to
be collected. The waters were collected in one place, presumably because they were
scattered before. Perhaps there were land masses scattered across the globe and God
called them tectonically into one supercontinent. This has happened on a number of
occasions in the geologic record and verse 9 tells us that this was God's will in adding
form to His then-formless (verse 2) planet.
As the waters are gathered together, the dry land is command to appear. Just as hayah (to
be) does not necessarily mean brought into existence, so to raah (to see) does not mean
dry land was created on Day 3. It was merely commanded (by using the jussive
conjugation as defined above) to appear. The dry land (Heb. yabashah) is a term used 16
times in the Hebrew OT. In other places it is used to depict ground that has become dry at
God's command. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea on yabashah in Ex. 14:16-29. The
verbal form is used in Gen. 8:7, 14 and Josh. 2:10 to record God's drying of the ground
after the Great Flood and the Israelite crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised