Old Earth MinistriesHomeschool Series

CreationThe Third Day

Creation – The Third Day

• The 3rd day of creation is discussed by God in Genesis Chapter 1, verses 9 thru 13.

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Creation – The Third Day

• Day Three can generally be assumed to have begun about the time the first life appeared, 3.8 billion years ago

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• During the second day God laid the foundation for life by providing the earth with the water cycle

Creation – The Third Day

• And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so. 10And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:9-10

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• Geological forces, controlled by God, move to form the dry land and ocean basins

• These geological forces, the result of plate movements (plate tectonics) continue to this day, as evidenced by modern day volcanoes and earthquakes

Creation – The Third Day• This is the first example of Creation

day overlap.

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• At the end of Day Three, God did not stop plate tectonics from occurring.

• Today we see many examples of new land being formed, and ocean volumes fluctuating

• “Creation Overlap” is even more critical when it comes to plant and animal life

Creation – The Third Day

• And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Genesis 1:11

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• God creates the first life, plants

• And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:12

Creation – The Third Day

• The order of the creation account in Genesis appears to conflict with the fossil record

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• Trees do not appear in the fossil record until 250 million years ago, after the creation of some animal life

• Grass does not appear in the fossil record until about 70 million years ago

• This apparent problem is solved by Creation Overlap, and by newer Bible translations

Creation – The Third Day

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• Later Bible versions do not use the word “grass.” They simply translate it as “vegetation” – New American Standard

– New International

– Amplified

Creation – The Third Day

• And the evening and the morning were the third day. Genesis 1:13

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• Day Three details the creation of dry land, and God creates the first living objects on earth, the plants

• Not all plants were created on Day Three…many were created later, as can be seen in the fossil record.

Creation – The Third Day

• Because of Creation Overlap, there are two ways to interpret the days of creation

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• Option One – “Day” refers to a period of time, in this case several hundred million years. There are definite beginning and ending points for the “Day”

• Fits well with Christians who believe that God used evolutionary principles during creation

• God merely started the process of plant development, then guided the development of new species through evolution

• Option Two – “Day” refers to the processes described as occurring on that day.

• Since God continued to create plants, the “Days” of creation overlap

• Since new species were appearing right up until man was created, the sixth day coexisted with the third through fifth days

Creation – The Third Day

• Remember that time is different for God

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• If you are immortal, time has no meaning

• An 8 hour workday for you would be an eternity for God

• The Days of Creation describe processes and events which may overlap

Creation – The Third Day

• The third day of creation presents no problems for a person who believes in an old earth

This concludes this module on the 3rd Day of Creation