Self-Propagating Creation
Genesis 1:
Passage To Study: Genesis 1:11
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.
Flow of the Passage:
- (Verse 11) – God creates the vegetation that is on the earth on the third day.
What Do I Think About It?
Once again we see God creating by command, but act of His will and the word of His mouth. “And” is a connector and ties us to the narrative that went before, indicating this is a continuous account, and not a completely different occasion. The form is the same as He has used before, speaking as an expression of His will and purposes, indicating the deliberate action of His will. It not necessary that there have been actual words, and it is immaterial whether there were or not, though some make a real issue out of it. The fact of the matter is that the intention of the account is to indicate the exercise of God’s deliberate and determinative will in causing the creation to bring forth the vegetation that is described.
The “earth” refers, of course to the dry land that was prepared on the prior day. It is not here used in the generic sense of all of the planet, but in the specific sense of referring to the dry land as opposed to the sea. This is not to exclude the grasses, and other forms of plants that grow in the sea, or on and in other waters, but is general in its intent. Note that the form of the phrase is that of a command, not a wish or a simple desire. God is preparing the world for men to live in and the next step is to provide a cover for the ground and specifically to provide the plants that would process and provide the oxygen that he would breathe and that he would eat (at least until after the flood when animal tissue became “legal” for food). The presence of plants and other vegetation is an act of God’s preparation of His world for His creature and of provision for that creature to live and to continue.
As such, specific provision is made for the that plant and vegetative life to bring forth generation after generation, a continuing generational process that would keep the world covered in greenery for as long as needful. Grass, Herbs, and Fruit Trees are specifically mentioned, though it is not necessary to limit what God created to these three kinds as they are almost certainly intended here to be representative and not exhaustive.
There can only a couple reasons for the self-propagation of the vegetation mentioned. First, it was intended for food, and would be consumed, albeit at a very slow rate and would need to replenish itself, lest the man run out of sustenance. However, it must be noted that the world is now, and always has been a very large place, and it is rather unlikely that the man would have been able to eat his way through it in any reasonable time. However, we can’t rule this out as a reason. That aside, we can only conclude that God was providing for the man after the fall, when there would be more of him (He and Eve’s children) and when death would cause the creation to degenerate and perish.
This, in itself is wondrous and amazing! The fall was not a mistake or an unplanned for event. It was a part of what God provided for when He created! This is what the self-propagating vegetation implies to us! It is not simply that God knew and was making provision, as wonderful as that idea is. It is that this was a part of the very design of creation! How marvelous and how far above our thoughts and our wisdom is that!
What Difference Does This Make To Me?
Notice that the verse concludes with “and it was so”. How could it not be so!? God is God, nothing and no one else is! His command is law and His word is the rule! We have already noted the greatness of the power that is so casually demonstrated here. No man can bring forth a grass or a fruit tree. These simplest of created things are vastly beyond our creative abilities a creatures. Yet God brought them froth simply with a word from His mouth. It was not taxing and it did not take the full measure of His power. That was not even an issue. He simply spoke and it was so – because it could not but be so!
Is There Anything For Me To Do?
I need to praise this kind of God!
Care To Respond?
Other Devotionals: