1:20-23
On the fifth day life appears. On this day it is the creatures that live in the water, and birds flying in the sky. Actually the word translated “birds” can be “flying things”, so could well include insects. “So God created the great creatures of the sea ...”. This is almost certainly polemical. “Great creatures” could be translated as “sea monsters”, and for the Canaanites they represented powers that opposed their god Baal. Absolutely everything was created by the Lord including the things that people fear. The water was teeming with life. And everything was good. God blessed the creatures both of the water and the air, and commanded them to “be fruitful and increase”.
1:24,25
We now come to the famous sixth day. It is interesting that a single day is used to cover the creation of the animals and of man, rather than having a separate day purely for the creation of man. Instead they share a day, but man is clearly the pinnacle of God’s creation and does receive special treatment. It is also interesting that the term “living creatures”, both here and in 1:20 is the same term used in 2:7 of man. So we see a degree of commonality between man and animals, but also an enormously important distinction as well. Some people seem to think it theologically essential that man was created completely separate from the other animals, and so react against common descent. Now I don’t know for sure that there is common descent, but I do not fear the concept, because I do not see it as in any way working against our uniqueness. The next few verses will highlight man’s unique place in creation, as will 2:7. I do not see the Bible as saying common descent is out of the question.
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