Genesis Revised – Day 5, the Evolution of Life

Swim and fly in creation’s fifth season interpreted by nature.  The structured circular poetry conveys an outline of evolution on Earth viewed by science.  Without the overburden of unbiblical “perfectionism,” the ancient text matches the evidence perfectly.

Genesis 1

²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. (NIV)

The poet used poetic structure to open two extreme environments on Earth, sky and ocean in Day 2, which He filled with the “extreme” animals of Day 5.  From the heights, the oceans collected water; from the finned depths, the sky fluttered; a poetic balance of opposites.  Within these two extremes, man does not dominate, not yet.  Only now are we at a juncture of awareness.

Following the circular format, the poet filled the ocean first.  Like the time it took for an atmosphere to form and an ocean to fill, the two creations were not simultaneous.  Birds followed the proliferation of sea creatures.  Incredibly, this matches the evidence of paleontology and the theory of evolution.  Life in the oceans became abundant before any creature lived on land.  Once there, the extreme land creatures, dinosaurs, eventually learned to fly.

Days 5 and 6 encompass all animal forms, the microscopic to the gigantic.  Each grouping fits within the scientific understanding of Families, Orders, and Kingdoms.  Not one word stipulates a species or even a Genus, including “human kind.”  The text generalizes all life forms and emphasizes the concept of “everything.” 

The use of generalization is unique among ancient creation stories.  It lets Genesis One tell the same story as evolution theory.  The nonspecific word “kind” encapsulates all the animals connected by lineage with no time or species left out.  Each grouping includes all life that existed at the time of writing and all that came before, no matter how different they may have looked.

Evolution does not mean a fish suddenly grew legs and walked away from the water.  It simply means that everything changes.  With the passage of enough time, generations change into things not quite like their forbearers.  Genetics drives change and proves the probability of the evolution of life.  Each life form that produces offspring adds its unique blend of DNA into the next generation.  A small population accumulates a particular lineage of genes until a subspecies is recognizable.  Time differentiates one group from another until new species form.  All evolution needs is enough time to form all the life currently on Earth.  God’s universal sculpting tool was and is evolution.

Most often, change happens at a slow pace.  With the right environmental stimulation, change comes in quick spurts creating radically different forms.  That means an animal group that changes slowly can live at the same time as a similar one that changes quickly.  They might even outlast the new forms.

“Kind” means “lineage,” and lineage changes kind.  We trace each lineage through many shapes, which branch to produce cousin forms.  All link back to a first creature.  First life came from the minerals (“dust” in Genesis 2) abundant on Earth and throughout the universe.  That lineage of mineral takes us back to the beginning of everything.

Our God wants us to know.  Creation is one, as its Creator is one.

To be continued:

[Lessons from Creation’s Parables: Genesis and Standard Science, Sung as One, by Jo Helen Cox.]

Also in this series:

Genesis Revised – Introduction + Day 1, The Big Bang

Genesis Revised – Day 2, Opening Sky and Ocean

Genesis Revised – Day 3, Opening Land

Genesis Revised – Day 4, Filling the Universe

Genesis Revised – Day 6 v24-25, the Land Animals

Genesis Revised – Day 6 v26-27 and “God’s Image”

Genesis Revised – Day 6 v28-31 “Dominion”

Genesis Revised – Day 7

Genesis Revised – The Second Genesis

Also see series:

Genesis Revisited

Eden Revisited