http://www.ccel.org/ccel/berkhof/systematictheology.

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at once instituted the ordinance of the alternation of light and

darkness, calling the light day and the darkness night. We are not
told, however, how this alternation was effected. The account of each
day's work closes with the words, "and there was evening and there was
morning." The days are not reckoned from evening to evening, but from
morning to morning. After twelve hours there was evening, and after
another twelve hours there was morning.

b.The second day. The work of the second day was also a work of
separation: the firmament was established by dividing the waters above
and the waters below. The waters above are the clouds, and not, as some
would have it, the sea of glass, Rev. 4:6; 15:2, and the river of life,
Rev. 22:1. Some have discredited the Mosaic account on the supposition
that it represents the firmament as a solid vault; but this is entirely
unwarranted, for the Hebrew word raqia does not denote a solid vault at
all, but is equivalent to our word "expanse."

c. The third day. The separation is carried still further in the

separation of the sea from the dry land, cf. Ps. 104:8. In addition to
that the vegetable kingdom of plants and trees was established. Three
great classes are mentioned, namely, deshe', that is flowerless plants,
which do not fructify one another in the usual way; ' esebh, consisting
of vegetables and grain yielding seed; and 'ets peri or fruit trees,
bearing fruit according to their kind. It should be noted here: (1)
That, when God said, "Let the earth put forth grass" etc., this was not
equivalent to saying: Let inorganic matter develop by its own inherent
force into vegetable life. It was a word of power by which God
implanted the principle of life in the earth, and thus enabled it to
bring forth grass and herbs and trees. That it was a creative word is
evident from Gen. 2:9. (2) That the statement, "and the earth brought
forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing
fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind" (vs. 12),
distinctly favors the idea that the different species of plants were
created by God, and did not develop the one out of the other. Each one
brought forth seed after its kind, and could therefore only reproduce
its kind. The doctrine of evolution, of course, negatives both of these
assertions; but it should be borne in mind that both spontaneous
generation and the development of one species from another, are
unproved, and now largely discredited, assumptions. [73]

d. The fourth day. Sun, moon, and stars, were created as light-bearers,
to serve a variety of purposes: (1) to divide the day and the night;
(2) to be for signs, that is, to indicate the cardinal points, to
presage changes of weather conditions, and to serve as signs of
important future events and coming judgments; (3) to be for seasons,
and for days and years, that is, to serve the purpose of effecting the
change of seasons, the succession of years, and the regular recurrence
of special festive days; and (4) to serve as lights for the earth and
thus to make the development of organic life on earth possible.

e. The fifth day. This day brings the creation of the birds and the
fishes, the inhabitants of the air and the waters. Birds and fishes
belong together, because there is a great similarity in their organic
structure. Moreover, they are characterized by an instability and
mobility which they have in common with the element in which they move,
in distinction from the solid ground. They also agree in their method
of procreation. Notice that they, too, were created after their kind,
that is, the species were created.

f. The sixth day. This day brings the climax of the work of creation.
In connection with the creation of the animals the expression is once
more used, "Let the earth bring forth," and this should again be
interpreted as was indicated under (c). The animals did not naturally
develop out of the earth, but were brought forth by the creative fiat
of God. We are told distinctly in the 25th verse that God made the

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