What happened on the 2nd day of creation and the 3rd day?
In the Bible, creation days 2 and 3 deal with the formation of the atmosphere and the appearance of the land.
Is there any science in this description of the creation of the world? (For day one of creation see ‘Does Genesis fail scientific study? Day 1‘)
The Bible comes alive when we see what is written in Genesis regarding the importance and description of creation on days two and three.
What has been written down thousands of years ago can be confirmed by scientific experiments.
Table of Contents menu:
Table of Contents:
1. Day two of the creation of the earth’s atmosphere
Before scientists told us all the facts about the earth’s atmosphere, we may never have realised how important this invisible stuff is!
In all the stories around the world, which describe the beginning of the earth, there has not been such an emphasis put on the importance of the atmosphere as in Genesis.
The Earth’s atmosphere wonderfully sustains life from space’s hostile environment.
One whole day of creation is devoted to Earth’s atmosphere when God said:
Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate water from water.’
Genesis 1:6 NIV
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it.
And it was so. God called the expanse ‘sky’.”
The water above the expanse must mean the clouds.
Job, in the Bible, tells us that God:
wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.”
Job 26:8 NIV
Who would have thought that clouds have weight, they are light and fluffy, floating in the sky!
However, clouds float on air because the moist air in clouds is less dense than in dry air.
If you say a cloud has a density of about 0.5 grams per cubic meter, then 1 cubic kilometre (km3) of cloud contains 1 billion cubic meters.
This equals about 500,000 kilograms or about 551 tons!1
That is a LOT of weight above our heads!
Science has only recently told us this, but Job knew that thousands of years ago.
The Earth’s atmosphere is divided into five main layers: 2
- The troposphere is 4 to 12 miles (7 to 20 km) thick and is closest to Earth. This is lowest at the poles and highest at the equator. Most of the water vapour and dust is found here – hence clouds form.
- The stratosphere is the next layer and ends about 31 miles (50 km) above the ground. Ozone is abundant heating the atmosphere and absorbing harmful radiation from the sun. The air has virtually no moisture. It is a thousand times thinner than at sea level, so jet aeroplanes and weather balloons fly there.
- The mesosphere extends to 53 miles (85 km) from the Earth. This is too high for aeroplanes to orbit above this. The temperature is about minus 130 degrees F (minus 90 C).
- The thermosphere extends between 310 and 620 miles (500 and 1,000 km) from the Earth’s surface. Scientifically it is part of the atmosphere, but air density is so low that it can be considered as outer space. This is where the International Space Station orbits. Also, auroras occur here. Temperatures can get up to 2,700 degrees F (1,500 C) at this altitude.
- The exosphere, the last layer, is extremely thin and is where the atmosphere merges into outer space.
From the various space missions, we now know how hostile space is.
Therefore the earth’s atmosphere is incredibly important to our survival.
So it is apt that God devotes a whole day to creating the atmosphere in the Genesis creation account.
Here it is from a different Bible translation:
And God said,
Genesis 1:6-8 NRS
‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’
So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome.
And it was so.
God called the dome Sky.
And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.”
Some Bible translations use the word ‘firmament’ which means: ‘the sky/heavens’ and hence atmosphere.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Genesis 1:6 King James Version
Some people believe that God possibly created a thick canopy around the earth, giving a semi-tropical climate to the whole earth, which then collapsed at the time of Noah’s flood, creating a worldwide flood.
But if there was such a canopy surely it would have obscured the stars?
Because on day four it mentions the stars being seen from the earth.
Here’s an article on the horror of the Biblical flood.
It was a catastrophic event and everything was exterminated.
It caused a wide-wide witness within the rock strata called the ‘Great Unconformity’.
The Early Earth is widely speculated to have been a reducing atmosphere.
In the Miller–Urey experiment a reducing atmosphere was composed of a mixed atmosphere of methane, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. 3. 4
Some propose a reducing atmosphere consisting of hydrogen cyanide (HCN). 5
There is an in-depth look at the theories on the Earth’s primitive atmosphere by D. Denner:
Davidson’s observations and Brinkman’s calculations concerning oxygen content of the early atmosphere imply that the reducing atmosphere is no more than a concept.
‘The Primitive atmosphere’ by D. Denner 6
The evolutionary theorist is left with the invitation of Miller and Orgel to construct his own scenario for the non-occurrence of free oxygen on the early earth and from thence the origin of life itself.”
In a recent study, 7 air bubbles trapped in salt crystals in a rock unit reconded to be 815 million years old in western central Australia were analysed:
These air bubbles were assumed to represent the atmospheric air at the time the bubbles got trapped in the salt crystals. That assumption was tested and verified, at least for modern conditions, by analyzing air bubbles trapped in salt crystals forming today in salty ponds and lakes.
‘Oxygen Levels in the Early Earth’s Atmosphere’ by Dr. Andrew A. Snelling. 8
The study results were very surprising, at least for the uniformitarian (evolutionary) scientists. The air in these bubbles had an average oxygen content of 10.9%, which is slightly more than 50% PAL! [Present Atmospheric Levels]
To put that into perspective, this means oxygen was very abundant in the earth’s atmosphere well before the supposed evolution of complex animals.”
Day two in Genesis tells us that God made an atmosphere similar to our existing one now because shortly it would need to support the wildlife that God was about to create.
2. On day three of creation the dry ground appears
And God said,
Genesis 1:9-10 NIV
‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’
And it was so.
God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters he called ‘seas.’
And God saw that it was good.”
We now know that ‘land’ can be pushed up by huge forces within the Earth’s crust.9
Interestingly, researchers at the Australian National University have used tiny zircon grains to explore what the early Earth was like and their conclusion is very much like the Bible description (apart from the time scales):
And researchers studying those grains say that 4.4 billion years ago, Earth was a barren, mountainless place, and almost everything was under water. Only a handful of islands poked above the surface…
‘Early Earth Was Almost Entirely Underwater, With Just A Few Islands’ 12th May, 2017 by Evan Gough. Universe Today – Space and Astronomy News 10
‘Our research indicates there were no mountains and continental collisions during Earth’s first 700 million years or more of existence – it was a much more quiet and dull place’ says Dr Burnham from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences.”
See an article where Mt Ararat could have been pushed up and then Noah’s ark grounded on it, but which mountain is that today – Mt Judi in the Urartu region?
Here’s an article on: ‘God named day, night, sky, land, sea and stars but not others – why?‘
Many scientists believe that originally there was one large supercontinent and the Bible could agree with such a view, as Genesis 1 states “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear’ “ 11.
According to this view, not until the flood or shortly thereafter did the seven continents break away and spread apart as we see them today. 12
Scientists who hold to the Genesis creation account and Noah’s flood, believe that the highest mountains were not pushed up until near the end of that flood when there were possibly huge volcanic earth movements.
The Earth had lower mountains, or even perhaps just hills, which were easily covered by the flood waters.
That Flood accomplished abundant geologic work.
‘Did Noah’s Flood Cover the Himalayan Mountains? by John D. Morris Ph.D.13
Eroding sediments here, redepositing them there, pushing up continents, elevating plateaus, denuding terrains, etc., so that the earth today is quite different from before.
Today even mountain ranges rise high above the sea.
Mt. Everest and the Himalayan range, along with the Alps, the Rockies, the Appalachians, the Andes, and most of the world’s other mountains are composed of ocean-bottom sediments, full of marine fossils laid down by the Flood.
Mt. Everest itself has clam fossils at its summit.
These rock layers cover an extensive area, including much of Asia.
They give every indication of resulting from cataclysmic water processes.
These are the kinds of deposits we would expect to result from the worldwide, world-destroying Flood of Noah’s day.
At the end of the Flood, after thick sequences of sediments had accumulated, the Indian subcontinent evidently collided with Asia, crumpling the sediments into mountains.
Today they stand as giants—folded and fractured layers of ocean-bottom sediments at high elevations.
No, Noah’s Flood didn’t cover the Himalayas, it formed them!”
The Apostle Peter implies that the world landscape was different before the flood:
By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.”
2 Peter 3:6 NIV
3. Day three of creation continued – Vegetation appeared
The important thing to see here is that God created different plants and trees and that they would reproduce ‘according to their kinds.’
Then God said,
Genesis 1:11-13 NIV
‘Let the land produce vegetation:
seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’
And it was so.
The land produced vegetation:
plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.
And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.”
God designed and created different plants right from the start.
Plants and animals were originally created with large gene pools within distinct created kinds.
‘Variation Is Limited within Kinds’ Institute of Creation Research14
A large gene pool gives a created kind the genetic potential to produce a variety of types within the kind, allowing the offspring to adapt to varying ecosystems and ensure the survival of that kind of organism.
Genetic potential can best be understood by observing the large number of dog breeds.
There are many shapes, sizes, and colors of dogs, illustrating the tremendous genetic potential in this kind of animal—but they all remain distinctly recognizable as dogs.
Other kinds of plants and animals have similar potential to produce variety within their own created kinds.
To see the article on different kinds According to their kinds – Does science threaten Genesis? Zonkeys, zorses and hebras, and mankind, the pinnacle of creation.
The Bible describes ‘wisdom’ being with God as He made the world:
When he established the heavens, I [Wisdom] was there;
Proverbs 8:27-30 ESV
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman…”
Finally, here are the words that the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome regarding the creation of the world:
“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” 15
Paul is saying that we ought to see and acknowledge God’s hand in the creation of the world.
4. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How important is the Earth’s atmosphere?
1) The atmosphere contains oxygen and carbon dioxide that most animals and plant life require to survive.
2) It protects us from harmful ultraviolet solar radiation.
3) It provides a warming buffer for our planet and keeps the temperatures relatively constant.
4) The earth’s atmosphere holds a lot of water and can transfer this water around the world – water is evaporated from oceans and drops as rain on the land.
5) It provides a protective barrier that destroys most of the dangerous objects from space before they hit the ground.
Why did God make the sky blue?
The sky does not reflect the blue of the sea or oceans.
The sky is blue because, in the earth’s atmosphere, the white light from the sun gets scattered.
White light contains different colours with different wavelengths. Violet and blue have the shortest wavelengths and get scattered the most.
A red sky in the morning or evening occurs because red light has the longest wavelength. As the sun’s light travels from a low sun, the white light has to travel a longer distance and the blue light gets scattered too much so allowing the red light to show.
This scattering is known as ‘Rayleigh scattering’.
Did God create the mountains?
1) The Bible speaks about God: “He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind,” (Amos 4:13 NIV)
2) On day three of creation God lifted the land from up out of the ocean (Genesis 1:9). This process would include mountains.
3) Those original mountains on all continents got planed level and then were uplifted and dissected in the Plio-Pleistocene to form our existing mountains [Cliff Ollier and Colin Pain] 16
4) Scientists who believe God’s account of creation state evidence that the levelling of the mountains happened during the flood and that new mountains were pushed up at this time. See ‘The Horror of the Biblical Flood and The Great Unconformity’
See the article: ‘Scientific inaccuracies‘ supposedly within the Bible.
Or the article: Does Genesis fail scientific study? Day 1
Or the article on day 4 the Creation of the Sun Moon and Stars – Is Genesis Scientific?
See these articles: Is the Garden of Eden a parable or real?
Could early man write? Or are oral traditions passed on?
References – open in new tabs:
‘Layers of Earth’s Atmosphere’ Center for Science Education ↩
‘Organophosphonates Revealed: New Insights into the Microbial Metabolism of Ancient Molecules’. McGrath, John W.; Chin, Jason P.; Quinn, John P. (2013). Nature Reviews Microbiology. 11 (6): 412–419. PMID 23624813. ↩
‘The Origin of Life—a Review of Facts and Speculations’ Orgel, Leslie E. (1998). Trends in Biochemical Sciences. 23 (12): 491–495. PMID 9868373. ↩
‘Reducing atmosphere’ Wikipedia. Last edited on 25 June 2024 ↩
‘The Primitive atmosphere’ by D. Denner ↩
‘Paradigm Shift in Determining Neoproterozoic Atmospheric Oxygen,’ Nigel J.F. Blamey et al., Geology 44 (2016): 651–654. ↩
‘Oxygen Levels in the Early Earth’s Atmosphere’ by Dr. Andrew A. Snelling. Answers in Genesis. 1st September 2016 ↩
‘Early Earth Was Almost Entirely Underwater, With Just A Few Islands’ 12th May, 2017 by Evan Gough. Universe Today – Space and Astronomy News. ↩
Genesis 1:9 ESV ↩
‘What did God create on the third day of creation?’ Got Questions Ministries. ↩
‘Did Noah’s Flood Cover the Himalayan Mountains?’ by John D. Morris Ph.D. ↩
‘Variation Is Limited within Kinds’ Institute of Creation Research ↩
Romans 1:19-20 ESV ↩
‘The mountains rose’ A review of: ‘The Origin of Mountains’, Edited by Cliff Ollier and Colin Pain, Routledge, London 2000 8695-cover. Reviewed by Michael J. Oard ↩