In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Several years ago (when your parents were still children) Grandpa gave me a very pretty quilt. It had been made by a group of elderly ladies who lived at the retirement home where I worked at that time. I would see them working on this quilt in the common sewing room, but I didn't know it was for me! It took them quite a while to cut all the little pieces and sew them together to make the finished product.
This quilt is a good illustration of a very important point. Just by looking at the quilt, you can tell that it didn't just happen by itself.
There is a theory, called evolution, that is taught in public schools. It teaches that everything in the world just happened by accident. The Torah (which is the Word of the Most High God) teaches us that the Most High is the One who made the world and everything in it. We are going to study about God's creation as told in the first couple chapters of Genesis.
Way back in the beginning, the earth where we live had no real form. It was kind of like a slimy mud puddle. The wind was blowing, but you would not have been able to see anything because it was dark. Then God said, "Let there be light" and, just like that, there WAS light! Light was created by God and He saw that it was a good thing. Next, He separated the light from the darkness and called the light Day, and the darkness Night. We take Day and Night for granted because it seems to us that it has always been that way. We certainly aren't able to separate light and darkness from each other when we have nothing to put between them! That is the power of God.
Another interesting thing to see here is that the darkness (night) came before the light (day). We will see that this fact is very important in understanding God's timing.
On the second day of creation, God put an expanse between the water on the earth and the water above. He called this expanse Sky. While we really can't know for sure now, it almost sounds like there was another layer of water above the sky at that time. Now we see the 'water above' in the form of clouds that float across the sky. It certainly doesn't seem to make sense to think that water could just sit way up there without falling, but every one of us has seen how long it can rain and how deep the puddles can get. All of that water comes from the sky and we can't really explain how it does it. Once again, that is the power of God!
On the third day, God spoke again. With just His voice, He separated the waters and the dry land. He called the dry land Earth, and the waters He called Seas. As we saw before, God is able to do what we have no power to do. Then, with just His voice, He created all the plants... grass, trees, flowers, all the plants that we can eat and also many that we can't. He even made them with seeds so they could continue to grow new plants. Isn't God amazing!
(Genesis 1:14a JPS) God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse
God had already created light on the very first day of creation. Now He put that light into the objects that we can see in the sky. He made the sun to dominate the sky in the daytime, and the moon to dominate the night. (Dominate means to command or control.) He also made the stars. The sun and the moon are the markers we use to determine the length of days, months, and years. They mark the times of the special appointed days on God's calendar. God saw that this was good. Have you noticed? At the end of each day, God inspected His own work and made sure that it was good!
On the fifth day of creation, it sounds like God was really busy! He created all the sea creatures and all the creatures that fly through the air! Just think about it! There are so many kinds of fish... big ones like the sharks all the way down to tiny little minnows. Then there are other sea creatures: whales, shrimp, jellyfish, etc. The list would get really long if we tried to list them all! He also made everything that flies through the air. There are many, many kinds of birds, but also large swarms of insects. It's nearly impossible for me to think of all the creatures that came into being on this day! God saw that all this was good! He blessed the creatures and told them to have babies and fill the earth. Here is a challenge for you. Look through your own picture sources, photo alums, magazines, etc. and see how many creatures you can find to fit in the "created on the fifth day" category. You can also look through the lessons and pictures on this website. You will spot many pictures that will show things that God created that would fit in more than one category. For instance, a picture of cows in the pasture would fit in both third day and sixth day. (We will study the sixth day next.) Have fun!
When you read the passage above it is obvious that God must have been quite busy on the sixth day also. Just think of all the different animals that came to be that day! Once all the animals had been created, God created humans. (One of these days, we will have a separate lesson about the creation of Man and woman.) Notice that when God finished creating on the sixth day, He again inspected His own work and found it VERY GOOD! Now, look below to see pictures of a couple animals that are very special to Grandpa and me. Do you remember the lesson, almost a year ago, when Delight introduced the rest of the herd to you? She mentioned my special pet, Tootsie. I couldn't find a picture of Tootsie at that time, but here it is! This is a picture that was taken when Fina was born. The other picture is of Buddy, Grandpa's special friend. It was taken when Buddy was a puppy. Buddy is no longer living, but we have many good memories. If you also have a pet, you will understand how special these pictures are to us.
