Genesis 1:9–10: Pangaea!

Three-hundred fifty-one(!) days ago, I last left my Genesis commentary with Genesis 1:7–8. It has been over a year — for which I apologize — and my last entry dates from what seems like a different era of my life (what I shall call the pre-Thesis epoch).

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. The Book of Genesis 1:9–10

Prior to the events of these verses, Earth was an amorphous blob, a sludgy mix of mineral and water. Remember making mud pies as a kid? Earth was a bit like that, only on a grandiose scale.

But God doesn’t leave it that way — nor could He, for His plan included a myriad of creatures, creatures which would need clear water and others which would need solid ground.

So again, Yahweh speaks, and the created obeys. The water separates from the solids under the power of the voice of God. Never has the moon had such an affect on the seas! God’s will is the ultimate tidal force.

Yahweh, in responding to Job, describes the forming of the seas:

“Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, 9when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, 11and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” The Book of Job 38:8–11

When the earth was first created, the waters “burst out from the womb”; there was no rhyme or reason to it other than the unimaginable pressure of millions of gallons of water mixing with the unformed solids of the earth. In a show of His power, Yahweh shuts up the waters and declares “This far, no farther.”

Oh, and bear in mind that Yahweh here describes the seas as they were prior to mankind bringing sin into the world, so don’t let anyone bewitch you into thinking that natural disasters such as tsunamis constitute a contradiction with what God has declared. The earth of today isn’t representative of what it was like during the events of creation.

Pangaea Remember Pangaea, the original continent described by geologists as having existed hundreds of millions of years ago? Moses describes it here in these verses of Genesis, thousands of years before plate tectonics, much less Pangaea, would become accepted scientific theories.

The Scriptures may refer to them as simply the earth and the seas rather than Pangaea and Panthalassa, but it is a testament to the divine origin of the Scriptures that the primordial state of Earth would be known to Moses long before schools would start preaching plate tectonics and other theories as a death knell to the validity of the Scriptures.

The giving of the names “Earth” and “Seas” represents the last time God would specifically name something within this creative period. With the formation of the dry earth and the seas comes the finalization of the form and structure of Earth. The activity of the third day has been completed, and just as a chef may taste his work and approve of it, Yahweh looks upon the primordial earth and declares that it is good.

There are still a few hundred billion — if not trillion — objects left to create before man would enter into the story, and we’ll take a look at them next time. Stay tuned.

2 thoughts on “Genesis 1:9–10: Pangaea!”

  1. Somewhat not related (but I did enjoy reading the above). Someone told me this week that the second day of creation is the only day God did not say “and it was good.” Because he knew ahead of time that was the area he was going to give Satan dominion (the second heaven as some call it). Have you heard that, I have not had the chance to stop and research it myself.

    Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

  2. Hey, Lori, thanks for the comment and question. I have noticed (or had it pointed out or whatever) that the second day was the only day where God does not conclude “and it was good.” I’m unsure if that’s significant, though; remember at the end of the creative period, God looks upon everything and finds it to be good.

    I have no doubt that the God’s plan for Satan was fully realized during Creation — He is sovereign over all things — and I suppose it is entirely possible that He would not specifically declare that day’s work “good” as a sign of animosity toward the soon-to-be adversary of His people.

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