[Podcast Episode 37] Heavenly generations? Plants formed after Day 3? Right in the middle of the Creation chapters we get some rather odd verses. It’s time to take a deep dive and find out whether the skeptics are right that the Bible contradicts itself or something else is going on.

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Genesis 2:4-6

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
5  And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6  But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

Generations

The Institute for Creation Research has a good mini discussion of what the phrase “these are the generations of” may well mean throughout Genesis. It’s mindblowing to think of Moses having access to such ancient documents. And we get to read them, too!

What are other ways the Hebrew word here can be interpreted?

Bible Gateway:

Here is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created. On the day when Adonai, God, made earth and heaven, Complete Jewish Bible

This is the story of the creation of the sky and the earth. When the Lord God made the earth and the sky, International Children’s Bible

For a deep dive into this, check out CMI’s article Who Wrote Genesis? Are the Toledoth Colophons?

Plants and Herbs “of the field”

This is where I had the most to learn. I’d never troubled myself about this verse before! Thank God for SearchCreation.org and how easy it made things for me to research “Genesis 2:5” and find answers in minutes.

Here are the two I found most helpful:

CMI, An Understanding of Genesis 2:5 by Michael J. Kruger, “Thus, we can be assured that there is no contradiction between Genesis 2:5 and Genesis 1, because Genesis 2:5 is speaking of entirely different types of plants. It is only these particular plants — plants designed for mankind — that will spring up after man.”

“So, after examining the nature of these plants and the location of these plants it seems safe to conclude that Genesis 2:5 is  only speaking of unique kinds of vegetation — that which is cultivated by man — in a unique location, the Garden of Eden. Thus, we can confidently conclude that there is no chronological contradiction between the accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2:5.”

and his response to someone disagreeing with his article:

“Genesis 2:5 explicitly says that these plants required man to grow and therefore must have sprung up after man (as I have  suggested). But, if the plants of Genesis 2:5 supposedly sprung up on Day Three with the rest of the vegetation, before man  was created, then he is left in a contradiction.”

Makes sense to me. Comparing translations on this verse shows this isn’t a widely held view though. Lots of of Bibles lump all plants into these categories. No wonder the skeptics see a contradiction!

Examples of Shrubs farmers like

I mention Blueberry (go Michigan!) and Tea bushes in the podcast.

For the shownotes I’m adding some more to the list I’ve since run into:

• Edible Landscaping.com in Virginia, USA, has a large collection of shrubs you can purchase from them. I’d not realized a bunch of these were food plants!
• Permaculture Research Institute in Australia lists their Top Five Edible Shrubs

How Was the Earth First Watered?

I’m going to leave this for Dr. Larry Vardiman at Answers in Genesis to answer:

“And to say that there was no rain before the Flood is an argument from silence, which is always a weak argument…

Was there rain before the Genesis Flood? I don’t believe there was, at least near the Garden of Eden. But only time will tell if modeling efforts are successful in supporting a canopy prior to the Flood…

However, major computational problems continue to plague the canopy models. No known physical force has been shown to be capable of suspending such large amounts of water vapor in the atmosphere without major complications, such as a massive greenhouse effect…

I was one of the scientists who helped develop this newer theory. But Genesis’s reference to “mist” still leads me to believe that some type of canopy probably did exist prior to the Flood, and I continue to search for a viable canopy model.”

Creation Vacations

It’s worth the time to explore the delightful and growing collection of destinations at Visit Creation.org. Not only are you likely to find a place within reach for your family, you will also find ministries who greatly need your prayer support.

Even better, adopt a ministry. As I often point out, we need all the prayer we can get, and it would make a great family project to be an encouragement to someone. The Enemy would love for us to feel all alone, Jesus might well have you prove that isn’t true!

Roly Poly Creatures

Stephen did his research with books from the library. The one on bugs was from DK, but I can’t remember the titles.

• Here’s a cute blog post from Go Explore Nature on how to set up a wood louse terrarium to keep a Roly Poly as a pet.
• Armadillos Online.org has a list of all the species and a page showing how the 3 Banded ones can roll up like we saw at the library.
• We kind of used what we’ve learned living near them to add Wooly Bear Caterpillars to the collection. You can find a little more about them at What Do Wooly Bear Caterpillars Eat (hint, this is what determines how wide their bands are)