How does Genesis 1:13 fit into the creation timeline?

◄ Genesis 1:13's place in creation? ►

Canonical Text

“And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.” — Genesis 1:13

Placement in the Six-Day Sequence

Genesis 1:13 concludes the unit that began in 1:9-12. Chronologically it falls after the division of the waters (Day 2, vv. 6-8) and before the heavenly luminaries (Day 4, vv. 14-19). The text signals the closure of Day 3, marking the creative acts already accomplished: (a) the gathering of the waters so dry land appears and (b) the immediate sprouting of fully functioning vegetation.

Events Unique to Day 3

1. Continental emergence: “Let the dry land appear” (1:9). Rapid tectonic uplift models (e.g., catastrophic plate motion simulations, Answers Research Journal 2018) provide a physically plausible mechanism for near-instant land exposure within the biblical timeframe.

2. Naming: “God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters He called Seas” (1:10). Naming denotes sovereignty and the goodness of fixed boundaries (cf. Jeremiah 5:22).

3. Vegetative outburst: “The earth produced vegetation” (1:11-12). The Hebrew dāšaʾ (“sprout abundantly”) implies immediate maturity; therefore trees already bear fruit with seed “according to their kinds.” Polystrate fossilized trees intersecting multiple strata and intact pollen in Precambrian cores corroborate rapid, not protracted, deposition.

Sequence Integrity and the Coming Sun (Day 4)

Critics argue photosynthesis demands a prior sun. Two answers:

(a) Functional light already exists from Day 1 (1:3-5). The photosynthetic spectrum need not await the sun’s placement; the Creator supplied adequate photon energy.

(b) Day-indexing precedes the sun explicitly to show temporal sovereignty: time itself is God-defined, not astrally defined (cf. Psalm 74:16).

Intertextual Confirmation

• Exodus 20:11: “In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them.”

• Psalm 33:6-9: “He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.”

• 2 Peter 3:5: “Long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.”

All affirm Genesis as straight-forward history.

Theological and Christological Significance

“Third day” patterns anticipate redemptive motifs:

• Israel meets Yahweh on Sinai “on the third day” (Exodus 19:11);

• Jonah emerges from the fish “on the third day” (Jonah 1:17; 2:10);

• Most centrally, Christ rises “on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4). Early church writers (e.g., Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.23.2) saw the seed-to-fruit miracle of Day 3 foreshadowing the dead-to-life miracle of resurrection.

Scientific Corroborations for a Rapid Day 3

• Carbon-14 in Paleozoic wood (Radiocarbon, 2019) contradicts multimillion-year timelines and supports recent creation of vegetation.

• Global sedimentary megasequences show continent-scaled marine withdrawal phases consistent with Genesis 1:9’s collected seas.

• DNA repair limits indicate plant genome viability could not endure the mutations expected over deep-time scales, underscoring a youthful biosphere.

Answering Framework and Gap Proposals

Framework theorists detach the days from chronology, but Moses ties Sabbath observance to six actual workdays (Exodus 20:8-11). Gap advocates insert eons between 1:1 and 1:2, yet Jesus’ statement that humans existed “from the beginning of creation” (Mark 10:6) resists any long hiatus before Adam.

Philosophical and Behavioral Implications

If vegetation, oxygen cycles, and food sources were ordained by Day 3, humanity is to recognize God’s provisional care and respond with thankful stewardship (Romans 1:20-21). Knowing God orders time itself trains believers toward ordered lives and Sabbath rest.

Practical Application for Worship and Mission

Day 3 invites gratitude at every meal: the fruit we eat exists because the Creator spoke. Evangelistically, the immediacy of creation counters naturalistic gradualism, opening doors to present the greater miracle—the instantaneous justification given in Christ’s resurrection, also marked “on the third day.”

Concise Timeline (Ussher Chronology)

4004 BC: Day 1 (Tishri 1)

4004 BC: Day 2 (Tishri 2)

4004 BC: Day 3 (Tishri 3) → Genesis 1:9-13

4004 BC: Day 4 (Tishri 4)

4004 BC: Day 5 (Tishri 5)

4004 BC: Day 6 (Tishri 6)

4004 BC: Day 7 (Tishri 7, first Sabbath)

Key Takeaways

• Genesis 1:13 is a historical timestamp closing Day 3.

• Evening-morning language establishes a literal, 24-hour chronology.

• Dry land and mature flora were completed before the sun, emphasizing divine sovereignty.