Genesis 1:20-23 • Day 5 • Fish and birds

Gen 1:20-23 → 20Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” 21God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

• So the earth is ready for inhabitants. God starts with filling the waters and the sky. Obviously He is saving the best for last ☺!

• 1st, the waters are filled with "swarms of living creatures". The passage doesn't single out fish. This isn't specific pairs, like we'll see later, but "swarms". The waters were stocked! This certainly included fish, but also octopi, lobsters, squid, sharks, whales, dolphins, the Loch Ness Monster (it could have happened!), etc. I'm wondering also, when exactly did God either make the lakes and rivers fresh or the seas salty? At the time of the flood? Who knows, but some fish, like salmon, use both.

• 2nd, the sky is filled with birds. Specifically, "winged" birds (are there any other kind?). I'm wondering if this is supposed to single out only birds that fly. Maybe emus and ostriches come tomorrow, being land based.

• In both cases (fish and birds), are commanded by God to "be fruitful and multiply", a phrase that will be repeated several times though out history. This is the first of those times.

• I've recently been following on the internet a pair of eagles who have made a nest near Big Bear, CA. I watched as the eggs hatched, two survived, one did not, and the progress they've made to the point where one of the "chicks" has now flown to another tree. Our lives are similar to this. We are born, cared for in a nurturing environment (hopefully), and eventually will spread our wings and fly. Eventually, repeating those steps with families of our own. When we do this, we are fulfilling the mandate by God to "be fruitful and multiply". As we live our lives, let us always understand that we are all members of the same family. The family that God created.

Link to the eagles at Big Bear... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4-L2nfGcuE

Photo → 7/11/2012 • Convict Lake, CA