The Third Day

Genesis 1:9-13

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth”; and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind; and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Dry Land
Remember that at the beginning of creation in verses 2 and 3 that the entire Earth was covered with water, deep water in fact. That means that there is no dry land and whatever solid land was in existence at the time will be submerged under the water.

On the third day, God said to gather the waters into one place and allow the dry land to appear. The world that then was is a single continent surrounded by water, given the description of the creation act of God here.

At the same time, God named the dry land Earth and the waters the Seas (plural to denote the wide expanse). And God liked what He saw and called it good.

But did you know that as the tectonic plate action caused the continent or dry land to be pushed up above the water level, we read that the Earth also has a foundation that is fastened, probably to the layer below the crust.

The 2nd Re-Gathering of Israel

The Diaspora or Dispersion of Israel began in 70AD with the destruction of Jerusalem by General Titus. This event was in fulfillment of prophecy given by Jesus on the Olivet Discourse, a confidential briefing to His inner circle apostles comprising of Peter, Andrew, James and John as recorded in Mathew 24.

This time around, the Jews were scattered across the farthest seas all the way to Russia and all across Europe. Not forgetting that in the events of the Captivity of Israel by the Assyrians and Babylonians, there were already Jews in present day Iraq and Iran and most of them did not return to Jerusalem in the 1st Gathering of Israel but rather tried to assimilate into the culture of the land of the captors.

It was no different in the dispersion of Israel. They tried very hard to assimilate into the way and life of the European nations but somehow they just cannot make it stick. As much as they had wanted to be an Austrian, a Polish, a Russian, etc, their Jewish nature and background just did not allow them to be one of the Europeans. And it was probably God's providence that He was watching them and not let the Jews be lost forever.

In the 2nd Gathering of Israel, it is in fulfillment of a number of passages of Scripture. Amongst the few key ones is Ezekiel 37 of the Vision in the Valley of Dry Bones.

What about Ishmael?

Although Abraham and Sarah sought their own way of bringing about their descendant through Hagar, a bondwoman of Sarah, this had displeased God but yet God in His mercy did not forget Hagar and her son, Ishmael. God remembered His covenant with Abraham that through him shall blessings be brought forth to all.

Ishmael was not the intended descendant of Abraham that God had promised. As he and his mother wandered in the wilderness, God heard her cries and bestowed blessings upon Ishmael recorded below.

Genesis 17:20

20And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

God blesses Ishmael to have 12 princes similar to Jacob. God blesses Ishmael to have a great nation similar to Jacob. Furthermore, the descendants of Ishmael will be very fruitful and many. This seems to imply that Ishmael will have a much bigger number of descendants than Jacob.

Genesis 16:12

12And he will be a wild man [wild ass man]; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

The character of Ishmael and his descendants seems to depict them to be restless and always fighting everybody. They will continuously live amongst the Israelites.

Genesis 21:13,18

3And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

18Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

Again, the comfort of God's blessings upon Hagar being the mother of a great nation. Her son, Ishmael, is bestowed God's appointment to be a great nation.