The Strand Study Bible

GENESIS GENESIS adequately water the earth is in direct proportion to the ratio of ocean to land. So that if the ocean had only one-half of its present predominance, the earth would receive only one-fourth its present rainfall. This, in view of the increased area of the land, would make the entire earth a Saharan desert in which vegetation would be virtually nonexistent. On the other hand, if the area of the ocean was increased and the dry land decreased, there would be so much rainfall upon the earth that there would be no dry land at all. The earth would be a virtual swamp. Is it no wonder then that after looking at the first work of that day, the proportional dividing of the land and the Seas, that God called it “good”? 1:10 God called both the earth and the ocean “ good .” There are seven reasons why God’s creation of the ocean is good : 1. The ocean is good because of its currents The vast currents of the ocean are not only beyond the power of man to produce or control, they are absolutely essential to man’s existence throughout the world. For example, consider the two great currents of the Atlantic Ocean: the Gulf Stream and the Polar Stream. The Gulf Stream leaves the Gulf of Mexico with a temperature of eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit and parallels the coast of North America from the lower end of Florida to the region of Nova Scotia where the current divides, one fork making the Atlantic isles habitable, and the other passing the British group, and repeating its beneficence there. Practically retaining its warmth all the way up the North American coast to Nova Scotia, the Gulf Stream, which is seventy miles wide and over 3,000 feet deep, has a tremendous influence on the climate of the lands it passes. In fact, both coasts (North America and Northern Europe) would be a virtual frozen wasteland were it not for this stream. It alone makes life up north habitable. The Polar Stream, on the other hand, leaves Baffin Bay near Greenland, where it collides with the Gulf Stream near Nova Scotia. Unable to compete with the superior power of the Gulf Stream, the Polar Stream tunnels its way deep into the ocean traveling south until it reaches the surrounding area of the West Indies, where it comes to the surface again, cooling the atmosphere there with its Arctic breath, making life possible in that tropical heat. So the tropic islands find relief from the oppressive heat, and the northern lands are released from the bondage of eternal winter, all through the goodness of the mighty currents of the oceans. 2. The ocean is good because of its treasures Awaiting the genius that can pick it up, the untold wealth of the ocean remains uncultivated. There is over a billion tons of gold in the ooze of the floor of the ocean, and many times that amount in suspension in its waters. Radium, which sells for a king’s ransom per gram, is so abundant within the ocean that if we could gather it all, we could sell it at a profit for ten dollars a ton. The life that is indigenous to the salty deep (fish, lobster, etc.) alone is worth billions each year in revenues. 3. The ocean is good because of its medicinal powers One of the most common healing agents within the ocean is the element iodine, and the ocean holds our only supply. Out of its waters, its creatures, and its plants we receive over 200 different healing agencies. 4. The ocean is good because of its food It is no exaggeration to say that all over the world the ocean brings to man his daily bread. Millions of people and their fishing vessels of every variety set sail daily from the safety of their shores, just to garner the food crop that is life and fortune to them. 5. The ocean is good because of its salt What would the life of man be without salt? Salt is not only the “spice of life” but it is used for cleansing, preserving, and healing as well. 6. The ocean is good because of its potential power Man has often boasted of his ability to tie up the forces of nature with dams, yet the power of a thousand Niagaras pound daily upon the shores of the world, utterly wasted so far as human use is concerned. Should man someday harness this source of potential power, there is no telling what he could accomplish. 7. The ocean is good because of its beauty Nowhere on this great planet of ours is the sky so beautiful as it is over the ocean. When the winds begin to shepherd their fleecy flocks of clouds off to the pasture lands, and the racing scud beneath seems to be reflected in the open sky, it is an object that entrances the very soul of the traveler. When the rising sun tints the sky above the ocean, the artistic soul becomes drunk on color; and when at the close of the day the sun sinks to rest in the broad expanse of the open water, to set the sky on fire with its dying blaze, all the poets in the world cannot do more than begin to express the indescribable beauty of the color riot that sets the heart leaping in the bosom of the beholder. No wonder God called the ocean good. NOTE - The earth is good as well. It is like a pantry. It is the storehouse of God, on whose shelves God has placed every good thing that man may need. All these blessings are placed within the reach of man, as his needs grow. So that year by year we learn to unlock that pantry where God has placed certain things for our generation, and later men will learn new secrets in the day they are needed. 1:11 Whereas evolutionists tell us that life began in water, God tells us that life began with Him on “dry ground” ( earth - Gen 1:26-27 and 2:7). The King James Study Bible notes: 45

Contrary to the modern evolutionists (who insist that all plants and animals developed over hundreds of millions of years from a single speck of life in the ocean)…., Genesis not only dates the creation of marine life (v. 20) as being after the creation of plants and fruit trees, but also reveals that fruit trees were created already bearing fruit whose seed is in itself . 28

Meaning: Life began intelligently, not indiscriminately (haphazardly; by chance – Eccl 1:13 ). Because the foundation for materialism ( atheism , humanism , evolution ) is that the universe consists of only two entities: mass and energy, if a third entity can be shown to exist, then materialism and all philosophies based on it must also be false. Information is the third fundamental entity. Dr. Werner Gitt, former Director and Professor in the field of information science at the Federal Institute for physics and Technology in Brunswick (1978-2002), remarked: