1:9-10 - And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
[T]
The waters under the heavens are gathered into one place and, as a result, dry land appears. 'One place' should not be taken to mean that all the waters were gathered into a single ocean; the mention of 'seas' in the next verse makes this clear. 'One place' here should rather be taken in opposition to an "implied everywhere."1
In orderly fashion things come into place; God is never haphazard in what He does. Neither should we.
The word 'earth' (Hebrew 'aretz) has already been mentioned in v2.2 Now the same word is used to describe 'the dry ground' that resulted from the separations of the waters. This is not dissimilar from the English usage of the word 'earth/Earth.' Here the seas (the word is plural in the text) are also given a name. The Hebrew word yam refers to any large body of water, and can mean 'sea,' 'ocean,' or 'lake.'
At first sight no particular importance seems attached to either Sea or Earth. In the subsequent unfolding of the story, however, it is the Earth that takes center stage. But notice how the narrative has moved "from the creation of light by which the wonders of God are seen, through heaven, the throne of God, to earth, the abode of man. With the establishment of land and sea the basic parameters of human existence in time and space are complete."3
The evaluation may come a day "late" but it comes, and God once again declares His work 'good.' It is, of course, only "late" because we are time-bound. What is "late" for a God who is always there?
In grace God saw it good to set the seas their boundaries. In the story of the Flood later in the book we shall see that it is just as easy for God, in His wrath, to unbind those boundaries and command the seas to come rushing back in to submerge the dry land into destruction and chaos.
You may wish to read the following commentaries-expositions:
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2016