Genesis 1:2-26

Genesis 1:2:
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis continues by emphasizing the materiality of the world. “The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). The nascent creation, though still “formless,” has the material dimensions of space (“the deep”) and matter (“waters”), and God is fully engaged with this materiality (“a wind from God swept over the face of the waters”). Later, in chapter 2, we even see God working the dirt of his creation. “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground” (Gen. 2:7). Throughout chapters 1 and 2, we see God engrossed in the physicality of his creation. _Theology of Work

Genesis 1:3:
"And God said, Let there be light; and there was light."

God spoke and produced light, which apparently was a necessity in the beginning of "forming" the "formless void." Is light a necessary part of the creative energy? God, of course, knew what the "formless void" looked like even with out light....but it is interesting that it is in this order. The light shines before the "formless void" is formed. A lesson for our lives from history. An historic principle that began with creation and continues today and tomorrow. "Light" in Hebrew does not refer to the sun. It is referring to energy and matter. Light was the sole creation of the First Day. Light, by definition, is not an entity in its own right. It is the link between two other entities, the communication from its emitter to an observer or recipient. Light would have no function unless it is expressing the former and influencing the latter.

Darkness need not have been created since it already existed. Second, the text informs us that God separates this newly created light from the primeval darkness, and lastly calls or identifies this light as “day,” and conversely darkness as “night.” “And there was evening, and there was morning—one day.”
So over this watery untamed abyss of formless earth, alternating sequences of day and night now exist. This is significant because what the text presents the deity creating first is the day or daylight! In other words, the light that comes into existence is not called “the sun” but rather “day.” Day was essentially conceived of as light, as being composed of light. Or, according to our ancient scribe, day by its very nature is light! The very essence of day is light. Ancient peoples might have deduced this “truth” from the observation that even when the sun doesn’t appear, it is still daylight out. Thus, the separation and alternation between day and night, light and darkness, is set by an initial action of the creator deity and not by the sun!
This idea is reenforced elsewhere in the text. There are only 3 places in Genesis 1 where God is presented creating something and then immediately naming it. It’s instructive to look at these three occurrences together:

light is created and called “day”
the firmament or expanse is created and called “the sky”
dry land is created or simply commanded to appear and is called “earth”

--Contradictions In the Bible

Genesis 1:4-5:
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

It took but one day for the formless void to take form, and for the light to shine upon it and the darkness to separate from that light. Night and day were created and God named them such. And, hence, the first day..and "time" became a concept.
The use of “evening and morning” in that order is significant. As each day’s work was accomplished during the “light,” there was a cessation of God’s activity during the “darkness.” Consequently, there was nothing to report between evening and morning.” The beginning of the next day’s activity began with the next period of light, after the “morning,” or better, “dawning.” The literal sense of the formula after each day’s work is: “Then there was dusk, then dawn, ending the first day.

1) The life span of Adam suggests that the "days" of Genesis one were not extremely long periods of time. God created the first man, later identified as Adam (Genesis 3:19), on day six of creation (Genesis 1:27-31).

2) Adam lived through the end of the sixth day, lived through the seventh day, and on into the days that came after those first seven. Now, if each day of Genesis one was really an enormously long period (such as a thousand years or millions of years), then after the end of the seventh day (on which God rested) how old would Adam have been?

3)The Bible affirms that "all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died" (Genesis 5:5). Since "all the days" that Adam lived totaled only 930 years, then it is not possible that the sixth day and seventh day of creation were thousands or millions of years long.

Some creationists have expressed that a cosmic creation date of billions of years ago depreciates the omnipotence of God. Just as the runner who covers a mile in four minutes must be stronger than one who requires ten minutes. It is then presumed that a God who takes billions of years is weaker than one who only takes six twenty-four hour days. Two fallacies underlie this line of reasoning. One is that God's creating in six twenty-four hour days proves Him all-powerful. Not so. Even that time frame is too long. For that matter, six nanoseconds would be too long. God would have created everything in one immeasurable instant if times were a measure of His power. The second fallacy is that an all powerful God is under compulsion to exercise all His power all the time. Just as man is capable of running a four-minute mile has the option to make more time, so God can choose whatever time frame He pleases for whatever He does

There was a time when light and darkness was mixed--but even through that confusion God could "see the light" and knew "it was good." And he separated the two from each other. Adding to the mix of the "formless void" was the mixture of light and dark....they were different, but not separate. I dont know that we can imagine such a sight as a visual. We can see it in other terms, such as someones personality who is embracing both light and dark, and they seem to appear confused and in the extreme maybe schizophrenic. And, as in creation, only God can truly separate the two conflicts. That God divided the light from the darkness - So put them asunder as they could never be joined together: and yet he divided time between them, the day for light, and the night for darkness, in a constant succession. Tho' the darkness was now scattered by the light, yet it has its place, because it has its use; for as the light of the morning befriends the business of the day, so the shadows of the evening befriend the repose of the night. God has thus divided between light and darkness, because he would daily mind us that this is a world of mixtures and changes. In heaven there is perpetual light, and no darkness; in hell utter darkness, and no light: but in this world they are counter - changed, and we pass daily from one to another; that we may learn to expect the like vicissitudes in the providence of God. That God divided them from each other by distinguishing names. He called the light Day, and the darkness he called night - He gave them names as Lord of both. He is the Lord of time, and will be so 'till day and night shall come to an end, and the stream of time be swallowed up in the ocean of eternity.

NOTES: In Gen 1:4, God separates light from dark. I would have to run on the assumption that somehow light and dark were mixed somehow up to that point. Since one will be called night and the other day, would it be, in effect, time that creates the separation? Would this, in effect, be the beginning of time? And the end of the age, darkness would, in effect, be destroyed when time ceases to exist? (Rev 22: 5: There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light). Now the only problematic verse is Rev 22:2: On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month............and I am not sure what to do with the suggestion of "every month."

Genesis 1:6:
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

The former formless void appears to have been very widespread...even as unto the heavens. God separated that. "Firmament" is translated from the Hebrew raqiya, which is derived from raqa which means "to spread abroad, stamp or stretch." Raqiya means "an expanse." The firmament-an expanse-a beating out as a plate of metal: a name given to the atmosphere from its appearing to an observer to be the vault of heaven, supporting the weight of the watery clouds. By the creation of an atmosphere, the lighter parts of the waters which overspread the earth's surface were drawn up and suspended in the visible heavens, while the larger and heavier mass remained below. The air was thus "in the midst of the waters," that is, separated them; and this being the apparent use of it, is the only one mentioned, although the atmosphere serves other uses, as a medium of life and light

As we saw in Genesis 1:4, the word separate in verses 6 and 7 again have the sense of utterly dividing two things from each other. In Genesis 1:4, God utterly divided the light from the dark. Even if you shine the light in the dark, the darkness flees. Fittingly, the light of God in your life is a matter of perspective on your situation, not a matter of location.

But here we have a completely different type of division going on, but it’s the same word. Instead of dividing light from darkness, the division is between the waters above and the waters below.
We have covered the scientific evidence for when this event occurred. It was around 3.5 billion years ago. It resulted in tumultuous rains finally letting up, an utter separation of the deep below from the clouds above, and is evidenced by fossilized bacteria.The parallel to Jesus’ life was his birth, the separation of waters from waters.

The interesting thing about this separation is that it divides the “above” from the “below.” In the life of Jesus, the symbolism of separation is very similar to his conception… light separated from darkness. Jesus is the light that separates darkness, and He is the ‘above’ that separates from the ‘below.’
Jesus’ ways are higher than our ways. Our ways are the ways of the ocean, at one time without bounds, completely connected to God. But with the light of God shining upon us, the rains from above begin to cease, and the separation between the oceans and heavens widens.

I believe there is a profound insight to be had here. Separation from God is not a bad thing. What’s bad is the nature of that separation. Shining God’s light does separated us from Him, but here’s the important point: the oceans were never part of the Heavens to begin with! They were simply so close as to be indiscernible. But by shining God’s light upon our ways, there is eventually no choice but to grasp the true distance between us. It is a distance that was always there, but was meant to be spanned. Adam spanned that distance for a short time… a type of Christ. Now that distance is spanned by Jesus.

I have written before that Original Sin is more like Original Separation, and have recently seen hints in the scriptures that that Jesus did not come because of evil, but that evil was allowed so that Jesus might come.

Mankind was created distant from God, but not divided from Him. Then Adam was connected to God… tumultuous rains from the Heavens, with no discernible dividing point from the oceans. Then, God’s light shown through (separation #1), and distance between the oceans and heavens was revealed (separation #2).

When you shine God’s light on the darkness (Day 1), the distance between us and Him becomes clear (Day 2). When Jesus was conceived in the womb, a light shining in the darkness, it led to His birth, and the distance between Him and Us became clear. Distance, yet no distance. Division, yet no division. Separation, yet no separation. It’s a paradox of sorts, and explains all sorts of doctrinal difficulties. But the resolution to these difficulties lies in between the lines. Where people think evil is a problem and Jesus the solution, and others think God is a problem if there is a evil, the truth is that we are distant from God, but need not be separate. That distance can be spanned. The evil is not in the distance, but in our refusal to let God cover it.
--GeoCreationism

Genesis 1:7:
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

God separated the waters and firmament and that is the way it was and the way it is. The command of God; Let there be a firmament - An expansion; so the Hebrew word signifies, like a sheet spread, or a curtain drawn out. This includes all that is visible above the earth, between it and the third heavens, the air, its higher, middle, and lower region, the celestial globe, and all the orbs of light above; it reaches as high as the place where the stars are fixed, for that is called here the firmament of heaven, Ge 1:14,15, and as low as the place where the birds fly for that also is called the firmament of heaven, Ge 1:20.

Genesis 1:8:
"And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

God named this spanse which was separated from the water “heaven,” the region of the air, and all that is above us. And another day came and went.

Genesis 1:9:
"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."

Scientists tell us that every part of the earth of which we live on today was once covered by water. The earth was prepared to be a habitation for man, by the gathering of the waters together, and the making of the dry land to appear. Thus, instead of the confusion which there was (v. 2) when earth and water were mixed in one great mass, behold, now, there is order, by such a separation as rendered them both useful. No matter how big or small in detail, God has never created anything that did not serve a purpose.

Steven R Martins Files

He says “let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place,” referring to the fact that God had indeed covered the entire earth with water since the beginning. We find this to be an affirmation, not a contradiction, with the creation account. The waters are no different than what we know of today, as the Hebrew “mayim” refers to the basic element of water; they are the oceans of the Pacific and the Atlantic, but not divided, rather initially created as one. It should also be noted, considering the previous commentaries, that the waters being gathered were the waters beneath the heavens. In the previous passage, waters were separated from waters, and the breathable atmosphere was created as a result of God’s creative handiwork. This led many theologians and apologists to derive a protective layering theory. God is being incredibly precise and exact in that the waters He is gathering are not the waters above the expanse, or above the firmament, but the waters below the earthly heavens.
--Steven Martins: Bible Commentary – Genesis 1:9]

Emanuel Swedenborg Files

"When it is known that there is both an internal and an external man, and that truths and goods flow in from, or through, the internal man to the external, from the Lord, although it does not so appear, then those truths and goods, or the knowledges of the true and the good in the regenerating man, are stored up in his memory, and are classed among its knowledges (scientifica); for whatsoever is insinuated into the memory of the external man, whether it be natural, or spiritual, or celestial, abides there as memory-knowledge (scientificum), and is brought forth thence by the Lord. These knowledges are the "waters gathered together into one place," and are called "seas," but the external man himself is called the "dry (land)," and presently "earth," as in what follows. --E. Swedenborg 1668-1772

Genesis 1:10:
"And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."

As the solid materials precipitated and then moved down and around under the forces of gravity, internal heat, and other electro-magnetic energies (not to mention the outflowing energy of the divine Word), great basins opened up to receive and store the waters. Some of these waters were trapped and stored in the “great deep” (Genesis 7:11), subterranean chambers beneath the earth’s crust. Others accumulated in surface basins. However, all were evidently interconnected through a network of subterranean channels, so that they were both singular and plural–gathered together into “one place,” yet called “Seas.”

Genesis 1:11:
"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."

John Wesley Files

This is the history of the fourth day's work, the creating the sun, moon and stars. Of this we have an account,

In general, verse 14, 15. where we have,
1. The command given concerning them. Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven - God had said, Genesis 1:3 Let there be light, and there was light; but that was, as it were, a chaos of light, scattered and confused; now it was collected and made into several luminaries, and so rendered both more glorious and more serviceable.
2. The use they were intended to be of to this earth.
  1. They must be for the distinction of times, of day and night, summer and winter.
  2. They must be for the direction of actions: they are for signs of the change of weather, that the husbandman may order his affairs with discretion.
  They do also give light upon the earth - That we may walk te>John 11:9 and work John 9:4 according as the duty of every day requires. The lights of heaven do not shine for themselves, nor for the world of spirits above, they need them not; but they shine for us, and for our pleasure and advantage. Lord, what is man that he should be thus regarded, Psalms 8:3,4.
In particular, Genesis 1:16,17,18, The lights of heaven are the sun, moon and stars, and these all are the work of God's hands.
1. The sun is the greatest light of all, and the most glorious and useful of all the lamps of heaven; a noble instance of the Creator's wisdom, power and goodness, and an invaluable blessing to the creatures of this lower world.
2. The moon is a lesser light, and yet is here reckoned one of the greater lights, because, though in regard of its magnitude, it is inferior to many of the stars, yet in respect of its usefulness to the earth, it is more excellent than they.
3. He made the stars also - Which are here spoken of only in general; for the scriptures were written not to gratify our curiosity, but to lead us to God.
Now, these lights are said to rule, Genesis 1:16,18; not that they have a supreme dominion as God has, but they are rulers under him. Here the lesser light, the moon, is said to rule the night; but Psalms 136:9 , , , , , , , , , the moon and stars to rule by night. No more is meant, but that they give light, Jeremiah 31:35. The best and most honorable way of ruling is, by giving light, and doing good.

See note at "Ge 1:14See note at "Ge 1:14 See note at "Ge 1:14 See note at "Ge 1:14 See note at "Ge 1:14
--John Wesley

Genesis 1:12-13:
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.

None of this was cloned. It was created, and then recreated itself through it's own seed. It should also be noted that plant life, in all its forms, was created before animal life, thus contradicting the order postulated by evolutionists. There are over twenty such contradictions between the order of creation in Genesis and that in evolutionary paleontology.

Genesis 1:14-15:
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”;

And it was so. The Hebrew word raqia is usually translated “expanse” or “firmament.” When it is directly followed by “of the heavens” it means atmosphere, sky, outer space, or heaven. However, what does raqia standing alone mean? The Hebrew words most similar to raqia ((ayqirf) are raqa ((qarf) its root, baqia ((ayqib@f), and baqa ((qab@f). Each describes a deformed solid.
In 1890, James Strong published a catalogue of all usages of every word in the Old and New Testaments. He counted the frequency of each Hebrew and Greek word’s specific English translation. For example, the Hebrew word baqa, the 1234th word in Strong’s Hebrew dictionary, is translated in the New American Standard Bible as “breached” three times, “split” seven times, etc. By studying all usages and contexts of a word and similar words, a difficult-to-translate word can be better understood.

The King James translators translated raqia as firmament, because they thought it involved something firm. However, its specific meaning when Genesis was written is unknown. Raqia is obviously important, because the second creation day centered around it, just as the third day dealt with plants, and the fourth day with heavenly bodies. What was the raqia? Certainly, raqia is one of the most mysterious words in the Bible.

By carefully studying English meanings of raqa, baqa, and baqia, one can see that atmosphere, sky, outer space, and heaven do not relate to what we might guess raqia means. Instead, we get a picture of a breakable pressed-out solid. How can a solid be breakable but malleable or moldable? Answer: extreme compression.

Few realize that all rock 5 miles or more below the earth’s surface is “pressed out.” Imagine a perfectly vertical column of a typical rock 5 miles high. If the rock were “somewhat confined,” as explained in the next paragraph, the pressure at the column’s base would be so great that it would slowly flow—like tar. Stacking more rock on top would cause even more flow at the bottom. If the column were 10 miles high, all the rock in the bottom half would try to flow. The rock at the bottom would be squeezed like a tall stick of butter trying to support a 10-ton truck.

If our column were pressed in from all sides by similar columns, the flow in the central column could go nowhere. The central column would have lateral support. Furthermore, if all columns were given lateral support by other columns, we would have the situation that actually exists in the top 10 miles of the earth’s crust. At depths of 5 miles or greater, the rock wants to flow but can’t, because the forces on all particles are balanced in all directions. So, below 5 miles, the rock is sealed like highly compressed putty. Cracks could not normally open up directly above the subterranean water chamber, which I estimate was almost 10 miles below the earth’s surface.

Genesis 1:16-19:
Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

The Hebrew word "asah"1 translated "made" can be rendered "appoint" or "ordain". It is translated this way in Psa. 104:19 - "He appointed the moon for seasons." On the basis of this translation, God did not literally make the sun and moon on the fourth day. These were formed in the "beginning" (an unspecified period of time in the past - Gen. 1:1). The sun, moon and stars were "appointed" on the fourth day to give light upon the earth. It is likely that prior to the fourth day light was diffused on the earth. Light could be distinguished from darkness but not until the fourth day did the atmosphere become sufficiently clear for the appearance of the heavenly.

Genesis 1:20:
Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”

Both the “lights” (Genesis 1:15) and the “fowl” are said to be in the “firmament of heaven.” However, the fowl were to be in the “open” (Hebrew pene) firmament of heaven, or better, “the face of the firmament of heaven.” Thus, birds fly only in the lower reaches of the vast spaces of the heavens. Or, it may be that there are two different “firmaments of heaven.”

Genesis 1: 21:
So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

The “moving creature” (Hebrew sherets) of Genesis 1:20 is elsewhere always translated “creeping thing,” and here evidently refers to marine invertebrates and marine reptiles, as well as the fishes. The word translated “great whales” (Hebrew tannin) is elsewhere the regular word for “dragons,” and most probably refers to the great marine reptiles often called dinosaurs.
It is significant that the word “create” (Hebrew bara) is applied to the introduction of animal life, but not to plant life. Plants are highly complex replicating chemical systems, as are animals, with reproductive programs based in the remarkable DNA molecule in both cases. However, animals possess another entity–that of consciousness–which plants do not possess, and this required a second act of true creation (the first was in Genesis 1:1, the creation of the basic space/mass/time universe). Such “consciousness” is the essential meaning of the Hebrew word nephesh, commonly translated “soul,” but in Genesis 1:20 (its first occurrence) translated “life,” and then in Genesis 1:21 “living creature.” In Genesis 2:7, referring to man, it is rendered “living soul.” Thus, both men and animals possess the specially-created nephesh.

Genesis 1:22-23:
And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

God dealt with the birds of the air and the creatures of the sea separately from the rest of the animal kingdom . That points to the more complex creation of the earth’s animals. God created them after the birds and the inhabitants of the waters but before humankind. If one takes the position that God’s most complex creation is in fact man, than one could take the position that somehow land animals are more complex in their being than birds and fish of the sea. The fact that God spoke directly to them as indicated in this verse – something He did not do for plant life – further supports this premise. God knew they would somehow be able to identify with His instructions to them to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ or else why would He utter such direct instructions. For plant life, however, He had provided no such direction but rather created them in such a way that reproduction would be automatic.

Genesis 1:24-25:
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

These verses plainly say, without any interpretation, that God created fish to reproduce after their own particular kind, birds after their particular kind, and cattle after the cattle kind. Each kind may have many varieties within it, but all creatures reproduce only after their own "kind. " That is why dogs reproduce dogs, monkeys reproduce monkeys, sheep reproduce sheep, etc. There is nothing that can evolve into another kind. It is genetically impossible and any person who supports the so-called "facts of evolution" (of which there are actually no fact to fill the gaps), cannot continue to turn a blind eye to this reality.

In every way, man's becoming God will be tempered by and limited to his status as a creature; and actually, what man is by creation gives the greatest credence to the notion that man may become God. In the account of creation in Genesis 1, all living things were created "after their kind" (vv. 11, 12, 21, 24, 25) except man. Hence, in God's creation there are species of living things, each bearing it's own characteristics that distinguish it from other species. But when the creation of man is recounted, he is not said to be created "after his kind." Instead, the Scriptures say, "Let us (God) make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26). We understand this sentence to correspond to the phrase after their kind in the other sections of the creation account; we see it as a finer, more detailed utterance of the same notion. Hence, we understand by this sentence that man was created after God's kind. The apostle Paul made the similar declaration to the Areopagus in Athens: "Being then the race (Gk. genos, 'species; kind') of God" (Acts 17:29).

Of course, we all know the sad history of mankind's fall, by which human beings lost a great bit of their likeness to God. Because of the fall, humans are difficult to classify; it is hard to know what "kind" they are. They are obviously superior to all living things and yet appear to be so similar to many of them. On the other hand, humans are certainly Godlike to some extent and yet obviously fall short of God. Nevertheless, humans were created in such a way that through Gods economy they may become God. Before the fall Adam was not a defiled man; he was not created with God's life and nature but only with the capacity to receive them. The fall delayed the realization of what we humans were created for and brought in negative elements that required our redemption.

Genesis 1:26-28:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Although God encounters us in and through creaturely realities, he is not immanent within them, nor to be identified with them: he is the Creator and as such stands outside and beyond the creation. That is, God is not merely Creator but also Judge, and thus our relation to the ordinances is not merely positive but also critical.

Moses writes that man is created in God's "image" and "likeness." Any reliable lexicon mentions that "image" and "likeness" reinforce each other in a manner common to Hebrew. It means we are like God in form and implies that, like Him, we have a spiritual capacity which animals do not have. This verse uses the plural pronouns "Us" and "Our" to refer to their antecedent elohim. Two divine personalities were working as one. They were equal in that both were God but not equal in authority, even as husband, wife, and child are equal in their humanity but not equal in authority. Jesus said it Himself: "My Father is greater than I" (John 14:28). Genesis 2 contains a parallel account of creation, adding detail to certain parts of the narrative of the first chapter. Notice God's expanded instruction: "Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend [dress, KJV] and keep it" (verse 15). This greatly modifies the force of "have dominion" and "subdue it" from Genesis 1:26, 28!
Tend (Hebrew 'abad) means "to work or serve," and thus referring to the ground or a garden, it can be defined as "to till or cultivate." It possesses the nuance seen in the KJV's choice in its translation: "dress," implying adornment, embellishment, and improvement.

Keep (Hebrew shamar) means "to exercise great care over." In the context of Genesis 2:15, it expresses God's wish that mankind, in the person of Adam, "take care of," "guard," or "watch over" the garden. A caretaker maintains and protects his charge so that he can return it to its owner in as good or better condition than when he received it.

Genesis 1:26–28 indicates that God made man—unlike the rest of creation—in his own image. This passage also demonstrates that God’s purpose for humanity was an embodied existence. Genesis 2:7 highlights this point as well. God makes man out of the dust and then breathes into him the breath of life. This indicates that we were a body before we were a person. The body, as it turns out, is not incidental to our personhood. Adam and Eve are given the commission to multiply and subdue the earth. Their bodies allow them, by God’s creation and his sovereign plan, to fulfill that task of image-bearing.
--Albert Mohler

In the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson said that “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” entitled the nations of the earth to a “separate and equal station.” In the context of history, this was a striking statement. Jefferson was arguing – on behalf of the American colonies – that people had a right to govern themselves because God had purposed that it be so. Nature itself demonstrated this in ways that were so clear that they could be understood as laws. In the second paragraph of the Declaration is undoubtedly one of the most famous phrases in modern history: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The statement is breathtaking in its implications. Jefferson acknowledges the existence of a God who created us and with that life-giving act also made it clear that we are equal before Him. In turn, that equality meant that we all had certain rights that could not lawfully – that is, in the eyes of our Creator – be abridged by governments. When Jefferson stated that such truths were “self-evident,” he is referencing natural law. The reality was objectively true – just as much as the laws of science. Human beings, empowered with reason, were expected to see and understand the breadth of blessings bestowed upon mankind
--Ed Vitagliano (AFA) 09.01.16

Christopher Brown Files

The word “subdue” in Hebrew this is kabash. You can’t get around it; it does mean “subdue” or “enslave”, and even in the harshest instances “molest” or “rape.” But here’s the catch: it only means this when the party being subdued is already hostile. Hence it’s used to speak of military enemies in scripture. Not to subdue an attacking army would lead to death. Hence, we subdue the earth because without such subjugation the harshness of nature would yield death for us rather than life. As God subdues that in us which leads to death rather than life – sin – so too we subdue in nature that which leads to death, turning it around so that it yields life. Jesus’ words about pruning in John 15 provide a beautiful example of the way in which God subdues sin, using as an analogy the way a farmer subdues nature. Thus agriculture and other life-giving uses of nature are proper fulfillment of the command to “subdue” creation.
--Christopher Brown; Poiesis Theou: Genesis 1:28, To “Subdue” and “Have Dominion Over” Creation

God’s first command to man was that of producing abundant progeny sufficient to fill the earth (not “replenish,” a misleading translation of the Hebrew word male). Perhaps the animals had been created in large numbers of each kind, but the human population began with only two people. The function of subduing the earth and having dominion over it would necessarily require a long time–first, for the growth of a large enough population to fill the earth, and second, for the acquiring of enough knowledge and skill to enable man to bring it under full control and development.
(SOURCE: Institute For Creation Research)

The cultural mandate or creation mandate is the divine injunction found in Genesis 1:28, in which God (YHVH), after having created the world and all in it, ascribes to humankind the tasks of filling, subduing, and ruling over the earth. Neo-Calvinists use this text to justify their emphasis on cultural engagement.

Hugh Whelchel Files

God gave humanity dominion over the earth to steward with authority, responsibility and care. In Genesis 1:28, we are told that one of the things we are created to do is to subdue the earth. The Hebrew word, translated “subdue” in verse 28 (Hebrew kabash) in that context, means to make the earth useful for human beings’ benefit and enjoyment.
Stewardship implies an expectation of human achievement. If God entrusts me with something, then he expects me to do something with it, something worthwhile, something that he finds valuable. God has entrusted us with certain resources, gifts and abilities. Our responsibility, as Dr. Ken Boa, president of Reflections Ministries, writes, “is to live by that trust by managing these things well, according to his design and desire.” --Hugh Whelchel

We are not to worship the creation but the Creator. We are not to be subdued by the earth, but we are to have dominion over it and to be good stewards of the resources God has intrusted us with. While the order established by God is a necessary condition for human knowledge, it is not sufficient. For human knowledge to be possible, the order established by God must also be comprehended by man. However, since man was created to be God's dominion agent, the basis for human comprehension is rooted in the same purposeful activity of God. Man's thinking process is pre-adapted to the universe by God's intelligent design. In other words, man's thoughts cohere with the world because both man and the world share a common Creator. Thus, in accounting for both universal order and human comprehension of it, Christianity provides a sound epistemological base for science and all human knowledge.

To subdue the earth as a charge so early in creation would imply possibly a deterministic end based on however man decides to act upon his ability to subdue and lead through a chain of events until the end of time, which, according to revelations is a judgment and a great apocalyptic destruction. Hence, this would mean that the judgment is not of Gods creation, but an end that man determines via his own history and future decision. God will probably intervene before man destroys himself since he seems more easily given to the notion of destruction than he is creation.

That God gave to man, when he had made him, a dominion over the inferior creatures, over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air. Though man provides for neither, he has power over both, much more over every living thing that moveth upon the earth, which are more under his care and within his reach. God designed hereby to put an honour upon man, that he might find himself the more strongly obliged to bring honour to his Maker. This dominion is very much diminished and lost by the fall; yet God's providence continues so much of it to the children of men as is necessary to the safety and support of their lives, and God's grace has given to the saints a new and better title to the creature than that which was forfeited by sin; for all is ours if we are Christ's, 1 Co. 3:22.

Genesis 1:28-31:
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

From the very start, God said, “Behold, I give you every plant that produces seeds upon the earth and every tree that has fruit with its seed inside of it: these shall be your food” (Genesis 1:29, NCB). Daniel provided a later biblical example of the benefits of a plant-based diet. “Daniel resolved he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine… ‘Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink’… At the end of ten days, it was observed that they appeared better and fatter than all the young men who had been eating the royal rations” (Daniel 1:8, 11, 12, 15).