Is Genesis 1:6-23 about creation or about God restoring the earth after a previous judgment?
Genesis 1:6-23 is not about creation as such; it describes God restoring the earth to functional operation. The passage assumes the earth had been under water and darkness because of a previous judgment, and now God brings it back to order and function. So the focus is restoration, not original creation.
Les explains that in Genesis 1:6-23 there is not a single word indicating creation as such. Instead, the language shows God taking what was already there—the earth that had been under water and darkness as a result of a previous judgment—and simply restoring everything to a functional operation. The passage is therefore about restoration after judgment, not the original creation.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
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Is Genesis 1:6-23 a creation account or a restoration account?
Genesis 1:6-23 describes God restoring to functional operation that which previously existed but was under water and darkness, not creating it anew.