No — Genesis 1:6-23 describes the restoration of a judged, water-covered earth into a usable state, not the original creation.
According to Les Feldick, the earth in Genesis 1:2 is already 'void' and under water because God had destroyed the original perfect creation (Clip 3). When God then says, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters' (Genesis 1:6), He is arranging and dividing what already exists rather than making the material world for the first time (Clips 0, 7).
Genesis 1:6 — This is where God begins dividing the existing waters, which Les reads as the first act of restoration rather than original creation.
Genesis 1:2 — Les uses this previous condition to show the earth was already present but under water and dark before verse 6.
The opening command in the section is, 'And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters' (Genesis 1:6). The King James text then records the waters under heaven being gathered together so dry land appears, grass and fruit trees coming forth, lights being set in the firmament of heaven, and the waters bringing forth moving creatures and fowl (Genesis 1:9-20). Each day ends with the same refrain: 'And the evening and the morning were the ... day.' The words themselves are God's commands to separate, gather, bring forth, and make — language the text uses rather than a statement that these verses are describing the original creation of the heavens and the earth.
Les Feldick teaches that Genesis 1:6-23 is a restoration of the planet, not the original creation. He points to the condition of the earth in Genesis 1:2 — 'without form, and void' and covered by water — as evidence that the original beautiful earth God created in verse 1 had been destroyed by a judgment that he calls 'the first flood' (Clip 3). From that point, he says, God's activity in Genesis 1:6-23 is the process of bringing that ruined, submerged world back into an orderly, usable condition: separating the waters, letting dry land appear, bringing plant life back, setting lights in the sky, and restoring living creatures in the waters and air (Clip 0).
Les points back to Genesis 1:2 and describes the earth as 'void' and under water. He says the original beautiful earth God created in verse 1 must have been without a flaw, but in verse 2 it is ruined and covered by water. He calls this watery destruction 'the first flood,' with Noah's flood being the second (Clip 3).
Les instructs his students to read from verse 6 all the way down through verse 23 and take note that there is not a single word that indicates creation. For him, this absence of creation terminology is why the passage should be understood as the restoration of an existing world rather than the original creation event (Clip 0).
In God's blessing to Adam and Eve, the KJV says, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth' (Genesis 1:28). Les connects the word 'replenish' to something that had already been filled, pointing out that just as Noah later comes on the scene to fill the planet that had been filled once before, the earth was occupied before Adam. This reinforces the idea that Genesis 1:6-23 is repairing and re-stocking a world that had been judged (Clips 2 and 7).
Les notes that 'In the beginning, God' appears in Genesis 1 and that all through chapter 1 the text says 'God said this, and God did that.' He calls this chapter 'dealing with God, the Creator' (Clip 5). He also reminds his class that on the sixth day God created Adam, formed him in His own image, and made him perfect, sinless, and immortal (Clip 6). So even in a restoration view, Genesis 1 still presents God as Creator.
No Creation Language in Verses 6-23
Les points out that reading from Genesis 1:6 through 23 reveals no direct word for creating, which is the textual basis for seeing this section as a restoration rather than an initial creation.
Why Paul Said Women Should Cover Their Heads — 1 Corinthians 11
Just go back to Genesis 1, and just start all over again, and the Lord tarries until they catch up, and we've still got money to stay on the air, we'll repeat it again. I've taught some of these people in Oklahoma as much as 7 or 8 times from Genesis to Revelation, so I think television can handle it as well. Genesis 1, and the Lord God said, "...it is not good that the man should be alone.
Dominion and Replenish
Les quotes Genesis 1:28 in a millennial context to show the earth is to be filled and subdued again, tying back to a world that lost its original order.
The First Flood and the Ruined Earth
Les explains that the earth in Genesis 1:2 is void and under water because God destroyed the original beautiful earth, making it the first flood and setting up the need for Genesis 1:6-23 to restore it.
Why All Creation Groans — Romans 8:18-23 Explained
Now it wasn't the way God created it, it's the result of the curse, and all the other things that have made the planet what it is today, is the result of Adam's rebellion, the curse. So as soon as the curse fell, God came back with a remedy. Now let's go back to Genesis chapter 3, verse 15.
God, the Creator, in Chapter 1
Les notes that all through Genesis 1 the term 'God' is used, and he characterizes this chapter as dealing with 'God, the Creator,' even as he teaches the restoration view of verses 6-23.
Adam Created on the Sixth Day
Les reminds his class that on the sixth day God created Adam from the dust of the earth, formed him in His own image, and Adam was perfect, sinless, and immortal.
Replenish Means Fill Again
Les emphasizes the word 'replenish' in Genesis 1:28, comparing it to Noah filling a planet that had been populated once before.
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.
Les uses this verse to show that the earth was already present but ruined and covered by water before Genesis 1:6.
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 first recorded action in this section is God dividing waters that already exist, not creating them.
Genesis 1:20: And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
The text presents God commanding existing waters to bring forth life as part of the renewed order.
Genesis 1:28: 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.
Les highlights the word 'replenish' as evidence that the earth had been filled before and is now to be filled again.
According to Les Feldick, it is God restoring the created-but-judged earth: dividing the waters, producing dry land, restoring vegetation, placing lights in the sky, and bringing the animal kingdom back into a functioning creation (Clips 0, 3).
He tells the reader to scan those verses and notice that they never speak of creation out of nothing; the text uses commands like 'Let there be,' 'Let the waters be gathered,' and 'Let the waters bring forth' (Clip 0).
Les observes that God told Adam and Eve to 'replenish the earth,' which he understands as filling a planet that had been filled before, consistent with the judgment/restoration view (Clip 7).
Watch the Teaching: Genesis 1:26 Explained: The Trinity & The Creation of Man