Genesis: Day 5
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.
Genesis 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Birds, according to this section of scripture, evidently sprang forth from the waters in the same work that created the fish and the whales and all sea creatures. With the same stroke God filled the seas and the atmosphere, or firmament, with life.
They were made after their kind, which may mean they were made according to their different species, or according to the kind God had in His mind when He created them, or possibly according to a pattern that already existed in heaven. Perhaps they were made to match the pattern of creatures that already existed in heaven, and were thus brought forth after their kind. The oceans were filled with living creatures of every kind, and every type of flying bird took to the sky.
There are three natural arenas in which living creatures exist, or three areas of life. There are creatures made to dwell in the waters, those that dwell in the air, and those that dwell on dry land. Based on this scripture sea creatures and birds were created before land animals and men, which were yet to be created on Day 6 as the culmination of God’s master work.
Genesis 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
It seems that the Lord was introducing progressively higher levels of life, starting with grass and herbs, then fruit trees, after that fish and all sea creatures, and with them the birds. Then He pronounced His blessing over the creatures of the seas and of the air.
Genesis 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.