finding repetition

God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:10

When you are writing something for others to read, how do you emphasize that it is important? Do you use italics? Do you underline it? What if the language you were writing in did have those options (or, at least, could not be translated in that way)? What could you use to emphasize a thought?

A good option would be repetition. Repetition is a valuable means of creating emphasis on a specific thought or statement. The Bible is an excellent example of the use of repetition for emphasis.

How do you see repetition being used in this verse? In what other passages have you seen the Bible use repetition for emphasis?

If you notices, I have used both repetition and emphasis several times already. That is because it is an important concept that I want you to be mindful of when reading the Bible.

So, what qualities of God are being emphasized through the repetition in this verse? And why are they so important?

First, let us look at what is being repeated, along with where it is being repeated from.

If you will recall from Genesis 1:5, God gave a name to a part of His creation, using the phrase "God called." We see this phrase also used in Genesis 1:8. Multiple times in the story of creation, God intentionally chooses to provide a name to His creation.

But why does God pause each time to provide a name, rather than waiting until everything has been created? Why does He not just pause and the end and list all of the different names?
What is the reason for each being listed separately? For the repetition?

Again, I ask you to look back on what we learned from Genesis 1:5. God finds importance in a distinct relationship with each part of His creation. By separating the long list and repeating the process for each distinct part, God is making known His desire for relationship with every individual portion of His creation.
And He desires a very special relationship with mankind. One reason for the repetition through these passages is to remind us that, while we are all a part of mankind, God intentionally names each of us as we are created, because He wants to have an intimate relationship with every single one of us. God does not generalize His relationship with mankind; He makes certain that it is personal.

There is another piece of this verse involving repetition can also be found Genesis, specifically in Genesis 1:4. This involves God declaring what He has created to be "good." This term good can also be rewritten and pleasing to God or excellent of its kind. This term cannot be compared to our typical use of "good." It is nowhere near a definition akin to okay or fine. This definition is a much deeper use of the word, in understand that anything that is pleasing to God is the opposite of anything God would find dis-pleasureable (such as sin or ignoring Him in our lives). There is no gray area in what God enjoys. This good is something perfect and unblemished.

Again, why does God declare each individual piece good, rather than just the whole thing at the end of the process of creation? Why does He make certain to create repetition?
What does God bring to your mind when pondering these questions? Please share.
Perhaps it is to emphasize that each individual part was good. As it was created, each part could remain good on its own. Declaring solely the entirety of creation to be good could mis-imply that each part of creation absolutely needs the other parts in order to be good. While this is true for one aspect in particular (the creation of woman to bring good to the life of man), it is evident that this is not true for the whole of creation.

What is God showing you through this? How does this affect your knowledge of His interaction in your life? Who does this help you understand God to be?

Please share in the comments.