Be Fruitful, Multiply, and Fill
Reflective Reading: Genesis 1
Genesis 1:28 is the first commandment given to mankind. If you miss this commandment, then you miss one of the most important themes in the Bible!
“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
In Genesis, this Creation Mandate appears about fifteen times (depending on which version you are reading). God reminds each Patriarch of its importance, and each understood the gravity of their responsibility. Abraham, of course, endured the most tension regarding this commandment since he and Sarah remained childless for almost a hundred years.
So, why was this command so important? Let’s back up to the beginning. Creation began with God forming the earth and the heavens on the first three days. On the second set of three days (days 4, 5, and 6), God filled what he formed.
For example, on day one, God made day and night (or light and darkness). On day four, he filled the day with the sun and the night he filled with the moon and the stars. God worked the same process of forming and filling with day two and day five, and again on day three and day six. This process of forming and filling was then given to mankind so they may continue to create (form and fill) as image bearers of God.
But not long after God gave this commandment to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, mankind rebelled against it. They ignored that they were God’s image bearers, became unfruitful, and began to fill the earth with violence (Gen 6).
God’s people were supposed to bear children and thus fill the earth with His character, commandments, and glory. When mankind broke this commandment, they brought a catastrophic flood upon the whole earth, destroying all of mankind except Noah and his family. God takes this commandment very seriously.
As soon as the flood subsided, God reminded Noah and his family, not once, but twice, of this sacred command:
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth (9:1).
And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein (9:7).
As mankind began to multiply upon the face of the earth, this commandment is once again resisted. In Genesis 11:4, we read:
“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
Similar to the language of Genesis 1, “Let us make man in our image,” and “be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth,” man is now trying to make a name for himself by remaining in one place. Isn’t that interesting? Mankind is using God’s words in a distorted and dangerous way. Again, disobedience brings universal judgment upon the earth through the confounding of languages and the scattering of people around the globe. God’s commands will be obeyed one way or another. Man can either obey God by humbly and lovingly submitting to His authority, or he can discover too late that this life is not about “making a name” for himself.
After Genesis, this theme of being fruitful, multiplying, and filling immediately occurs in Exodus chapter 1, though four hundred years after the last chapter in Genesis. Under some of the greatest oppression and suffering, Israel is finally obeying this command. Ironically, as soon as they are delivered from their bondage, this command is once again disregarded. In fact, mention of this command doesn’t surface again for fourteen hundred years!
Throughout those years, Israel has been in constant struggle with this command. There are times when they obey and have victory, but those times are few and far between. Their eventual collapse and dispersion were caused due to their violation of this commandment.
Israel was chosen to be a nation that would demonstrate to the whole world who this God of the universe is. They were to be the crossroads of every nation, influencing the world through their laws and dedication to the worship of this one true God. But, because they were more concerned about making a name for themselves, God dispersed them for seventy years into Babylon. Later, in 70 A.D., God would disperse them again for two thousand years.
It is God’s desire and command that his people are always fruitful, always multiplying, and always filling the earth with his character, commands, and glory. Those who resist and desire only to make a name for themselves are missing out on the great adventure and miraculous provisions and providential encounters God creates. To resist is to risk forced dispersion. God has been using this method of dispersing his people throughout the earth from Noah to Babel to now. Right from the start of the New Testament, God commanded “…and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
To help the church obey this command, God began to “scatter” them through persecution.
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles (Acts 8:1).
Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word (Acts 8:4).
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen… (Acts 11:19).
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia;” (1 Peter 1:1).
There is a reason God does not want us to remain comfortable while we travel through this world—it is not our own. There is a home that is far greater, and God is the contractor and builder. For the present, He has given us the responsibility to be fruitful by winning many souls to Christ, multiplying by making disciples, and filling the earth with God’s character, commandments, and glory so that when we all arrive, we can enjoy being finally at home.
Not sure how this commandment applies to your life today? Join me in our next Sunday Morning Reflections, or on the Dr. Mark Hamby podcast, Fastened Like Nails.
Blessings to all,
Mark Hamby
M.S., M. Div., Th. M., D. Min.
Recommended Reading and Listening:
Tim Gower: Soul Sharpener (Ages 9+)
Tip Lewis and His Lamp book/audio drama (Ages 9+)
The Robbers Cave book/audio drama (Ages 9+)
The Wanderer book/audio drama (Ages 9+)
The Boy of Mt. Rhigi book/audio drama (Ages 9+)
