Be Fruitful, Multiply, and Fill ~ Part Two

Aug 8

Reflective Reading: Genesis 1

Last week we looked at the first commandment given to mankind:

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).

This commandment is given to mankind fifteen times and is emphasized with each patriarch. But mankind, rather than filling the earth with children who would grow up and serve the Lord, filled the earth with violence.

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11).
“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:13).

After the catastrophic flood, God started over with Noah and his family and reminded them of this essential commandment. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, not once but twice:

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).

We showed how, after the flood, mankind once again rebelled and refused to fill the earth, desiring to stay in one place to make a name for themselves (Tower of Babel). As a result, God dispersed them.

This theme of being fruitful, multiplying, and filling the earth continues throughout Genesis, but it makes an interesting change in emphasis when we reach the promised son, Isaac. In Genesis 26:19-24, we read that Isaac was restricted from being fruitful. The king and herdsmen of Gerar fought with Isaac’s servants over water rights to the land:

“But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, ‘The water is ours.’ So he called the name of the well Esek (contention), because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (strife). And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth (wide places), saying, ‘For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.’ From there he went up to Beersheba. And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, ‘I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.’”

Here we learn that being fruitful, multiplying, and filling the earth oftentimes comes with resistance and roadblocks. Isaac understood the importance of this command as is revealed in his response once the conflict is overcome—“For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” The text continues to show God’s help in the fulfillment of this command when He says, “I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring…”

As we continue in the Torah, we find that Israel, though facing hostile adversaries, fulfilled this commandment exceedingly. In Exodus 1:7 we read:

“And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.”

As the Scriptures continue from Genesis to Exodus, this commandment resurfaces in the first chapter of Exodus, acting like a hinge, connecting these books together. Like Isaac, the children of Israel would face opposition and resistance to the fulfillment of this commandment. But God, working all things together for good, would use this Egyptian conflict to be the catalyst to make Israel stronger and more fruitful, so that they would inevitably spread out and fill the earth. In Exodus 1:9-11 we read:

“And he (Pharoah) said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. “

Pharoah’s persecution and ignorant opposition to God’s command only helped Israel to grow stronger. In Exodus 1:12 we read:

“But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.”

Do you see the catalyst to becoming more fruitful and multiplying? The more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied and grew. This happened in the New Testament as well. As soon as persecution came upon the church, the church grew. Thousands were being added to the church. In Acts 5 we read how the Apostles were thrown into prison and threatened not to preach or teach about Jesus. In the first verse of the next chapter we read:

“And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied…”

Soon after this multiplication of disciples, more conflict would arise, forcing the church to grow in its maturity. God is always at work, helping us to fulfill this commandment. Today, God compels us to be filled with the Spirit, multiply by winning souls to Christ and making disciples, and filling the earth with God’s character, truth, commandments, grace, and glory. But just like the Old Testament characters, we too will find opposition to this commandment. We too will experience resistance, but this is good because strength cannot be produced without resistance. Soon after the persecution and conflict of Acts 5, we read this in 6:7:

“And the Word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”

It is through understanding and keeping this commandment that we learn the purpose of life. We are to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. The focus today is no longer on having large families, though having many children is a blessing of the Lord. Our focus today is on walking in the fruit of the Spirit, multiplying by making disciples for our Lord Jesus, and being filled with the knowledge of God. To illustrate this point, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16a:

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the fragrance of the knowledge of him by us in every place. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one, the fragrance of death unto death; and to the other the fragrance of life unto life.”

Paul’s use of the triumphal entry refers to the Roman General who would bring his captives into the capital city. Before entering, a fragrant oil would be poured upon his head. As the General would continue in the procession, his captives would smell the lingering fragrance. Some of the captives, though conquered, celebrated their new home. The lingering fragrance served to remind them of better days to come. To those who rejected their conquered state, the fragrance would only serve as a sentence of death.

Each of us have been commissioned to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth with the fragrant knowledge, goodness, and glory of God. Paul writes to the church of Colosse:

“That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (1:10).

To be fruitful in every good work requires us to subdue and have dominion over all the earth, by knowing God intimately and making Him known fully. Will there be resistance and roadblocks? Of course there will be. So let us, like Isaac, focus not on the resistance but on the redeeming actions of digging new wells until pure water is found.

In the words of Leonardo da Vinci, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” As we “do,” may we be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth with the fragrant knowledge of God and his creative goodness upon the earth.

Blessings to all,

Mark Hamby

M.S., M. Div., Th. M., D. Min.

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