“And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
To be fruitful and multiply means to reproduce
Let us look at several scriptures that imply ‘be fruitful and multiply’ concerns reproduction.
In Genesis 1:28, God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. By this He meant that they should reproduce and increase numerically upon the face of the earth.
After destroying all living things by the flood, God directed Noah and his family to be fruitful and multiply in order to replenish the earth. The command also applied to all the animals that were saved from the flood. This is recorded in Genesis 9:1, where the scripture says:
“So God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.’”
In Genesis 9:7, we again see God reiterating the same blessing upon Noah by stating:
“And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.”
All these scriptures point to the numerical progression of Noah’s descendants upon the earth.
In Genesis 17:5-6, we see God speaking this blessing upon Abraham by stating
“No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.”
By this blessing, God meant that Abraham would have many descendants.
In Genesis 17:20, God tells Abraham that He would also bless his son Ishmael to become fruitful. This means that Ishmael would also have many descendants. The scripture says
“And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.”
In Genesis 28:1-3, we come across Isaac blessing his son Jacob by again telling him to be fruitful and multiply. The scriptures say:
“Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him and said to him, ‘You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of people.’”
So, from this scripture, the blessing of being fruitful and multiplying that Isaac spoke upon Jacob meant that Jacob would increase numerically on the face of the earth.
In Genesis 35:11, God personally reiterated the blessing to Jacob by stating:
“Also God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.’”
The fulfillment of this promise, which God made to Jacob, is seen in action in Exodus 1:7, where the scripture says,
“But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.”
Why God wants mankind to be fruitful and multiply
God wants man to be fruitful and multiply in order to fill the earth because He created the planet to be inhabited. We read this in Isaiah 45:18 as follows:
“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited.”
Similar sentiments are echoed in Psalms 115:16, which says:
“The heaven, even the heavens, is the LORD’S; but the earth He has given to the children of men.”
In order to ensure continuity of the human race upon the face of the earth, God blesses married couples with children as recorded in Psalm 127:3-5. The scripture says
“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD; the fruit of the womb is His reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.”
In Psalm 128:3, God declares that He will cause the wife of the man who fears Him to be fruitful. The scripture says
“Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house; your children, like olive plants all around your table.”
In Jeremiah 23:3, God speaks of returning the children of Israel back to their land and causing them to multiply again. The scripture says
“But I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase.”
To be fruitful and multiply also means to prosper materially
Apart from procreation, by the blessing of being fruitful and multiplying, man was expected to flourish in all his works here on earth. It is this blessing that empowers man to make wealth through various economic activities, including agriculture, mining, fishing, and trade, among others. We read in Deuteronomy 8:18, which says
“And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
A similar sentiment is echoed in Acts 14:17. The scripture says
“Nevertheless he did not leave himself without witness, in that he did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
Prayer for fruitfulness and multiplication in our lives
“Almighty God, thank you for blessing me to become fruitful and to multiply.”
I hope this is helpful. God bless you.
Source: https://www.biblegateway.com/
Related Post: Scriptures for prosperity