I went looking in the Bible and find these verses (thankyou Lord for the internet and biblestudytools.com!). I use the keyword "fruitful", and guess what i found? There are so many words from God contain the word "fruitful".
This is the word Lord gave to Adam and Eve before they fall into sin;
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Gen 1:28)
A note to considere here, God comand the living creatures and birds on earth to be fruitfull and increase in number also (Gen 1:22). The different was for men, God command them to rule over the fish and every living creatures.
After the fall, the world became so wicked that God sent flood and only saved Noah and his family. Still, God command Noah and his family this:
Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. (Gen 9:1)
We can see that God's word for men to multiply remains the same, before and after the fall.
I then found the famous covenant God made with Abraham;
4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. (Gen 17:6)
Even for Ishmael, Abraham's son from his concubine, God said:
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.(Gen 17:20)
For Jacob, his son, Isaac give him blessings and said:
3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. (Gen 28:3)
Which then God confirmed to Jacob by blessing him with the same thing:
11 And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body.(Gen 35:11)
Jacob then repeat God's blessing for him to Joseph to reminded him of God's promises for their descendants in Gen 48:4. After that the bible told us that the descendants of Joseph in Egypt indeed fruitful and increasingt:
Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number. (Gen 47:27)
At the end of his life, Jacob told Joseph of the blessings that God had promised them :
because of your father's God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb (gen 49:25)
God had definitely fulfil His promise to Jacob. Even to the point that made the Egyptian worried.
But the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. (Ex 1:7)
After the exodus from Egypt, God sent down the 10 comandments to the Israelites through Moses and He promised that if the Israelites follow His decrees and are careful to obey His commands, He promised them prosperity (Lev 26:4-5), security (verse 6-8), children (Lev 26:9, Deut 7:14, Deut 28:4) and a good relationship with Him (verse 11-13).
9 "'I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. (Leviticus 26:9)
14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. (Deut 28:4)
In Psalm 105:24, David said that it is God who makes His people grew in number.
24 The Lord made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes. (Psalm 105:24)
Salomo, then said that everyone who fears the Lord will blessed and fruitful.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. (Psalm 128:3)
Through the prophet Jeremiah, along with the promise of the Branch of David, the King of Righteousness that will come, the Lord also promise this to the Israelites:
3 "I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. (Jeremiah 23:3)
To the Israelites on their land of captivity in Babylon, the Lord have mercy on them and promised to bring them back to their promised land, and bless them with children and prosperity.
11 I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.(Ezekiel 36:11).
And before the new covenant begins, in the book of Maleachi there's an interesting verse that stated what is God intention from the unity of a man and a woman.
Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. (Mal 2:15)
Oh la la... it is because God seeks godly offspring from them!
After i studied those verses, i'm convinced that God always included children, the fruit of the womb as one of His important blessings for His people. But wait a minute.... my mind wondered, those were the promises for the Israelites, the sons of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac. Were those promises also belongs to us?
Et voila... i've lost count of how many verses in new Testament trying to convinced us that we the believers of Christ are also the descendants of Abraham by faith.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them (Romans 4:12)
7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7)
14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3:14)
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)
And, since we are Abraham's seed through Jesus, are the promises of God belong to us? The answer come from this verse;
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20)
Amen.
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