“God blessed [the man and the woman]. And God said to them, ‘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.’” [1]
Undoubtedly, I am venturing into dangerous territory with the presentation of this message. I recognise that the message proposes exploration of territory that few modern Christians will ever see. I am entering territory that was once occupied by all followers of the Risen Lord; but this territory has been ceded to the rationalists, the modernist, the unbelieving world. Christians have fled en masse from defending the concept that husbands and wives are to cooperate with the Creator in producing large families.
Christians have largely rejected the Creator’s command issued to the first couple, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Indoctrinated by contemporary evolutionary doctrine, modern mankind has concluded that our world has pretty well fulfilled this command. And we Christians are far more influenced by the world than we imagine. But have we fulfilled God’s command? We who profess the Word of God to be authoritative need to ask whether we are serious about obeying the Word God has given.
If I were to ask you who listen whether we should take seriously the second part of the verse under consideration in the message, that is, the command to subdue the earth while exercising dominion over the animals God placed on the earth, I suspect we would be nearly unanimous in our agreement that we should exercise oversight. We are not like the self-destructive souls who want to halt all energy production and stop all mining, without sacrificing a single convenience that has enriched modern life.
However, if I were to ask you whether the first part of God’s command was to be taken seriously, the command to be fruitful and multiply, I suspect that most would indicate that the command is at best optional. The question is whether Christians have a basic duty to try to have children. Do you find it strange that we believe we are responsible to obey God when it comes to this business of having dominion, but that procreation is a matter of moral indifference, something like choosing romaine over iceberg lettuce when shopping for groceries?
Do you suppose we who claim to follow the Risen Lord of Glory have distorted the Word of God in this business of marriage and bringing children into the world? Why does Scripture consistently celebrate children, while we in the modern world treat childbirth as though it was no big deal? There are undoubtedly multiple reasons for this situation—an over-emphasis on career, materialism, the cost children impose on a couple all play a part in our decision. However, I can’t shake the thought that biblical illiteracy plays a major part in the situation presenting itself in contemporary western family life. Well, that and the fact that children might cramp our style. And the primary reason children might cramp our style is that our style is sub-Christian.
At the root of our disobedience is an unconfessed love of self. We love being liked by those of this dying world more than we seek to honour Him Whom we call Lord. We want to be in control of our own destiny rather than depending upon being guided by the unseen hand of the Risen Saviour. It is difficult to admit, but we aren’t certain that we want One to be Master of our life if it means giving up control over our personal decisions, especially decisions that have an impact on our immediate pleasure. And yet, we are unable to escape the disturbing question that challenges each one who professes Christ to be their Lord, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you” [LUKE 6:46]?
BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY — “God said to [the first couple], ‘Be fruitful and multiply.’” The earth was new, and though populated with the beasts that God had created, humans still had not populated the earth. The Lord God was careful to instruct Adam and Eve in the responsibility that rested on them to populate the earth.
I am aware that some would point out the obvious that when the world was new, people would face a different world than that which we face in this day. I’m what one theologian once identified as a “naïve literalist.” While engaged in conversation with the academic dean of a school that was attempting to recruit me to serve as a professor, that academic dean began to ridicule what he identified as “naïve literalists,” benighted souls who though trained in the sciences believed the Genesis account should be understood literally. Upon hearing his slighting remark, I responded, “I’m a naïve literalist." The poor gentleman nearly choked as he attempted to retreat from the ridicule he had just unleashed against what he felt were inferior beings bereft of his insight.
I had earned my doctorate in biochemistry, authoring multiple refereed scientific studies and reviews, and completed post-doctoral studies in several medically related fields prior to entering ministerial service. I had accomplished these feats despite facing some rather daunting opposition during my years of study. I challenged the academic dean who was making the disparaging remarks to consider whether he accepted the Bible to be inerrant and infallible, or whether that Word required scholars to verify or to clarify what God had caused to be written. The poor man became flustered and was never able to clarify what he believed concerning the Word of God, but his doubts were on full display when he ridiculed those simple souls who believed God was quite able to say what He meant and that He had done so in giving mankind the written Word of God.
When God commanded Adam and Eve to “be fruitful,” I can’t imagine that anyone over the age of fourteen misunderstands what was intended when God chose to use that phrase. If there was a problem comprehending what was meant, when God added the phrase, “and multiply,” it surely clarified His meaning. God meant that mankind was to reproduce, men and women were to commit to propagating the species in order to fill the earth. God gave a command that has never been rescinded.
There are several matters arising from this command that require scrutiny. The first issue I must address is to clarify the purpose of marriage. I see several purposes for marriage: partnership; procreation; progress; and protection. Let me explain briefly what I mean by these terms. When I speak of partnership, I am referring to companionship. When God created the woman, He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper corresponding to him” [GENESIS 2:18 CSB]. Woman and man together constitute a whole, both complementing the other.
I doubt that anyone listening has a problem understanding that when I speak of procreation, I intend to point to propagating the human race through producing children from the marriage. Christian marriage anticipates children will come from the sacred union of husband and wife. That is the clear intent of the Creator when He commanded our first parents, “Be fruitful and multiply.”
I spoke of progress as a purpose for marriage. By that term, I intend to point to the mutual growth that is expected through man and woman sharing life together. Both are expected to grow in their capacity to love and respect one another, providing a vivid teaching environment for training the children of that union to take their place within society and to encourage others in righteousness as they witness the growth in the couple as they progress through the years of life together.
That this is a major purpose of marriage becomes apparent when we see the Apostle instruct Christians, “If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife” [1 CORINTHIANS 7:12-16]?
Elsewhere, Paul has instructed Christians, “Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret” [EPHESIANS 5:1-12].
Whilst I do not want to belabour the point, it seems important to note Jesus’ take on the marriage relationship. Jesus is recorded as teaching, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’” [MATTHEW 19:4-5]? It is essential to note that the Master did not say, “the two shall be one flesh;” He said, “the two shall become one flesh.” By using the future tense indicative of the verb, Jesus is saying that “becoming” is a process. The mere union of man and woman does not make them one; they will have to work at becoming. Either member of the union will discover that marriage demands that they work at becoming one. And though the process is demanding, I am on solid ground when I say that those who stay at the work will testify that the work yields great reward.
As you might surmise, that final purpose of marriage, protection, speaks of chastity, of purity in the relationship. We are taught in the Letter to Hebrew Christians, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” [HEBREWS 13:4].
It is not stressed enough in this day among the redeemed that sexual purity is demanded by our God. We need to hear the stern warning delivered to the saints in Corinth: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” [1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-10].
No doubt the Apostle could have reached into the past of some of those who heard those words as they were read during the Corinthian assembly for the first time. And hearing those words, they may have felt disquieted at the potential of exposure. However, the Apostle wasn’t finished, for he continued, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” [1 CORINTHIANS 6:11].
The Word is teaching us of the purpose of marriage when the Apostle pens the instruction, “‘It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.’ But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” [1 CORINTHIANS 7:1-5].
We’ve done a respectable job of teaching people that a major purpose of marriage is pleasure, co-opting and transforming the purposes of partnership, propagation, progress, and protection under the novel rubric of pleasure. Consequently, we hear little of the need for companionship, or for the need to build one another, or for the need to commit to one another in a monogamous relationship in which neither member gives any cause for concern that they might rupture the union of husband and wife. And assuredly, little is heard from the pulpit of the responsibility to “be fruitful and multiply.”
Scripture anticipates children will come from the marriage union. I understand that some people choose with very good reason to remain single. Such people are to be encouraged and welcomed. Others are single through no deliberate choice of their own. Again, we must receive such people and encourage them in their path. But most who marry would normally be expected to see children coming from the marriage union. I believe it fair to say that most women recognise the unique biological position of giving life has been entrusted to them, and they want to be a mother at some point. Likewise, most men intuitively realise they have responsibility to father children.
When Rachel was unable to conceive while her sister conceived multiple times, she complained to Jacob because she could not be a mother. Becoming a mother was exceptionally important to women in that early day, just as it is in this day. When Rachel complained, it is instructive to see Jacob’s response to her frustration. Jacob fairly exploded, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb” [GENESIS 30:2]?
I know I’m rushing through the Word, but you will recall that among the Psalms is a beautiful exaltation of the gift of life entrusted to families. The Psalmist writes,
“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”
[PSALM 127:3-5]
Isaiah saw the end of the Babylonian Empire. Writing of the overthrow of that kingdom by the Medes, the Court Prophet wrote,
“Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them,
who have no regard for silver
and do not delight in gold.
Their bows will slaughter the young men;
they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
their eyes will not pity children.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God overthrew them.”
[ISAIAH 13:17-19]
There is a delightful statement concerning the Lord God and His work that is recorded in the Psalms. Listen to this description of Who God is and what He does.
“The LORD is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
Who is like the LORD our God,
who is seated on high,
who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the LORD!”
[PSALMS 113:4-9]
We witness the Lord telling why family is so important when He, through His servant Malachi, says, “This second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, ‘Why does he not?’ Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. ‘For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless’” [MALACHI 2:13-16].
Here is a truth that needs to be stated for all who hear: God seeks godly offspring. God seeks godly parents who will raise children in the Faith, instructing them and nurturing the children whom God has given so that they in turn will walk in the way of the Lord, honouring Him and glorifying His Name.
We don’t invest near enough energy encouraging dads in the critical role they play in the life of the children God gives. The Apostle to the Gentiles understood the vital role dads play and he spoke to that role when he wrote, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land’” [EPHESIANS 6:1-3]. Then, focusing with a laser focus on fathers, Paul wrote, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” [EPHESIANS 6:4].
Dads are responsible to ensure that children are not only told about the Lord, but also that children have an example of a godly man to emulate. Boys need a model for their own lives. They need to see that a man uses his strength for his family and to protect the vulnerable. Girls need to witness a man who has his strength under control, using his manliness to protect his family while he provides for their needs.
As a significant aside and in defiance of the distortion presented by the ignorant feminisers of this present world, fathers are to be just a bit intimidating because they are strong and because they demonstrate that they are willing to use their strength and the ferocity of violence when necessary for the benefit of their family or for the vulnerable. While those who wish to feminise the world might decry toxic masculinity, those in need welcome precisely such potential violence and roughness when it is called for.
Men, the command for you is to “be fruitful and multiply,” but to do this as a man committed to his own family and committed to walking in the way of the Lord. Be strong, but remember to be gentle with the weak. Ladies, it is honourable to aspire to be the joyful mother of children. It is fulfilling your destiny to “be fruitful and multiply.” It is time for Christians to remember the Lord whom we serve and to obey His command.
FILL THE EARTH — “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” If the first part of this command disturbs those who question whether we have grown beyond obedience to the One Who gives us life, the second part of His command must leave many utterly aghast! “Fill the earth!” Why, newspapers and news shows are united in declaring a population emergency. The earth is already overpopulated and filling rapidly. Surely, no one wants to see our world continue to fill at such an extreme rate!
Multiple nations are experiencing serious population declines. The European nations are almost without exception experiencing severe population declines necessitating extensive immigration from Middle Eastern populations, which in turn are causing new and even more serious problems. Failure to maintain steady population growth meant the loss of ability to fund social programs. The new non-European immigrants introduced serious social conflicts. The “groomers” crisis in Great
Britain and the creation of “no go” zones in virtually every European nation are some of the new, unprecedented challenges brought on by immigration from nations that do not share the heritage of Europeans.
What has happened in Europe is happening in Canada and in the United States as people clamour to come to North America without demonstrating a willingness to embrace North American culture or ideals. Many times, these newcomers are seeking the benefits of the nation to which they wish to immigrate without integrating into the culture to which they are coming. While the nations are striving to become multicultural, they are sacrificing their own cultural identity. Those we are inviting into the country have no intention of becoming Canadian, or American, or British, or whatever; they want to transform the country to which they are coming into a mirror of the country from which they came. What the politicians have done is to exchange one problem for an even greater problem. Ignoring the divine command has ensured grief for the nations.
Nor should anyone imagine that the problem of declining birthrates is a problem confined to western nations. Beginning in 1979, the People’s Republic of China determined that decisions of how many children a couple should have is too vital to entrust to the people; the state would make that decision for couples. Thus, for about twenty-five years, couples could have only one child. The decision by state planners created other unintended problems for the state. Families wanted sons rather than daughters, and so today there are tens of millions of “surplus males,” creating new and severe cultural problems for the Chinese government. Suddenly, China is facing a population crisis just as is Europe and North America.
Couples adapted to their enforced childlessness and no longer want to surrender their freedom from parenthood by bringing children into the world. And Chinese social planners now recognise that at the present rate of reproduction, China will lose half its population by 2100. In ten years, one-third Chinese citizens will be over sixty. Government planners have not done any better than have Russian or European social planners as they focus on population trends rather than seeing individuals or families.
Responding to the looming crisis, the Chinese government decided to permit families to have two children beginning in 2016. In 2021, the number of children permitted was raised to three children. The permissions haven’t worked, and so the government has now decided to incentivise childbearing by increasing subsidies and tax breaks for families with small children, extending maternity leave to six months, and doubling tax breaks for childcare. [2] It is another example of the consequence of ignoring the injunction of the Creator to attempt to impose mandates drafted by bureaucrats who are ignorant of the damage they perpetuate as they distort personal spheres of life. There are inevitable and severe consequences when we ignore God’s righteous commands.
Another reason for declining birthrates is the rise of narcissism within the generations. Children are demanding. And increasingly, couples are unwilling to give up their travel and their leisure to change diapers at three o’clock in the morning. Young couples resent the idea of waiting five hours in the emergency room just to deal with the pea that Susie shoved up her nose. The challenge of balancing family and career seems insurmountable to young couples. Without question, career advancement will go much faster without the anchor of children, but at what cost will this occur? Young families are very much aware of these facts, and they often voice their resentment at the thought of sacrificing personal time for leisure or for personal advancement. Let’s recognise this trend for what it is—narcissism. And this is the age of narcissism.
However, the evidence indicates that the biggest driver for fewer children is the ongoing effort meant to weaken religious life. For anyone who holds the written Word of God as authoritative, having children and raising them in a family environment is a commandment from the Creator Himself! More than that, in religious families, children are at the heart of family life. As people become less religious, as worship of the True and Living God becomes increasingly optional, couples see the need to have children as less important. Thus, young couples see having a dog or a cat as a way to save money while opening many opportunities for travel or other activities. [3]
Maybe it is time to give serious thought to the population of our world and what would happen if the population did continue to grow unchecked. There are multiple reasons to account for the decline in birthrates observed today. There is the indoctrination from leftwing educators who constantly drive home the myth of overpopulation. We seldom pause to consider that the entire population of our world could be housed in an area the size of the Island of Cyprus. If you are uncertain about the space requirements, consider that all eight billion people could fit into New York City. I agree that the requirements would not be especially comfortable, but the population of our world would require only 625 square miles, or about 0.0011 percent of the landmass. [4]
Whether or not this message is seen as treading on dangerous ground, the Creator’s command was given to our first parents. And the command, for that is what it is, has never been rescinded. If we accept the Word of God as definitive for our faith and practise, we are responsible to obey Him in each command. Accordingly, it is essential that I address this command, providing exposition for the benefit of all who name the Name of Christ the Lord. God has commanded, “Be fruitful and multiply.”
SUBDUE THE EARTH — There is a part of God’s command to our first parents that we generally embrace as acceptable, even incumbent, upon us as followers of Christ to this day. We who follow the Risen Saviour understand that the earth and all that is in it was given to us for our benefit. Moreover, we understand that we can subdue the earth without despoiling it. We do confront problems, but human ingenuity has consistently confronted each challenge and found solutions to the problems presented.
In the decade of the nineteen seventies we were treated to excited warnings that we would shortly enter an ice age—polar bears would wander down the streets of London, streets that would be buried under a sheet of ice. When that didn’t materialise, we began to hear cries of a new catastrophe—the world would be cooked by the phenomenon of “global warming.” Ultimately, the Kalamity Karens settled on “climate change.” Most sensible people have taken the claim in stride, noting that we’ve had climate change for as long as anyone can remember, except we speak of it as “seasons.”
Throughout my doctoral studies, I read multiple articles in such fabled scientific journals as the New York Times and the Washington Post, detailing how explosive population growth in combination with global cooling and/or global warming was setting the stage for worldwide famine. Some otherwise brilliant scientists were convinced that the situation described in Soylent Green was inevitable. They were wrong, however, as modern farming techniques have just kept on increasing the ability of farmers to feed the world. During one pastorate, I was privileged to include in my membership a brilliant doctor who had developed a disease-resistant rice that is widely used throughout Asia today. Rice harvests had increased dramatically, ensuring that the nations of Asia are enabled to feed their populations with that grain. Prior to his discovery, rice harvests were frequently threatened by the diseases that destroyed the plants.
Some years past we were hysterically informed that the world was shortly going to be starved for energy. Then, engineers developed fracking to permit access to major energy sources that were once inaccessible. Now, the use of these petroleum-based energy sources are the source of carbon dioxide that will cause untold catastrophe to our planet. Few pause to think that carbon dioxide is necessary for plants to thrive, and we are being told that the increase of carbon dioxide is going to destroy the forests of the world. Doesn’t it seem that there is an industry of imagining planetary catastrophe?
In our text, we witness God commanding the first couple, “subdue [the earth], 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.” A translation note in the NET Bible, 2nd Edition, observes that the Hebrew verb translated “subdue” means “to enslave,” “to conquer,” and even “to assault sexually.” However, since mankind is not seen as having an adversarial relationship to the earth, none of these nuances can adequately meet the demands of this context. Thus, the general meaning of the verb appears to be best understood as meaning “to bring under one’s control for one’s advantage.” In our text, one might paraphrase the command to mean, “harness the earth’s potential and use its resources for your benefit.” In an ancient Israelite context this would suggest cultivating its fields, mining its mineral riches, using its trees for construction, and domesticating its animals. [5]
We are responsible to utilise the earth and all that has been placed in it for our benefit. This means that drilling for fossil fuels is good and proper, though we are to extract these elements without destroying the environment. Mining the earth to reveal the metals, both the base metals and the noble metals, is permitted by what is written in the verse before us this day. This permission does not give us license to despoil the earth. We are again responsible before the Creator to extract the minerals without destroying the world for which He has given us oversight. The rare earth elements that are in recent decades are allowing unbelievable advances in production of modern conveniences and scientific equipment are provided for the benefit of mankind.
There is a fascinating statement found among the Psalms that states,
“The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains,
The world, and those who live in it.”
[PSALM 24:1 NASB 2020]
All that is found on planet earth belongs to God. What is evident is that the Lord GOD permits man to utilise whatever the earth provides for man’s benefit. To be sure, man has often distorted God’s kindness and generosity by desecrating the environment, denuding the forests and the prairies, so that the land is ruined for generations to come. It is also tragically true that every advance of mankind can be—and has been—perverted for evil rather than being used for what is noble and good. That evil exists does not negate the command of the Creator; it does mean that we who follow the Risen Saviour are responsible for holding mankind accountable for the truth of God’s Word.
And there is the stewardship entrusted to man for the animals God has created. You may recall that the Apostle cited this psalm in his First Corinthian Letter while he was demonstrating the freedom of the believer to eat whatever they are presented since God created all that is [SEE 1 CORINTHIANS 10:26]. So long as the one presenting a meal is not suggesting that the food has been dedicated to an idol, the one who follows the Christ is free to eat that food.
The Christian must not allow his freedom to destroy another. You will recall that Paul has written, “Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ” [1 CORINTHIANS 8:8-12].
It is important as we discuss our stewardship over the animals to caution against judging others. We are taught, “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand” [ROMANS 14:1-4]. So, the Creator’s command anticipates broad demands of the one who obeys Him, touching us even in the fellowship of believers.
The requirement by many to observe dietary strictures prohibiting them from eating certain foods as a religious tenet reveals a denial of the Creator’s command for mankind to “subdue [the earth], 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.” We must be careful not to make up rules that contradict what God has said. We are no longer under the Old Covenant, and thus we need not keep Kosher in our diet. We do not maintain a halal kitchen since this has no application in the Word of God.
The Apostle makes it clear that religious dietary restrictions deny the Creator’s command when he pens in one of his final missives, “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creation of God is good, and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer” [1 TIMOTHY 4:1-5 NET BIBLE 2nd].
There is, in the Letter James has penned, a revelation that has bearing on the message this day. The half-brother of our Lord has written, “Every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so” [JAMES 3:7-10].
It is a pointed reminder that just as we who follow the Risen Saviour are responsible to subdue the earth and all that is in it, so we are responsible to subdue our own hearts. That means we must take charge of how we use the voice that God has given us. We are to bless, and not curse. We are to glorify the Father, and not exalt ourselves. We are, in the words of Paul, to “Address[] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” [EPHESIANS 5:19-21].
This becomes possible as we receive the grace of God in Christ as Master over our lives. We set aside the supposed reign over our own life as we acknowledge Jesus is Lord of our life. God calls us, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Good News Publishers, 2001. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Richard Gunderman, “China’s Drunken Population Policies,” The Daily Economy, January 8, 2025, https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/chinas-drunken-population-policies/, accessed 8 January 2025
[3] See Alan Joseph Bauer, “The End of Civilization as We Know It,” Townhall, Aug 21, 2024, https://townhall.com/columnists/alanjosephbauer/2024/08/21/the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it-n2643635, accessed 21 August 2024
[4] Quora, https://www.quora.com/How-much-area-would-the-Earth-s-human-population-take-up-standing-room-only#:~:text=Assuming%20an%20average%20person%20when,0.0011%20percent%20of%20the%20landmass., accessed 7 October 2024; Mohammed Alayesh, “If the entire population of the Earth were to be gathered together at one time on inhabitable land, how much area would be covered?” https://www.quora.com/If-the-entire-population-of-the-Earth-were-to-be-gathered-together-at-one-time-on-inhabitable-land-how-much-area-would-be-covered?encoded_access_token=d75cf55b3e16448a929195c76fb3bc12&force_dialog=1&provider=google&success=True, accessed 7 October 2024; Google, https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=space+required+for+world+population&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8, accessed 7 October 2024;
[5] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible, Second Edition (Thomas Nelson, Denmark 2019)
