Fruitfulness and Filling the Earth – Part 1

Introduction

On the sixth day, God filled the final space that He had created, the land. He created all the land based animals according to their kind and then created man. The created lifeforms were blessed with fruitfulness, so that the earth would be filled with life. With the filling of this third space, God effectively completed creation in six days. Most important of the created lifeforms was man – both male and female. Mankind was not only blessed with fruitfulness but also given the mandate to subdue and take dominion, elevating man to a position of higher calling before God. While all lifeforms were similarly blessed with the command to be fruitful and fill the earth, later authors reveal a special meaning for man.

Be Fruitful and Multiply and Fill the Earth

The groundwork for the study of fruitfulness has largely already been laid (see Day 4 Part 2). It lays out the fundamental concepts that form the basis of fruitfulness including “seed” and is recommended in prep for this post.

The Hebrew words to be fruitful (פרה parah), multiply (רבה rabah) and fill (מלא male’) the earth became words later authors employed to model the final creation. As with prior posts, the process begins in Genesis 1 with a primary physical meaning moving to a deeper spiritual meaning in the final creation. In the first creation, the mandate of fruitfulness made life self-sustaining, giving lifeforms the capability to physically fill their respective domains working cooperatively with God. All lifeforms could be a bit like God in that they were given the capacity to create life through His blessing. The blessing was given to the birds of the air, the fish in the sea and to land animals, including mankind. With man however, God added “and subdue” (כבש kabash), giving man dominion over the earth that included all creatures. [1] The addition suggests God’s creative work was not completed with man’s creation. Rather, man was to work cooperatively with God to complete His creation by subduing the earth. The blessing pronounced upon man shall be considered first.

The Mandate to be Fruitful and Multiply

The mandate to “be fruitful” (parah meaning to bear) is focused upon physical reproduction, bearing physical children . The mandate to be fruitful is recurrent in early scriptures many of which use similar language of “increase” or “multiply”  (cf. Genesis 12:2; 17:2; 6, 8; 22:17-18; 26:3, 4, 24; 28:3-4; 35:11-12; 47:27; Exodus 1:7; Leviticus 26:9; Psalm 107:38; Isaiah 51:2; Jeremiah 3:16; 23:3; Ezekiel 36:10-11, 29-30). The mandate was given to Noah and his sons post flood (Genesis 8:17; 9:1, 7) and followed with covenants established with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 17:6; 17:20; 26:22; 28:3; 35:11; 48:4). It is also found in other passages associated with physical progeny (e.g. the birth of Joseph’s second son [Genesis 41:52], Jacob’s blessing on Joseph [Genesis 49:22]) and applied to the growth of the Israelites while in Egypt (Genesis 47:27; Exodus 1:7).

Later scriptures continue the theme (Exodus 23:30; Leviticus 26:9; Psalm 105:24; 128:3; Isaiah 11:1; 17:6; Jeremiah 3:16; 23:3; Ezekiel 36:11). Its recurrence in many of these passages suggests God is making a new creation. The blessing that followed the flood marked a new creation of the earth recapitulating the theme to be fruitful and fill the earth. Similarly, the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob suggest the creation of a new people, set apart for special purposes. Joseph’s sale into slavery and later imprisonment could easily be viewed as death. His miraculous delivery from prison and exaltation to Pharaoh’s lieutenant would then infer resurrection to new life. The birth of his sons would occasion a declaration of fruitfulness after his near death experience.

While this theme of physical reproduction and increasing physical seed continues into the prophetic books, a deepened motif emerges in prophetic books concerning Israel’s fruitfulness and judgments for failing to be fruitful (e.g. Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:8-16; Jeremiah 2:21, 11:16, 12:10-14; Hosea 9:10, 10:1).  But these scriptures emphasize Israel’s corporate responsibilities to be spiritually fruitful before God where fruitfulness is often equated with certain behaviors. An example where parah is used appears in Deuteronomy 29:

¹⁸ so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood. NASB (cf. Hosea 9:10)

Deuteronomy 29 equates fruitfulness or fruit-bearing with obedience to Yahweh and His covenant. This meaning of parah is further developed in Isaiah 45:8 where fruitfulness is associated with righteousness (cf. Ezekiel 36:24-32, 37:23-26 where “multiplying” [rabah] is also an outward sign of inward holiness). Hosea 10:1 complains that the vine of Israel brings forth fruit for itself, rather than for God while Amos 4:9 declares judgment on Israel’s harvest for turning away from Him, prevalent in the writings of the prophets, contrasting the way of God and way of evil. The prophets frequently complained of Israel’s unrighteousness, predicting God’s judgment using the imagery of fruit-bearing:

¹⁶ The Lord called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form. But with the roar of a mighty storm he will set it on fire, and its branches will be broken. Jeremiah 11

A complementary prophesy is made by Isaiah. Failing to bring forth the fruit of righteousness, God’s hedge of protection was prophesied to be broken down:

 ³ “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. ⁴ What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? ⁵ Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. ⁶ I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.” Isaiah 5 [2]

Isaiah envisages Israel as God’s planted vine, tended with great care, but never bringing forth the fruit of righteousness. Her failure to bring forth spiritual fruit brings judgment  for failing God’s Genesis-mandate to be fruitful and fill the earth, pointing toward a deeper spiritual meaning and mandate for God’s people. Later prophetic texts make this linkage manifest, leaving Israel without excuse for her failure to fulfill her spiritual mandate of bringing forth the righteousness through compliance to God’s covenant. Though Israel failed corporately, Isaiah 27 prophesied that Israel would take root and bear fruit in “that day”, a pointer to the Day of the Lord:

² In that day—“Sing about a fruitful vineyard: ³ I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. ⁴ I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire. ⁵ Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me.” ⁶ In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.

Isaiah’s prediction demonstrates God’s purpose for Israel was the same as Adam, to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth but with righteous descendants (seed). Where Adam’s fruitfulness seemed to apply to physical progeny, Israel’s fruitfulness points spiritual progeny. It suggests Adam’s physical fruitfulness was a model pointing toward the higher truth that God expected spiritual fruitfulness to be in evidence in His people through imaging God’s behavior. The relationship also appears bi-directional with spiritual fruitfulness also bringing physical fruitfulness (cf. Leviticus 26:3 where obedience led to fruitful harvests in the land). This deepened reinterpretation began early in Israel’s development – introduced by Moses in Deuteronomy 29. If one accepts that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, it strengthens the contention that the creation account was designed as a model pointing to greater spiritual truths revealed in Israel’s later history, consistent with analysis of earlier creation-themes.

When one turns to the New Testament, fruitfulness continues to show deepened meaning in the new creation in Christ. The Baptist demanded the fruit of repentance of God’s religious leaders (Matthew 3):

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

For John, true fruitfulness requires repentance. Righteous living was wholly absent in the religious leaders. The threat of imminent judgment is expected given similar warnings by the prophets. That the ax is “already at the root of the trees” gives certainty the trees will be felled and burned in imminent judgment upon those who refused to repent. Jesus subsequently offered a warning against false prophets describing their fruit:

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7 (cf. Luke 6:43-45) [7]

Jesus’ words are striking. It is not by their words that one knows if they are false prophets, but by their fruit. Does their life bring forth the fruit of righteousness? The indictment is important as Jesus next segues to warnings concerning true and false disciples in which false disciples erroneously claim to “prophesy” in His name but whose testimony is rejected by Jesus. True disciples (and false disciples) will also be known by their fruit. As Jesus’ ministry came to a close, He judged His people against this mandate drawing again from Isaiah 5, charging them with failing to bring forth the fruit of righteousness and predicting their plot to kill him:

³³ “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. ³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. ³⁸ “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” ⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Matthew 21

His warnings must have been unthinkable to the Jews. To whom could it be given if not the physical seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Jesus’ warning confirmed God’s people were not identified by physical birth but by spiritual birth (Romans 9:6-8). [13] “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel”. The implication is that those who are born of spiritual seed will produce good fruit.

But being born of the Spirit meant being in Christ. Though Israel had often been pictured as God’s vine to bring forth fruit, Jesus provided a shocking presentation of Himself as the vine and Israel as merely branches, adding that fruit-bearing could only occur in Him and through acceptance of Him as God’s Anointed. His words are prophetic and align with Isaiah 5, predicting destruction of those in Israel who rejected God’s chosen Messiah:

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15

The crux of the passage is vs 8, a recapitulation of the Genesis mandate. God’s purpose was for His glory to be revealed through the fruit borne by His people. True fruit was to be brought forth by Jesus’ disciples. [9] The failure to bear fruit was a failure to glorify God and would result in a rejection of those who failed to bear spiritual fruit. The casting off of unfruitful branches was symbolically accomplished by Jesus in Matthew 21:

¹⁸ Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

The symbolism is found in Hosea 9 where Israel is described as a fig tree:

¹⁰ “When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.

Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree showed the necessity of repentance in fruit-bearing – repentance equated with acceptance of Jesus as Messiah. His teaching indicted the Jewish leadership for their failure to acknowledge Him as Messiah, repent and show forth the fruits of righteousness:

⁶ Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷ So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ Luke 13

The indictment is remarkable, revealing a limit to God’s patience and grace toward His people. In Romans 11, the apostle Paul used the same figure of a fig tree, expanding upon Jesus’ prophetic warning. His expansion provides insight into the relationship between Gentiles and Jews:

¹⁷ If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, ¹⁸ do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

In Paul’s example, we again see the true position of Christ, envisioned as the root, with believers as branches (cf. John 15:1-8). God as husbandman, can cut off His people from the place of blessing because of unbelief. The Jewish people, so intimately familiar with their scriptures, failed to properly understand them, falling victim to their own traditions. The implication is clear: God’s church can be rejected and cut off just as the Israelites. Failing to glorify God through faith and obedience to His Son can result in the church’s rejection. It shows fruit-bearing to be of critical import but bearing fruit in Christ, fruit having eternal value as intimated in John 15:

¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.  (cf. Romans 6:22, 7:4; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 5:8)

Christ’s focus was upon fruit that has eternal value. In the new creation inaugurated in Christ, Jesus appointed His disciples to bear “fruit that will last”, spiritual fruit that follows sowing of spiritual seed – the life proclaiming God and His kingdom. Our calling as a church is to preach the Gospel of Christ as it alone brings eternal life. [10] As Christ warned of bad fruit of false prophets, Paul contrasts good and bad spiritual fruit in Galatians 5 warning those who produce bad fruit will be excluded from the Kingdom, urging believers to bear the fruit of the Spirit:

¹⁹ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The pinnacle of Christ’s teaching on fruit-bearing is eschatological, found in John 4 where Jesus urges His disciples to participate in the imminent harvest and reap the crop of eternal life:

³⁴ “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶ Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷ Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. ³⁸ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”  John 4[11]

Jesus’ commission was to complete the work of His father, the work of restoration of creation. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection initiated an eschatological harvest of fruit as part of the new creation. It is God’s purpose to harvest a crop of souls for eternal life. The righteous in Christ are to work in cooperation with Jesus in winning souls to Christ, pictured as a harvest. The harvest results from Jesus’ death and resurrection, in which He described Himself as a single seed that produces much fruit/many seeds (John 12:23-25). Irony is present where the eternal life results from death. The words that follow point toward the truth that those who lose their life because of their belief in Christ will enlarge the eschatological harvest secured in Christ. Critically, without Christ’s death there would be no harvest. Righteousness is achieved only in Christ. John also reveals another harvest also at the eschaton which specifies the fate of the unrighteous in Revelation 14:

¹⁴ I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man” with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. ¹⁷ Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ²⁰ They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia. (cf. Revelation 18:14)

Note the terrible judgment that awaits those who reject Christ’s sacrificial gift, likened to a winepress in which great amount of blood signifies the enormity of souls lost. The judgment sharply contrasts with the reward to the righteous detailed in Revelation 22:

¹ Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.

That the fruit is seen on the trees of life eternal life restored as the trees are watered with the water of life from the throne of God (see Ezekiel 47, the basis of John’s reinterpretation). This final state is highly emblematic. The righteous not only dwell in a heavenly city, but are the residents of paradise regained, dwelling in a city and garden-paradise much like Eden, where all the necessary food is provided and where healing is also found. The fruit of the righteous brings eternal life with Christ in a paradisal new heaven and new earth. The fruit of the unrighteous brings eternal judgment at the end of the age. This is the tragic ending to those who fail to honor the mandate to be spiritually fruitful in Christ, contrasting sharply the two paths man can pursue.

The Mandate to Fill the Earth

The mandate to fill the earth in Genesis 1:28 also seems focused upon filling the earth with physical progeny. The failure to fill the earth with physical progeny was at the heart of Babel’s sin (that mankind did not spread out and fill the earth – see Genesis 11:4). Like fruitfulness, filling the earth contrasts two polarized paths: one in keeping with Godliness and one opposed to God’s law. At its heart is God’s desire to fill the earth with His glory:

but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. Numbers 14:21 NASB (cf. Psalm 72:9; Habakkuk 2:14; 3:3)

That God’s desire was for the earth to be filled by His glory suggests a deeper spiritual purpose in filling the earth. It would be realized as man filled the earth while behaving in a godly fashion, thus bringing glory to God. Man was to work cooperatively with God to fill the earth with God’s glory. As God’s image-bearer, man increases the visible glory of God on earth as he fills the earth with image-bearers of God. This objective is evident in Psalm 8, often associated with creation:

The psalmist, commenting on the purpose of Adam and humanity in Psalm 8, also indicates that the ultimate goal of humanity was to fill the whole earth with God’s glory. The psalm begins in vs 1 and concludes in vs 9 with the same stated goal: “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth.” This “majesty” is God’s glorious “splendor” (cf. vs 1). The goal of divine splendour is to be achieved “in all the earth” by humanity whom God “has crowned with glory and majesty” by making him in his image (vs 5). In particular, Psalm 8 says God’s glory is to be spread throughout the earth by humanity “ruling” over all “the works of Thy [God’s] hands” (vss. 6-8). Included in this rule was making “the enemy and revengeful cease” (vs 2), which the Aramaic translation of the psalm identifies with the “author of enmity”, the devil. [3]

However, filling the earth with men was not commensurate with filling the earth with God’s glory. There were critical responsibilities including ruling on earth as God rules in heaven. Men on earth must conduct themselves as God in heaven, imparting righteousness, peace, mercy and love. Man’s behavior following the Fall palpably demonstrated his inability to fill the earth with God’s glory. Rather, the earth became filled with violence, a theme developed in the story of Noah (Genesis 6:11; cf. 1 Enoch 7:4-5; 9:1-9) that continues throughout Scripture. [4] A strict prohibition on violence (bloodshed) was established post-flood (Genesis 9:4-6); a prohibition that required talion for blood violence. Against this covenantal backdrop the prophets brought charges against the perpetrators of violence and bloodshed.

With such stiff penalties and prohibitions upon violence and bloodshed, one would expect peacekeeping would be revered among God’s people yet the prophets consistently brought charges of violence and bloodshed against Israel. A complaint was lodged against Manasseh that Jerusalem was filled with violence (2 Kings 21:16; 24:4), a far cry from filling the earth with God’s glory. Isaiah complained that Judah and Jerusalem had hands full of blood (Isaiah 1:15), anti-creative behavior that ends life rather than bringing life. Jeremiah and Ezekiel similarly charged that the land was full of bloody crimes and violence (Jeremiah 19:4; Ezekiel 7:23; 8:17; 9:9).

The prohibition against bloodshed and its direct accountability may be at the root of many of the judgments God brought against Israel and other nations. Tyre was said to be filled with violence (Ezekiel 28:16) and thus destruction was prophesied (Ezekiel 28:18). The sword of the Lord was described as filled with blood against Edom and the nations (Isaiah 34:6; cf. Ezekiel 35:8), an ironic talionic judgment for filling the earth with blood violence. To punish Egypt, Yahweh ironically used Nebuchadnezzar to “fill the land with the slain” (Ezekiel 30:11; 32:6). Of Jerusalem, Yahweh’s command was to “fill the courts with the slain” (Ezekiel 9:7) in judgment for Israel’s idolatry. Of the leaders of Jerusalem it was said “you have killed many people and filled the streets with the dead” (Ezekiel 11:6) and judgment by the sword was prophesied to follow in talion (Ezekiel 11:7-12). Micah complained the rich were full of violence (Micah 6:12) and Zephaniah warned of God’s punishment on those who “fill the temple of their gods with violence” (Zephaniah 1:9). The words of the prophets reveal that neither Israel or the nations were fulfilling the mandate to fill the earth with God’s glory. To the contrary, in acts of great antithetical behavior, both Israel and the nations were filling the earth with idolatry, injustice, violence and bloodshed. Where Yahweh created and brought life, His called glory-bearers brought death. Instead of filling the earth with life, they were emptying it in death.

Despite these failures, Yahweh revealed His glory in the earth, though in limited “space” – specifically His dwelling space. In the preparation of this space, Yahweh filled chosen craftsmen to prepare the tabernacle, the furniture and the garments of approach (Exodus 28:3; 31:3; 35:31, 35) allowing these men to show forth God’s glory in their craft. A similar pattern is seen in the construction of the temple (1 Kings 7:14; 2 Chronicles 5:13-14; 2 Chronicles 7:1-2), prerequisite to Yahweh’s filling the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35) with His glory and later the temple (1 Kings 8:11). In this limited way, God’s glory could be revealed on earth if only to His people. The visible revelation of God’s glory as a cloud was to serve as powerful proof of the special calling of His people as a kingdom of priests  showing forth the glory of God as mediators between He and the nations.

Following Babel’s sin, Yahweh’s plan moved to Israel to show forth God’s glory through covenantal obedience and mediation to the nations. Yet Israel failed much as Adam failed. Just as Adam was driven from the garden, Israel was driven from her land with God abandoning His temple (Ezekiel 10:3-4). [5] Abandonment was a ceremonial unfilling, portending the coming chaos and destruction to fall upon Israel at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. After seeing the unfilling of the temple, Ezekiel yet prophesied a future return of God’s glory, filling a new house (Ezekiel 43:5; 44:4). Haggai also saw this new house filled with glory:

⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ⁷ I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁸ ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts. ⁹ ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2 NASB

Though the glory of the second temple about which Haggai prophesied would not eclipse Solomon’s temple, he nevertheless prophesied a latter glory associated with the temple, a glory demonstrated through peace. The glory of the Lord, which had prior abandoned the temple would one day return and fill His temple again. Thus, what began as a mandate to fill the earth with physical descendants in the Genesis creation-narrative, later became understood to mean filling the earth with God’s glory through an earth filled with men of righteousness. With man’s refusal to fill the earth at Babel, God’s glory would be seen in a smaller venue, His earthly temple. Though neither the first or second temple truly showed forth God’s glory to the world, the prophets foresaw a day when God’s final temple would gloriously show forth His glory to all the nations. Isaiah alluded to this day when he prophesied concerning Zion:

⁵ The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. Isaiah 33

⁵ Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy. Isaiah 4

Zion was often a reference to the temple mount and Jerusalem. [6] Isaiah prophesied a latter glory seen in Zion’s temple as a city, a community comprising God and His people. Isaiah sees a day when the temple will be filled again with God’s glory, but also overflowing to those in the community of Israel. Their righteousness results from this filling, thus showing forth the glory of God on earth. How will this happen? How will mankind fill the world with God’s glory? How will mankind bear fruit? Isaiah envisioned the realization of fruitfulness in the root and stump of Jesse:

¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—³ and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. ⁵ Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. ⁷ The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11

It is the Messiah who brings wisdom, understanding, counsel and knowledge. It is the Messiah who will judge with righteousness. He will bring peace to the earth and safety to all who dwell “on all my holy mountain”, a cipher for Mount Zion/Jerusalem. As Isaiah’s vision opens with the stump of Jesse bearing a fruitful branch, it closes with the earth “filled with the knowledge of the Lord”. Mankind’s potential is realized in the Messiah. It is in the Messiah that mankind is able to fill the earth with the glory of God.

The New Testament is marked by the coming of the promised Messiah. His coming brings a deepened meaning to filling the earth. Those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness would be filled (Matthew 5:6), signaling the promised fulfillment of righteousness that would bring glory to God. Christ’s coming would be marked by a witness who would be filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:15) while Elizabeth would be filled with the Spirit at hearing the greeting of the woman who would bear the Christ (Luke 1:41). Even the family of the Baptist were filled with awe at the move of God in Zechariah (Luke 1:65) while Zechariah was filled with the Spirit and prophesied (vs 67). As a child, Christ was filled with wisdom (Luke 2:40) and many were filled with awe after interactions with Christ or His disciples (Matthew 9:8; Luke 1:65; 5:26; 7:16; Acts 2:43; 3:10). Jesus presented His father as being filled with compassion (Luke 15:20). His disciples were filled with grief at learning that Jesus would be put to death (Matthew 17:23; John 16:6) while filled with joy at His resurrection (Matthew 28:8). All these “preliminary” fillings seem to signal that the earth would be filled with God’s glory through the coming Christ.

Jesus’ followers were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4; 4:8; 9:17; 13:9, 52; Ephesians 5:18), and then filled the streets with teachings about Christ (Acts 5:28). Those who came to believe in Jesus were often filled with joy (Acts 16:34; Romans 15:13; 2 Timothy 1:4; 1 Peter 1:8) while followers of Jesus were filled with knowledge and competent to instruct (Romans 15:14; Colossians 1:9). [12] The infilling of elievers with the Spirit of God gives them wisdom, knowledge and boldness to competently teach and testify of Christ, thus bringing glory to God to the world through their witness.

More than that, believers are filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19) and “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11), allowing them to show forth the glory of God in the world, a critical step in filling the earth with His glory. Perhaps most momentous is Ephesians 4:10, which states that Christ descended and ascended “higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe”. The first Adam was to fill the earth with descendants who would live righteously by imaging God. Christ the firstfruits and last Adam, has filled the universe with the glory of God through His obedience. The last Adam has done what the first Adam could not, filling all creation with God’s glory.

In contrast, unbelievers were often filled with Satan (Acts 5:3), debasing into idolatry and filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity (Romans 1:29). Christ’s opponents were filled with jealousy (Acts 5:17; 13:45), deserving judgment. Their judgment was envisioned by John as an offering (Revelation 8:5) and also as seven bowls poured out by seven angels filled with the wrath of God (15:7). The judgments included Babylon whom God remembered and gave a cup filled with the fury of his wrath (16:19), a fitting judgment given John’s picture of her as a woman holding a golden cup filled with abominable things and filth of her adulteries (17:4). These judgments also resulted from the opposition of Satan who was filled with fury (12:12) and deceiving many, his earthly surrogate apparently surviving a fatal wound that caused many to be filled with awe (13:3). Satan’s persecutions, wrought through the Antichrist and the harlot Babylon effectively filled the world with the blood of the saints (12:17; 13:7, 10, 17; 14:13; 17:6).

The contrast is remarkable. One is filled with love, the other with hate. One with life, the other death. One with righteousness and reflects the glory of Christ while the other is filled with unrighteousness and reflects the filth and uncleanness of the devil. What is most striking is the conflicting mission of each. While the followers of Christ are spreading the Gospel, in effect filling the earth with those who show forth the glory of God and His Christ, the other seeks to fill the earth with assassins, bent upon the destruction of the followers of Christ, filling the earth with the blood of the saints. One seeks to fill the world with spiritual light while the other seeks to snuff out that light and fill the earth with total darkness. It sets up an epic showdown in which Christ must intervene, vindicating His saints. Most significant, the centerpiece of that vindication may well be the resurrection of those who have died in Christ, most particularly those martyred by Satan’s enforcers throughout the earth.

Relevance to Christians Today

The length of this post and number of scriptures quoted reflects the relative importance of this particular creation-theme. Fruitfulness is at the heart of God’s purposes for His creation and especially for man. First, consistent with earlier presented creation-themes, the mandate to be fruitful and fill the earth reveals a deeper spiritual meaning than merely physical reproduction to fill the earth. Both Moses and the prophets point to filling the earth with righteous sons and daughters that would image God in their behavior. The disciples reveal fulfillment of this deepened meaning, showing that righteous living and imaging God is only possible in Christ (see Figure 1). It is the seeds (spiritual descendants) of Christ who are the righteous. The deepened meaning does not appear to disqualify the original mandate to fill the earth with physical progeny. Rather, the one may be a sign and symbol of the other. As man strove to bring glory to God and fill the earth with spiritual sons and daughters, the reward was a faithful God who would bless man with physical progeny that would multiply and fill the earth. Concurrently, God would bring physical fruitfulness to the earth to assure sustenance, allowing the earth to be filled with God’s glory-bearers.

The failure to honor the spiritual aspect of the mandate would bring the chaos of desolation and death in judgment. The land would not bring forth its bounty and physical progeny would experience both physical and spiritual death, an unfilling of creation. It is this principle that explains why Israel, whose seed was to be numberless, would see only a remnant survive. Just as Adam failed God’s mandate in the garden, there is a recapitulation of the same failure in Israel corporately in the Palestinian “garden” God had prepared and placed them in. Man ultimately failed individually and corporately.

These failures set the stage for God’s final “man” Jesus Christ, the new, spiritual man from heaven and His seed, the church. Though Christ ultimately gained victory where Adam failed, there are lessens His church should glean from Israel’s history (1 Corinthians 10:1-11). While the church can expect to succeed in filling the earth with God’s glory-bearers, we should not lose sight of God’s stern judgments that reduced Israel to a remnant. The church should anticipate the same stern judgments for sin. It suggests His faithful are only a remnant of those who claim allegiance to Him. Critically, it is only in the Messiah that mankind can truly fulfill God’s mandate to be spiritually fruitful and fill the earth with the glory of God by being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

It is in Christ that God’s separated and consecrated people fill all creation, glorifying God in our lives and in our deaths. The centerpiece is God’s temple, His dwelling place. Isaiah anticipated a conflation of the temple with Jerusalem and God’s people envisioned in Christ. Jesus is the new temple (Matthew 26:61; Mark 14:58; John 2:19) but we are also part of that temple, having been infilled with God’s Spirit. Just as the tabernacle and Solomonic temples showed forth the glory of God as a cloud and pillar of fire, we who are infilled show forth the glory of God (note the presence of “distributed” tongues of fire as evidence of the Spirit’s infilling). God’s glory will be seen throughout the earth through His people, a living temple-community (city) of God’s true glory-bearers in Christ. It is as we go throughout all the world that the earth is filled with God’s glory due to our testimony of Christ. Thus, Jesus’ great commission to go into all the world, preach the Gospel and make disciples is the deepened fulfillment of the Genesis 1 blessing to be fruitful and fill the earth.

In fact we can speak of Genesis 1:28 as the first “Great Commission” that was repeatedly applied to humanity. The commission was to bless the earth, and part of the essence of this blessing was God’s salvific presence. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were to produce progeny who would fill the earth with God’s glory being reflected from each of them in the image of God. After the fall, a remnant, created by God in his restored image, were to go out and spread God’s glorious presence among the rest of darkened humanity. This “witness” was to continue until the entire world would be filled with divine glory.[13]

Yet the mandate to fill the earth with the glory of God cannot be achieved apart from a willingness of Christians – both Jews and Gentiles, to go throughout the world and make disciples. It is a truth that should not be lost by the eschatological church. The mandate has not changed. We must be willing to leave our homes and communities and evangelize the world to speed Christ’s return (Matthew 24:14). Given that the first mandate to be fruitful and fill the earth was a blessing, Christians should reflect upon the great blessing to those who obediently throughout the world winning souls for Christ.

[1] Subdue, כבש kabash means to tread under foot (Gensenius’ lexicon), i.e., making a nation or people subject to a conqueror.

[2] The breaking down of the hedge elicits creation language as the garden of Eden was originally envisioned with a surrounding protective hedge. The hedge here suggests that Isaiah envisions Palestine as God’s garden of Eden for His people, recapitulating a creation theme as the prediction of briers and thorns echos Eden’s judgments. The removal of the hedge infers that God will no longer provide divine protection for them. It portends their removal from his garden due to their sin of unfruitfulness much like Adam was driven from the garden for his sin of partaking of forbidden fruit. The removal of the hedge signals invaders to exile and imprison them.

[3] Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 86. Bernard Anderson notes a potentially important difference between Genesis 1:26-28 which uses Adam in the plural, with Psalm 8 which uses Adam in the singular. Though Anderson does not see the reference in Psalm 8 as Messianic (it lacks the character of other Messianic Psalms [cf. Psalm 2:8-9] where the Messiah is empowered to overcome His enemies), it is possible that the reference in Psalm 8 has a dual meaning in the term “Son of Man”. The term may refer first to ‘adam as God’s representative of all creation yet secondarily refer to Jesus as Son of Man, God’s true representative for fallen man and all creation. The lack of overcoming power may imply a reference to Jesus’ first coming (hence the lack of reference to overcoming power over the nations). Likewise the references to be made a little lower than the angels may refer to ‘adam as primal man but also to Jesus’ incarnation in human weakness. Note in vs 2 the enemy which the Aramaic translates the devil which would seem to best chiastically counterbalance with Jesus as Son of Man.

[4] Violence was not the only sin that filled the earth. In Ezra 9:11, the land is described as filled with uncleanness. Jeremiah 16:18 charges the Jewish people filled my inheritance with their detestable idols’. Likewise, Jeremiah 23:10 describes Judah as a land full of adulterers. All these charges stand in antithesis to God’s calling and mandate for man to fill the earth with His glory.

[5] With Adam’s sin, entrance to the garden (the symbol of God’s presence) was barred symbolically by the presence of cherubim standing guard. Contrasting Israel’s sin, entrance to God’s presence was barred by the removal of the cherubim and ophanim who symbolized/guarded God’s throne. Their removal implied that God’s presence had left the temple.

[6] Miller, Madeleine S. and J. Lane, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, New York, NY, Harper & Brothers, 1961, p. 841. See also Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004. Beale speaks extensively about the symbolism of Zion, describing it as the mountain upon which the temple was built (Mount Moriah) and argues that all of Jerusalem (and all the land of promise) will become an end-time sanctuary.

[7] Jesus’ words have their basis in Isaiah 5. Both here and in Isaiah 5 the use of “thorns” and “thistles” appears to be an allusion to Genesis 3:18, tying bad fruit to sin and its consequences. This parallel also establishes an allusion to the new creation.

[8] In truth, the promised seed were never presented in Scripture as the physical seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. One need only examine the covenantal terms of Genesis 17 to see that membership in God’s covenant community was always determined by obedience to the covenant, the proof symbolized in circumcision. That Abraham was commanded to circumcise everyone in his household including those who were not his physical seed, anticipates this truth that it is through obedience and righteousness that membership is based. It explains why the Old Testament prophets constantly called God’s people to repentance and return to covenantal fidelity.

[9] Unsurprising given the parable of the sower of Matthew 13:3-8; 18-23 in which Jesus envisions Himself as the sower of the seed and the seed as the word of God. That Jesus sows the seed anticipates the words of Jesus as authoritative words of God. The implication is those who remain in Christ and follow His word, will produce true spiritual fruit.

[10] That the life and work of Christ was viewed as a new creation is supported by the words of Paul in Romans 7:4-5 where Paul contrasts the old covenant which bore fruit unto death with the new covenant in Christ which bears fruit of eternal life that comes through resurrection in Christ.

[11] Note the opening statement “to finish his work”, a likely allusion to the Genesis narrative. See our earlier claim that God did not complete His work of creation but ordered creation so that man would co-labor with Him in completing His work. Here we see its fulfillment where Jesus as the new man must co-labor with God to complete His redemptive-creative plan.

[12] Perhaps part of the knowledge and wisdom was seen in Paul’s comment in Colossians 1:24 where he stated he fills his flesh with Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, the church. There is unexpected irony is this remarkable statement.

[13] Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 117-118

The Sixth Day, Part 2: Subduing the Earth and Taking Dominion

Introduction

Before blessing mankin with fruitfulness, God distinguished man from His other creatures, making them in “our image” “so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (Genesis 1:26). Being created in God’s image was apparently the enabler for mankind to rule (to have dominion) over God’s creation. The task of rulership also distinguishes mankind from the other creatures, placing mankind in an elevated position where they were to serve as overseers and benefactors of the earth and its creatures. Ruler-ship was to be accomplished by subduing the earth. Our analysis begins with an analysis of the important command to subdue the earth and follow with consideration of ruler-ship.

The Mandate to Subdue the Earth

The mandate to subdue (כָּבַשׁ kabash) the earth is suggestive that God’s creation work is not fully completed. A partnership is implied between God in heaven and His image-bearers on earth. Adam, who was placed in a garden paradise bounded by rivers, had an occupation to keep the garden. However, to be placed in a garden with bounds while given a mandate to fill the earth suggests that man was to expand the garden, subduing the physical earth agriculturally  as “no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground” (Genesis 2:5). In this partnership God provided all the physical necessities man needed (Genesis 1:29) and man was to extend the garden, reclaiming the barren uncultivated land outside the garden. From what is later learned in the narrative of the Fall, it is likely man was to also keep the garden from intruding “wild animals”, most notably the serpent. Later narratives reveal a deepened meaning of “subdue”. [1]

The Egyptian exodus and eisodus (entrance) into the land were also new creations that recapitulated the Genesis creation-narrative. The Israelites were to take possession of a garden-like land that was described in terms so fruitful as to be considered paradisal. Israel was to subdue the land (Numbers 32:20-30). Subduing the land would not be accomplished agriculturally but militarily, driving out specifically named tribes from the land for their wickedness (Genesis 15:19-21). Driving these tribes out provides an echo back to the Genesis creation-narrative where Adam was to keep the garden from entry by unauthorized and dangerous creatures (i.e. the serpent). With Israel’s creation, they are placed in a garden and given the mandate to protect it from unauthorized intruders.

At the close of Joshua’s life, he claimed the land was “subdued before them” (Joshua 18:1). Importantly, the tabernacle was set up after the land was subdued (Joshua 18:1; cf. Joshua 11:23). Subduing the land was prerequisite for establishing of God’s dwelling place. A similar pattern emerges in the temple narrative where David desired to build a temple for Yahweh after David had subdued his enemies and the land was at rest (1 Chronicles 22:17-18; cf. 2 Samuel 7:1; 8:1, 11). It provides an echo back to the creation narrative where God subdued the forces of chaos before building His cosmic temple and taking His rest. It suggests that the land must be cleared of its uncleanness and sinners before God’s peace and presence can be established. It hints that Moses viewed the land as barren due to its sinful residents land reclamation was required through vanquishment of sinful practices so that the garden would be pure and clean for Yahweh’s presence. Note an important underlying principle: while subduing Yahweh’s enemies brought temple establishment and rest to the land, Israel was brought into subjection (subdued) by their enemies when they were sknful/covenantally disobedient (2 Chronicles 28:10; Nehemiah 5:1-7; cf. Jeremiah 34). Note the ironic talion: those appointed to subdue, in failing were subdued.

Micah 7:19 further deepens meaning: “He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities”,  (kabash), showing how Yahweh will deal with our sins. [2] He will subdue them, much as he subdued his enemy of chaos, in echo of creation. It suggests Micah’s declaration is a re-creation of God’s people, affirmed as a new exodus like the Egyptian exodus (vs 15). Importantly, Micah moves from subduing physically (the land and God’s human enemies) to subduing spiritually. God will triumph over our sins, subduing them, rendering them powerless and then hurling them into the depths. In subduing sin, Yahweh’s promise implies He will restore spiritual relationship with Him.

When we turn to the New Testament, we find Paul makes a striking statement:

⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15

In calling Christ the last Adam, Paul has drawn a parallel between God’s creation of Adam and God’s incarnation of Christ. Paul thus affirms that he understood Christ’s coming as a new creation. That Christ is the last Adam implies that He was the first man of the last creation, prophesied by Isaiah and John. When various New Testament passages are examined, a pattern emerges in Christ’s words and miracles that show He not only has the mandate to subdue, but He will succeed where the first Adam failed. Jesus’ temptation (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13). Jesus was offered the kingdoms of this world if He would worship Satan – an act that would subjugate Him like the first Adam. Christ however, withstood the temptations of Satan proving Himself worthy of having dominion by subduing Satan when tempted. Note the parallels: In Genesis 2:19, Adam is in the garden, where God brought the animals to him to order to name them, a sign of his authority over these creatures. In Mark 1:13, Jesus is in the wilderness (outside the Palestinian garden), “with the wild animals,” hinting at an elevation in the last Adam’s authority. [3]

In Jesus’ case the mandate is broadened further. Jesus subdued not just earthly powers (symbolized by wild animals) but heavenly powers symbolized in later scriptures as wild beasts (the beasts of Revelation 13 that Christ defeats in Revelation 19:20; 20:10). [4] These beasts are symbolic of Satanic/demonic powers. Subduing Satan and his forces is evident in many of Christ’s miracles, most notably those with demonic involvement or demonic possession (Matthew 4:24; 8:16; 8:28-33; 9:32-33; 12:22; 15:22-28; 17:18; Mark 1:23-26, 32-33, 39; 3:11; 5:1-13; 7:26-30; Luke 4:33-35, 41; 6:18; 7:21; 8:2, 27-33; 9:38-42; 11:14). Jesus’ ability to silence demons and to cast them out showed his ability to subdue the spiritual powers of evil. These powers were heavenly, showing an elevation over the Genesis 1 creation-narrative. Jesus subdued heavenly powers as well as earthly powers. [5] Christ then, is seen fulfilling a mandate to subdue that was not in view in the Genesis 1 creation-narrative, though foreshadowed later (e.g. Deborah’s victory over Jabin). In fulfilling this mandate, His victory over things on earth and in the heavens shows His supremacy over the first Adam and over God’s enemies.

Christ’s supremacy is evident in Romans 15 where Christ shall reign until “he has put all his enemies under his feet” (vs 27). Under his feet means subduing his enemies. Not just Christ’s enemies will be subdued, but all powers and authorities in the heavens will be subdued and subject to him (1 Peter 3:22). Already Christ is in this position of authority, victorious over death. Hebrews 1:1-3 shows Jesus sitting down – a position of authority in Ancient Near Eastern custom – in heaven with the Father, signifying His authority over all.

The pattern is similar with His disciples He empowered them to subdue evil demonic spirits (Matthew 10:1-8; Mark 3:15; 6:7-12; 16:9, 17; Luke 9:1, 49; 10:17; Acts 5:16; 8:7). Notable is Luke 10:17-18 where the disciples proclaim “even the demons are subject to us” and “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (AV), showing that those in Christ are a new creation of spiritual men empowered to carry out a greater, deepened mandate to subdue the forces of evil not only on earth but in heavenly places, in elevation over the original mandate. The first Adam was told to subdue the earth. The last Adam will subdue all powers on earth and in heaven.

Accompanying Jesus’ power over evil spirits was His power to heal the sick, make the blind see, the lame to walk and even raise the dead. These miraculous actions were not in view in the Genesis 1 mandate. Raising from the dead is of greatest import as it showed that Jesus had power over death, something the first Adam never had. Rather death had power over him. Jesus not only showed power to subdue the spiritual enemies of His Father in the heavens, but subdued earthly natural powers like the seas (Luke 8:23-25). In stilling the sea, we see an echo from the Genesis 1 creation-narrative with Yahweh subduing the primordial ocean of chaos. It points to Christ as agent of creation, having dominion over the created order.

In Genesis 1, it was God who established the boundaries of heaven and earth, and man who filled and subdued the earth. [6] Adam was to fill the earth with physical seed and subdue through cultivation the wilderness areas outside Eden’s garden-paradise. Jesus however, fills the earth not with physical seed as the first Adam, but with spiritual seed, raising spiritual sons and daughters conformed to His image by redeeming the “seed” of the first Adam. [7] The spiritual seed partner with Christ to subdue all things in heaven and on earth through righteousness that brings blessing. Righteous rule means spiritually overcoming evil by transforming the hearts of the unsaved, expanding God’s kingdom with righteousness while reducing the influence of evil in the world, a mandate recapitulated in the righteous rule of David and His victories in subduing his enemies. As David subdued Palestine and brought God’s enemies into subjection, a greater than David will subdue the earth (a land greater than Palestine) and bring the nations and all spiritual powers in the heavens into subjection to His authority. One thus sees the mandate given to Adam to subdue the earth, serves as a model for later authors to reveal the deepened truth that the mandate of Christians is to subdue all evil in heaven and on earth through the power of Christ and His Spirit.

Rule Over the Earth

God also gave mankind dominion (רָדָה radah) over all created lifeforms. Man had full responsibility for all of God’s earthly creation. God in effect, delegated responsibility and ruler-ship of the earth to man,  making man ruler in proxy for God. It implies that man is to rule as God would rule if He were resident on the earth rather than in heaven. How was man to accomplish this task? Some insight can be gained by a review of the concept of Old Testament ruler-ship.

Adam’s Fall in the garden brought a promise of “seed” of Eve that would one day crush the head of the serpent. [8] The failure of Adam began a process of destruction of creation and mistreatment of God’s creatures that culminated in the flood drama. Further failure is seen in the Babel narrative, where the emergence of Nimrod introduced a new level of destruction and violence against God’s creatures. His abusive ruler-ship is linked to the failed effort to build the tower and city of Babylon. Following this failed effort, God raised up Abraham, promising to make him into a people and nation that would bring blessing to the world. The creation of this people brought a renewal of the mandate to fill the land, subdue it and take dominion over it. How was dominion to be in evidence? A puzzling prophecy is uttered by Balaam during Israel’s wilderness experience, before entering the land to subdue and take dominion over it. That prophecy hints at a recapitulation of Genesis 3:15:

¹⁷ “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth. ¹⁸ Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong. ¹⁹ A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city.” Numbers 24

Balaam sees a “star”, often a symbol of angelic or spiritual power that comes out of Jacob, a flag for the people of Israel. The star his a scepter, symbol of governmental or kingly power. That He will crush the foreheads of Moab – those oppoed Israel’s passage to Canaan, places Moab’s opposition along side the serpent’s opposition to Adam in the garden. That Seir also will be subdued and Israel will prevail recapitulates and affirms the Protevangelium, the promise to Eve of Seed that will crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). To our purpose, the one who comes from Jacob with a scepter will rule and exercise dominion. It promises the reestablishment of Yahweh’s righteous rule through an appointed seed. The appointed seed is the seed of a woman, but holds a heavenly status given his description as a star. That Balaam sees him, but not now and not near, suggests his coming will not align with Israel’s entrance into the land, their Palestinian “garden”, emblematic of the reestablishment of lost Eden. It hints that a greater garden may be in view in the distant future. Given that hint, it would appear that there will be need for interim dominion and rulership until the star comes. The interim dominion is framed within the Sinaic covenant. An example is the festival of the Jubilee:

³⁹ “ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. ⁴⁰ They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. ⁴² Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. ⁴³ Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God. (see also vs 53)

Those ruling over Israelite slaves were commanded not to rule over them ruthlessly. This command establishes expected behavior of those in rulership. Ruling was to be just, performed with the fear of the Lord as a priority (vs 43) [9]. Implied was the threat of judgment for failing to extend love, grace and justice to fellow Israelites, as Yahweh had done when she was in harsh slavery in Egypt. [10]

Concerning Israel’s enemies, the narrative of Jabin and Sisera is insightful. Israel was sold into the hands of Jabin for doing evil in the eyes of the Lord (Judges 4:1-2). When they cried to the Lord for help, Deborah sent Barak and ten thousand men against Sisera in battle. Sisera’s forces were routed by the Lord, delivering his army to Israel (vs 15). The narrative records “on that day, God subdued Jabin”. In the Song of Deborah (Judges 5), it is declared that the remnant (of Israelites) “have dominion (רָדָה radah) over the nobles” (Jabin’s forces), “the Lord made me have dominion (radah) over the mighty”. Deborah is acknowledging the ironic goodness of Yahweh in giving victory and restoring ruler-ship under Yahweh, reestablishing righteous rule from wicked Jabin. It suggests that dominion and ruler-ship must be subordinate to Yahweh and His laws. Deborah’s Song also sees the conflict with Jabin as a spiritual battle in the heavens (vss 4-5, 20-23) after which the land had rest for forty years, a symbolic marker that the land was subdued again. It reveals a deepened meaning that godly, earthly ruler-ship includes subduing evil spiritual powers in the heavens.

Solomon’s rule is also instructive. 1 Kings 4 records that Solomon “ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt” (vs 21). Characteristic of Solomon’s rule were “peace on all sides” (vs 24) and where Israelites “lived in safety” (vs 25). It suggests that dominion implies peace (rest in the land) and safety for the people from intruders. Likely implied in safety was social justice given that everyone lived “under their own vine and under their own fig tree” (vs 25). It suggests sufficiency and sustainability for all the families in the land. There is indication that rulership involved more than social justice, including righteousness as Psalm 49:14 promises that the righteous will have dominion over the wicked “in the morning”, a possible forshadowing of the coming Messiah.

In Psalm 72, the prayer of the people is for Yahweh to “endow the king with your justice” (vs 1), making him a “royal son with your righteousness” (vs 1), who will “judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice” (vs 2). “May the mountains bring prosperity to the people” (vs 3), “may he defend the afflicted”, “save the children of the needy”, “crush the oppressor” (vs 4) and “may righteousness flourish ad prosperity abound” (vs 7). “He will deliver the needy, the afflicted who have no one to help” (vs 12), “he will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death” (vs 13), “he will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight” (vs 14) and “then all nations will be blessed through him” (vs 17). All these characteristics of the king reveal Yahweh’s righteous requirements for ruler-ship and dominion. That the psalm closes with “may the whole earth be filled with his (God’s) glory” (vs 19) reveals the ruler-ship’s purpose is to fill the earth with God’s glory through righteous rule that brings justice to the poor, prosperity to the needy and liberty to the oppressed. He is to free the kingdom of violence, bringing peace to his subject and to all creation. That his rule should extend “from sea to sea”, “to the ends of the earth” (vs 8) and “all nations serve him” (vs 11) may echo back to the Genesis 1 creation mandate of filling the earth, but with righteousness.

These requirements set a high bar of expectation – a selfless king who promotes the interests of the least in his kingdom. Tate notes that the king is to bring justice and deliverance to the poor, so that the king may bring life to the land and that his reign may extend throughout the earth. He notes that these three goals for the Hebrew are one, best described by the Hebrew Shalom, which he describes as “peace/well-being”. He sees it as a fusion of political, economic, social and spiritual wholeness of life, that encompasses both heaven and earth. Tate calls the blessing of Shalom “life and harmony for all creation”, claiming it a central concept of Scripture, noting Leviticus 26:4-6; Ezekiel 34:25-29; Ephesians 2:14. For him, “shalom is the salvation which embraces all creation”. [11] God’s calling for man is noble. He is a partner in reestablishing God’s righteous rule over creation post-fall, a participant with regal responsibilities in restoring paradisal relationship between mankind and God, his efforts testifying of the goodness of God to a fallen race, bringing peace on earth.

That Yahweh would set these expectations for mankind as His ruler in absentia reveals His heart evident also in Psalm 110, Isaiah 14 and Isaiah 41. These passages speak of God’s coming rulership (radah) over the earth, revealing His heart toward His people and punishment on those who abuse them. These passages serve as a reminder that God’s kingdom will be established, that He has a chosen One who will lead His people in righteousness while punishing those kingdoms who were abusive to His people. It is a reminder of our responsibilities and the high calling God has established lest judgment follow as with the Israelites. To this point, Ezekiel warns:

² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? ³ You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. ⁴ You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. ⁵ So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. ⁶ My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.⁷ “ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. [12]

The failure of the Israelite leadership to properly exercise dominion over God’s people and His creation is manifest. It shows that dominion is about glorifying God by establishing righteousness and godly ruler-ship in the earth. Rather than caring for others, they cared only for themselves. They did not strengthen the weak or heal the sick. Rather, they ruled God’s people harshly and brutally. In an act of talion, God will also judge them harshly and brutally. They will be removed and find themselves in need. This frightening judgment is followed by a great promise that the Lord will look after the flock Himself (vss 11-12), gathering them from the nations, restoring them to their land (vs 13) where the Lord will properly care for them (vss 13-16). They will have one Shepherd, the Messiah from the line of David (vs 24) and God will make a new covenant of peace with them (vs 25). With the promise comes the fulfillment of God’s mandate of righteous rulership that glorifies God. As God’s Appointed, He has the proper relationship with the Father and He is empowered to fulfill the role God has assigned to Him. These facets allow Christ to succeed where mankind could only fail.

When turning to the New Testament, Ephesians 1 reveals the greatness of Chrsit, the last Adam and the new man of the new creation:

²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Ephesians reveals that the last Adam, like the first Adam, has been given dominion. However, with the last Adam His dominion is unrestricted. The first Adam was given dominion over the earth. The last Adam has His dominion over all creation, all powers on earth and in the heavens. His placement on the right hand of the Father shows that everything except the Father has been delegated and placed under His authority. The dominion and authority granted Jesus is far greater than the first Adam. His name is above all names and His authority far above all other authority for both the present age and the age to come, another significant enlargement over the original mandate given the first Adam. His great authority has been granted Him for His obedience to the Father, seen in His sinless life and in His unselfish suffering and death. That God has placed all things under his feet shows the completeness of His victory. Jesus’ victory on the cross is the climax of God’s redemptive plan, a victory of such magnitude that He has already subdued all God’s enemies (envisioned as under His feet). The true greatness of His victory is confirmed in His resurrection from the dead and ascension on high.

Romans 6:9 (cf. 1 Peter 4:11; 5:11; Jude 1:25; Revelation 1:6) reveals death no longer has dominion over Christ given His resurrection. Because we have been baptized into His death, we are effectively new creatures of Christ’s resurrection and sin has no dominion over us (6:14, 7:1). Christ’s death and resurrection has ushered in a new creation, and with it a new covenant, freeing us from the curse of the law, and the inevitability of the death the law brings to all (vs 14). Sin, which lawfully doomed us to death under the old creation, now has no power over those who have “died” with Christ. His death was once for all, freeing all who follow Him from the curse of death and the power of sin over us. He has freed us by defeating “him who holds the power of death”, the devil.  (Hebrews 2:14).

We also share in that dominion as priests and kings unto God (Revelation 1:6). Yet in unexpected irony, there is inversion. We are not to conduct ourselves the way the worldly kings and priests do who lord it over others. Rather, we work with others (1 Corinthians 1:24; Matthew 20:25-28; Mark 10a42-45; Luke 22:25-28). Though the disciples will sit on twelve thrones, they are to be like Christ and humbly serve others. Defining dominion as the work of a slave is a striking inversion. For what possible authority could a slave have? Serving as a slave seems the antithesis of having dominion. Yet Jesus was aware that it would be the way in which the world would see and experience the love of God. Those exercising dominion according to the old world order would reject Christ’s message,desiring to lord it over others. [13] But for those who would die with Christ and conform themselves to the image, a most amazing end is envisioned:

¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” ¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten  thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” ¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” Revelation 5

Jesus, the Lamb of God is the only One in all creation worthy to rule. Envisioned as a slain lamb with seven horns and seven eyes shows His great authority (seven horns) and His omniscience (seven eyes) “sent out into all the earth” (vs 6). His victory and worthiness are seen in being slain and thus purchasing a people to Himself from all the earth – every tribe, language, people and nation. From those He has redeemed, He will fashion a kingdom of priests to serve God, a likely echo to Jesus’ requirement that His disciples serve as slaves. Again we see irony, as those who serve God will reign over the earth. Dominion again is seen in lowly service to God. [14] But the focus is not upon us, but upon the worthiness of the Lamb, to whom every creature in heaven and on earth and on the sea declares, worthy is the Lamb of all praise, honor, glory and dominion forever and ever. He has triumphed mightily, and we triumph only through His triumph, just as we reign only through His reign, and live forever only through His eternal life.

Relevance to Christians Today

God granted man dominion over the earth, giving man the mandate to subdue the earth. This mandate separates man from other lifeforms, elevating him to a position of oversight and leadership. Man was given a special role in God’s government. He was created as God’s representative on earth to show forth His glory. But he failed the mandate, was subdued by Satan and dominion of the earth was given to him. From that point on death had dominion over man. Man became perpetually be a slave to sin and death. All was not lost however. God initiated a new creation with a new man Jesus Christ who would triumph over Satan. He was physically the “seed” of the woman yet spiritually of God, the result of the Spirit coming upon the virgin Mary. Christ came to crush the serpent’s head, subduing him by treading him under foot, a theme recapitulated in Israel’s deliverance from the slavery in Egypt. They passed from death to life in crossing of the Red Sea and were restored to the land promised Abraham where they were to take dominion of the land and subdue God’s enemies.

Israel’s tenure in the land was to model Christ and His people in the new creation. Jesus was the fulfillment of the king bringing social justice to the poor, caring for the sick and needy, healing ailments and delivering those under demonic control. He fed the hungry yet promised springs of living water that would flow from His followers through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Jesus’ view of dominion and ruler-ship was spiritual and completely inverted from the thinking of the world. Dominion would be exercised through lowly faithful service to the least in the kingdom, not through lording it over others. Ironically, Christ’s victory came through suffering and death, through which He crushed the serpent’s head, taking from him dominion over His people, while taking dominion over sin and death. His victory gives Him dominion over all creation, evident from His seat in heaven at the right hand of the Father. He has created a new people, a kingdom of priests who will reign righteously, renewing the Genesis 1 creation-narrative. The new mandate of dominion is a spiritual mandate in which God’s people take dominion and subdue the spiritual forces of evil, freeing the captive of sin and bringing eternal life (see Figure 1). Nowhere is this clearer than in Revelation, where Christ and His people triumph over the spiritual forces of Satan, envisaged as a dragon. Importantly, the deepened meaning of the mandate again follows the pattern prior established, in which subduing and taking dominion in the first creation serves as a model of the deeper spiritual meaning in the new creation.

What this means to Christians, is that our lives must model Christ’s life. As He testified of the Father, we must similarly testify. As He willingly laid down His life as an offering to bring peace between God and men, we must be willing to lay down our lives as an offering, trusting that as His life brought forth much new seed as a harvest (John 12:24), ours will also bring forth a great harvest of souls. In the new creation in Christ, the battle is spiritual.

Second, though the battle we fight is spiritual and involves unseen spiritual forces in the heavens, it does not mean that our efforts to testify and assure justice here on earth are somehow unimportant. Jesus enigmatically stated that what we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what we loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19). Jesus referred to this truth as being given the keys to the kingdom! Just as Jesus was the connecting point between heaven and earth (literally Jacob’s ladder), there is an unseen connection between what we do on earth and what God does in heaven. As we loose others from the power of sin, we should expect that God looses an outpouring of His Spirit that opens the eyes of the blind, increasing the harvest. As we work to stop injustice and unrighteousness in our world, we should expect that God will bind the spiritual powers that bring injustice and promote unrighteousness. As we take dominion as servants, we should expect God will take dominion over those evil forces lording over our world. It gives our testimony and actions great weight, impacting not just our visible world but the unseen spiritual world that seeks to thwart God’s kingdom.

[1] For example, the phrase “possessing the gate of their enemies” is a synonym for subduing. Beale, G. K., The Temple and the Church’s Mission, A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, Downers Grove IL, InterVarsity Press, 2004, p. 113-114

[2] Most translations have “you will tread our sins underfoot”, interesting in light of the Ancient Near Eastern practice of engraving an image of the King’s enemy on the soles of his sandals, a magical practice where the king would trample his enemy under foot, portending his destruction (bringing him into subjection/subduing him). Here God tramples and subdues the sins of His people.

[3] Mark’s reference to Christ being with the wild animals may have a basis in Ezekiel 34:25, “I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety.”Ezekiel’s proclamation attests that the Messiah as the last Adam will bring peace and safety between the wild animals and and God’s people, restoring Eden in inauguration.

[4] This seems to be foreshadowed in the account of Jesus’ wilderness temptation in Mark 1:13 where Jesus is said to be “with the wild animals”. This reference is unique to Mark and seems to look backward to the profession of the first Adam, to guard and to keep the garden from wild animals such as the serpent. It points forward to the greater profession of the last Adam Jesus, who expands the spiritual garden to fill the earth while subduing heavenly powers symbolized in apocalyptic passages as wild beasts, specifically the dragon, the antitype of the serpent (cf. Revelation 13). It is possible that elevation is also seen in 1 Peter 3:19-20: ”through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.” Some expositors have suggested this preaching occurred during Jesus’ ascent to the Father as He passed through the heavens where certain Jewish tradition suggests these disobedient angels were imprisoned (cf. 2 Enoch 7:1). For further discussion of this point, see Dalton, William Joseph, Christ’s Proclamation to the Spirits, A Study in 1 Peter 3:18-4:6, Rome Italy, Editrice Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 2^nd Edition 1989

[5] In the case of Deborah, we see her perspective that Yahweh’s victory over Jabin was a spiritual victory over forces in the heavens. Thus, she became an adamic representative demonstrating power over heavenly evil spirits. In Christ, we see the culmination as He routinely subjugated these powers as God’s ultimate representative.

[6] Though the mandate was to subdue the earth (a form of bounding), the amazement of the disciples to the power Jesus displayed might lead one to conclude that the mandate to subdue was limited, viewed primarily to guard and keep the garden (maintaining the boundaries God established). However, the ability to subdue the elemental chaotic forces of nature may have been part of Adam’s original mandate. Later scriptures equate sin with boundary breaking, and the breakdown of boundaries brings chaos that is often described using imagery of the elemental forces of nature (drought, desolation, floods, earthquakes, volcanic activity, etc). These elemental chaotic forces are unleashed primarily to bring men to repentance, not for man to bring into subjection as part of fulfilling the mandate. When these chaotic forces of nature were brought into subjection, it was through obedience to God’s Word (which brings His blessing upon the earth). Also, through cooperative relationship between God and man in prayer and supplication (e.g. the rain withheld and later prophesied by Elijah), elemental forces of chaos were subdued if only for a limited time. In the new mandate, the same power over these elemental chaotic powers appears to belong to Christ and His disciples (cf. Revelation 11:3-6). In both cases, this power is used as a sign to bring men to repentance

[7] Isaiah 53:8 confirms that Jesus’ seed must be spiritual as He was cut off without physical descendants.

[8]Given that Ancient Near Eastern despots would engrave an image of their enemy on the soles of the sandals as a magical process of subduing their adversaries, one has to wonder if there may be a veiled reference in Genesis 3:15 to subduing the serpent through crushing his head with what seems to be the (wounded) heel of the seed of the woman. It is noteworthy that the Hebrew word used for dominion also means to tread down.

[9] Further references to Solomon’s rule in 1 Kings 9:23 and 2 Chronicles 8:10 suggest that he was careful not to mistreat Israelites involved in temple labor in accordance with covenantal intent.

[10] To understand the judgment that befell the Jews for their failure to honor this Jubilee-an requirement, see Jeremiah 34. Leviticus 26 also spells out the judgments to fall upon Israel for failure to honor God’s covenant, one of which (vs 17) is that Israel’s enemies will have dominion over them. They will be ruled over by those they hate. Failure to exercise godly ruler-ship brought a loss of dominion in talion, with others exercising dominion over them.

[11] Tate, Marvin E., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 20, Psalms 51-100, Dallas TX, Word Books, 1990, p. 225

12] Note the reference to the flock of Israel being food for the wild animals, which seems to anticipate the spiritually wild animals of Revelation that devoir God’s people at the end of the ages. Ezekiel also seems to recapitulate the Edenic narrative and Adam’s failure.

[13] One wonders if Jude 1:8, in saying that ungodly people who pervert the grace of God and despise dominion, are guilty of despising Christ’s truedefinition of dominion as lowly service. These ungodly do not serve God or His servants but themselves, seen in their sexual immorality, polluting of their bodies and abusiveness toward celestial beings.

[14] Note the double irony: As we exercise dominion even now on the earth by humbly serving the least, we are in fact serving God. In this regard, John may well have had in mind the inauguration of our dominion in currently reigning here on earth before the Parousia.