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The law of fruitfulness

I have taught many times that the birthright is composed of two main elements: the right to rule (Genesis 1:26) and the right to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). The first chapter of Genesis, however, does not comment further, nor does it give us any great understanding. Details come only in the course of revelatory history in the law, the prophets, and the New Testament writings.

Deuteronomy 23:1 gives us a law that is directly derived from the fruitfulness mandate of Genesis 1:28. It says,

¹ No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly [kahal] of the LORD.

From an Old Covenant perspective, this law forbids a fruitless man (a eunuch) from entering the assembly of the Lord. The word assembly is from kahal, which is the Hebrew word for ekklesia, that is, the church. Applied in that manner, some men have been excluded from the church, thereby denying them salvation itself. Of course, this view, in turn, was predicated on the belief that one had to be a church member in good standing—believing the entire established creed at the time—in order to be part of the church.

We know, of course, that church membership in an earthly organization does not determine one’s salvation. Our faith is not in ourselves, nor in the church, nor in any man other than Jesus Christ. Whether men recognize us or not as being justified by faith in Christ only affects our relationship with other men or organizations. The important thing is to be recognized by God Himself, who alone knows the hearts of men.

So during Old Covenant times, this law was applied to a man’s physical disability just as a leper was excluded from the assembly on account of his disease. Yet we see how Jesus treated lepers in His earthly ministry. He did not exclude them, nor did He put away the law, but rather He healed them so that the priest might pronounce them “clean.”

The prophets interpreted the law according to the spirit of the law. They had a greater knowledge of the mind of God than did the average Israelite and even the priests who were called to teach the law to the people. Isaiah himself addressed the issue raised in Deuteronomy 23:1 by telling us in Isaiah 56:4, 5,

⁴ For thus says the Lord, “to the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, ⁵ to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.”

Having children was said to be the way in which one’s name would not be forgotten or “cut off.” Hence, while one’s male organ might be cut off physically, this did not mean that he was cut off from the covenant of God. It is remarkable that Isaiah would interpret the law in this way. In fact, I believe he received this revelation because some men in his day had been excluded from the kahal and were said to be cut off from God’s covenant. In other words, they could not be saved, so they thought.

But even the prophets themselves were persecuted by the religious authorities and often killed as false prophets for seeming to contradict the law of God. But men’s opinions about the prophets had no bearing on God’s opinion. No doubt many prophets were excluded from the temple, but they had access to the temple in heaven. This alone shows the distinction between the earthly organization and the heavenly one.

In the New Testament, Philip was sent to an Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza to give him an understanding of Isaiah 53 and to baptize him according to the prophecy in Isaiah 52:15,

¹⁵ Thus He will sprinkle many nations, kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; for what had not been told them, they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand.

The eunuch was returning from Jerusalem, where he had been worshiping God. No doubt he sat at the feet of prominent rabbis who were teaching the law. We do not know what he may have been told, but the prophecy above suggests that there were truths that the rabbis did not tell him. Secondly, that which was not told him would be revealed to him—in this case, through Philip—and that this would give him understanding of the word.

Philip gave him a proper understanding of Isaiah 53. The passage actually begins in Isaiah 52:13, so it includes 52:15. Perhaps the eunuch had purchased a copy of the scroll of Isaiah and found time to read it on the journey home.

Now the point of this is to reveal the New Covenant understanding of Deuteronomy 23:1, which gives us the spirit of the law according to the mind of God. It tells us that to fulfill the Fruitfulness Mandate of Genesis 1:28 does not ultimately require a man to beget physical children. Even those who are incapable of begetting physical children can fulfill the divine Mandate and receive his birthright by seeking God and holding fast to His (New) Covenant.

The Fruitfulness Mandate is about having “the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). How is this birthright obtained? It is by receiving Jesus Christ. It is “NOT by bloodline, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). To be a child of God, one must be begotten by God through the Holy Spirit. One’s identity must be transferred from the fleshly/soulish identity to the spiritual identity that was begotten by the Holy Spirit.

While a fleshly man, born naturally, might not be able to beget children, the spiritual man within is required to be fruitful. So says the law.

Many fleshly people have been recognized as members of a church denomination, yet have never been begotten by the Spirit. Such people are not children of God but are children of men. Adam’s children were condemned to death when Adam sinned. But the children of God are granted immortal life on account of the immortal seed that begat them. 1 Peter 1:23-25 says,

²³ For you have been born again [begotten from above], not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, ²⁵ but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.

When our earthly fathers begat us, it was with perishable (mortal) seed in a fleshly way. Such seed created men who are like grass—temporary lives. However, those who are begotten by the seed of “the living and enduring word of God” are immortal and incorruptible by the law that says, “like begets like.”

This is the basic law of sonship that the Scriptures reveal to us. The idea of sonship is what distinguishes true Christianity from all other religions and philosophies in the world.