Topical Bible: The Earth: God: Makes Fruitful

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The concept of the earth being made fruitful by God is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, reflecting the divine provision and sustenance that God offers to His creation. This theme underscores the belief that God is the ultimate source of all fertility and abundance, and it is through His will and power that the earth yields its produce.

Creation and Sustenance

From the very beginning, the Bible establishes God as the Creator and Sustainer of the earth. In Genesis 1:11-12 , God commands the earth to bring forth vegetation: "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth vegetation, seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.' And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good." This passage highlights God's direct involvement in making the earth fruitful, setting the stage for His ongoing provision.

Divine Blessing and Covenant

God's promise to make the earth fruitful is also evident in His covenants with humanity. In Genesis 9:1 , following the flood, God blesses Noah and his sons, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." This blessing is a reaffirmation of God's intention for the earth to be a place of abundance and life.

Similarly, in His covenant with Abraham, God promises to bless his descendants and make them fruitful. Genesis 17:6 states, "I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you." This promise extends beyond mere progeny to encompass the land and its productivity, as seen in the subsequent blessings upon the nation of Israel.

Provision in the Promised Land

The land of Canaan, described as "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8), serves as a tangible representation of God's ability to make the earth fruitful. Deuteronomy 8:7-9 describes the richness of the land: "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains that flow out in the valleys and hills; a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing." This passage emphasizes the abundance provided by God, contingent upon the Israelites' faithfulness to Him.

Dependence on God for Fruitfulness

The Bible also teaches that the earth's fruitfulness is dependent on God's favor and blessing. In Leviticus 26:3-4 , God promises, "If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments, I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit." This conditional promise illustrates the connection between obedience to God and the earth's productivity.

Conversely, disobedience results in a withdrawal of God's blessing, leading to barrenness and famine, as seen in passages like Deuteronomy 28:23-24 : "The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron. The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed."

Psalms and Prophetic Literature

The Psalms frequently celebrate God's role in making the earth fruitful. Psalm 65:9-13 beautifully depicts God's provision: "You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth. You soak its furrows and level its ridges; You soften it with showers and bless its growth. You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your paths overflow with plenty. The pastures of the wilderness overflow; the hills are robed with joy. The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are decked with grain. They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing."

Prophetic literature also affirms God's power to restore fruitfulness to the earth. In Isaiah 55:10-11 , the prophet declares, "For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it."

New Testament Perspective

In the New Testament, the theme of fruitfulness is often spiritualized, yet it retains its connection to God's provision. Jesus uses agricultural metaphors to describe spiritual truths, as seen in John 15:5 : "I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing." Here, the concept of fruitfulness is linked to abiding in Christ, emphasizing dependence on God for both physical and spiritual abundance.

The earth's fruitfulness, as orchestrated by God, serves as a testament to His sovereignty, generosity, and faithfulness. Through His creative power and sustaining grace, God ensures that the earth continues to provide for His creation, reflecting His glory and inviting humanity to trust in His provision.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Genesis 1:11
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth: and it was so.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Genesis 27:28
Therefore God give you of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Concerning the Earth, which Varro Affirms to be a Goddess, Because ...
... are not men rather held to be gods, who render it fruitful by cultivating ... the world,
when it permeates the upper part of the earth, makes the god Father Dis ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 23 concerning the earth which.htm

How Piety Distinguishes the Creator from the Creatures, So That ...
... and most infamous mysteries,"we worship that God who has ... and nourishment, dry or
liquid; who establishes and makes fruitful the earth; who bountifully ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 30 how piety distinguishes the.htm

God.
... fear when he cometh out of his holy place to punish the inhabitants of the earth
for their ... For God, as the name of Ephraim signifies, makes us fruitful in ...
//christianbookshelf.org/bunyan/the riches of bunyan/i god.htm

The Wisdom of God
... many parts of the earth, yet it should not overflow the earth; so that ... In reference
to the church, God often goes by contrary means, and makes the enemy ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a body of divinity/5 the wisdom of god.htm

The vine
... unalterable law of all branch-life, on earth or in ... He to whom God reveals the glory
of the ... forth, and holds, and strengthens, and makes fruitful the branches. ...
/.../murray/the true vine meditations for a month on john 151-16/the vine 2.htm

The Angel's Greeting
... The earth cannot flee from heaven: whether it flee up ... and stamps its impress upon
it, and makes it fruitful ... Thus doth God with men: whoever thinketh to escape ...
/.../eckhart/meister eckharts sermons/iii the angels greeting.htm

Third Day. Holiness and Creation.
... God rests in complacency and love, He makes holy ... indwelling in heaven, in His temple
on earth, in His ... throughout the book of Genesis, the word 'God blessed' is ...
/.../murray/holy in christ/third day holiness and creation.htm

The Rich Fool.
... The ground was eminently fruitful; the unconscious earth gave forth ... On the fields
of the covetous man the rain fell and the sun shone: God makes his sun to ...
//christianbookshelf.org/arnot/the parables of our lord/xix the rich fool.htm

How we are to Conform Ourselves to that Divine Will, which is ...
... that divine exclamation: Thy will be done on earth as it ... signified will of God: for
in this, God desires with ... desire that we should do what he makes known, and ...
/.../francis/treatise on the love of god/chapter iii how we are.htm

The Providence of God
... is higher than the earth, should not drown the earth, is a ... (3.) Strangely, in that
he makes the enemy ... and Moab and Mount Seir came against Judah, God set the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a body of divinity/14 the providence of god.htm