The More They Multiplied

The More They Multiplied

5/26/17

This truth is a biblical concept that originated from God and therefore continues today for what God establishes cannot be broken or stopped.  While we generally contend that this principle refers to sex it also means growth in numbers through sheer popular belief as well, but in truth, all represent God’s advancement.  However, if we do not live according to God’s Laws the opposite is true and the world shall grow instead.  When God’s people are doing what they are supposed to be doing then a miraculous growth occurs that is almost unexplainable.  It is this growth that defines God and thus defines our lives as well and it is God’s desire that all grow in Him and not in the world.  Church, we need to catch this holy growth once again starting with our hearts and when we do we shall see the true change that this world needs.

I wish that I could write words of redemption, salvation, happiness, peace, and tranquility when it comes to this subject but when one studies history and sees what horrific conditions one can place upon another, the truth is revealed in a fantastic manner.  Since the records of mankind have been read, spoken and written we have done our best to divide our species and place another contingency above another.  There is a reason that we try to equilibrate our existence with others but up until this very moment, we have failed every time simply because we cut out the One that we need to survive and accept the different lies that our world hands out.  I must admire the efforts of humanity trying its best to find a way to end all of the animosity that surrounds each society both past and present, but also have to shake my head at the misfortunes we acquire when we search in the wrong directions for such a desired commodity.

From biblical history we learn that mankind easily tries to look at gods and personal idols and place them ahead of the One who wrote the Bible, Ancient history provides us with identical lessons from which similar disasters can easily be studied.  The time period in which BCE and CE collide we see no change in human behavior towards their historical identities and are forced to live and relive the consequences of their forefathers and foremothers.  With this amount of time already in the books it would seem that humans would figure things out and really change the course, yet with every age and generation that passes God and His Word continues to shine as the only source of true freedom, peace, and happiness. 

The search for peace, tranquility, and equality continued throughout the Dark Ages, Early Church days, Medieval Times, and now this same quest is still being sought after today.  I cannot help but watch identical procession after procession tries to declare that they have the answer for the world’s issues and within a short period of time watch as each one of their claims, declarations, and kingdoms come crashing down.  As with every other try, the societies of the world are doing their best to accomplish this feat by pushing God out of their way and proclaim that they know what is best.  What we forget about history is that no matter what time period one wishes to study, their efforts fail and when their worlds come crashing down they are so stunned and shocked and cannot figure out why.  This continued presence also reveals a certain yet important detail about God that each time He is left out or kicked out His presence always increases, and with each attempt to push God out or to suppress His presence, comes each fall and then only God remains standing tall; an increase.

In Exodus Chapter 1 we have a perfect example of this truth about when God is suppressed and mankind tries its best to keep control of their lives.  Exodus 1:7-14 give us a great example of what God has shared with us so far in this article, that no matter how hard humanity tries to do things on their own and for their own glory, their stance and kingdom shall fall, even when their initial growth comes from God alone.  When the book of Exodus opens it gives a quick genealogy of Joseph’s family which brings into remembrance the tribes of Israel which serve as the foundations of Israel.  In earlier verses of Chapter 1, we find that a new regime in Egypt has taken over and that after a while the deeds of Joseph have been forgotten.  This forgetfulness is a process we find so common when dealing with humans for we tend to keep things close to the present so that if maneuvering needs to be done it can be done so without interruption, no matter how that movement may be focused.  The same is true in this portion of Scripture, for when verse 7 of this chapter is written we find that the Egyptian authorities have become concerned about the size of the Israelites and how much of a potential threat they can become; not as of yet, but what they might become in the future.

Exodus 1:9-10 states the following: “And he said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.”  An interesting passage that proclaims a lot about what is in the heart of the leaders of Egypt and how they look on the nation of Israel.

Pharaoh recognizes that the number of Israelites is large in size and that their presence within Egyptian territory is well known. The number of Israelites is large enough that Pharaoh has to make up an active plan in order to keep the numbers from growing further and becoming a potential enemy.  It is this statement that I find interesting because of the way that it is stated, for only one side of the potential issue is stated from Pharaoh.  A people that have been in your land for quite some time should not firstly be considered a potential enemy unless the people in charge do not wish to have them part of the overall plan of the country.  In this age, we have witnessed such uprisings against fellow countrymen even though their ethnic backgrounds and spiritual beliefs differ from the “ruling” party.

There may have been some sort of token handouts of peace coming from Pharaoh to the children of Israel but I highly doubt it since the previous verses declare that this leader and his entourage had no idea who Joseph was which means that they had forgotten or did not care about their history.  The plan to limit the number of Israelites was a one-sided plan that offered nothing but hardships for the children of Israel and this plan had only one goal and that was to kill off – through labor means – as many as possible so that the leaders of Egypt would stay firmly in control if some outside force arose against them.  The plan was drawn up with precision and then set into motion that deemed it necessary for Pharaoh to personally oversee the progress of the work that was entailed in this plan.  The plan had two purposes one of selfish means which was represented by the fact that the Israelites would be forced to build elaborate cities for Pharaoh and the second part of the plan involved the potential annihilation of Israel through the process of such progression and growth, a gruesome task with defined results, one that was not thought about from all sides and one that clearly did not believe in the Word of God.

As time passed, the Egyptian rulers found out that as their evil plan to disrupt the livelihood of the Israelites they became stronger in unity and while the natural course of the life cycle took hold, their numbers did not decrease so additional measures had to be redefined and itself made stronger.  Verse 12 of this chapter states that: “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.  And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.”  A profound verse that should have ended these hideous operations against God’s people and should have forewarned Pharaoh and his taskmasters to stop fighting them and to accept their lives as a part of their own and change policies towards such environment.

But as we see in verse 13, the Egyptian geniuses did not figure this process out and instead pushed harder to complete their plan against God and His children, an early mistake that invokes more anger from the humans.  The Egyptians turn towards a harder labor process and the taskmasters were now allowed to turn their frustrations out on the children of Israel beating them and referring to them as slaves and treating them as such.  The days of a “9-5 work day” were now over and the masters could work them as long as they wished in the name of the Egyptian laws.

Exodus 1:14 gives us a harsh reality picture of just how hard Pharaoh had made it for the children of Israel, for every aspect of building was now under their job description along with all of the other services that the Israelites needed in order to survive as well were included.  Provisions from the Egyptians were cut off and Israel had to now provide their own supplies, continue to build the demanded amount for the day and then go to their quarters and provide for their families.  Now, given these living conditions and working environments one would easily have a case of misrepresentation and could demand a review of how the “bosses” were handling issues but it was not like that during these times and when a Pharaoh spoke his words were treated as law and not questioned.  There were no laws in place to override what the Pharaoh commanded, thus no one to speak for the workers and the conditions that they were expected to complete each day.

The Egyptians act so much like disbelieving “humans” in this setting for they actually believe that their ideas of punishment, isolation, workings, bondage, and slave-like conditions would be effective against those who God watches over.  But one cannot help but think about how normal this position would be given the fact that the Egyptians did not wish to have the Israelites as their allies but considered them a big enough threat that they would turn against them if another enemy had asked them to fight. This type of manipulation was also witnessed in every era of human history when it came to those choosing to go against the people of God.  It does not matter who or which group we wish to refer, the goal is always the same to divide and to conquer those who wish to separate themselves from the world and live differently than the “normal and common” people. 

Throughout time, humans have chosen to believe the god of this world and to accept his ways of living.  Humanity could have settled the issues that plague us today millennia ago if we would have looked at ancient history, changed our hearts and followed God instead of listening to lies.  But, since we have refused to take a simple way out we must continue to prove the Bible correct and suffer incredible deviances by our own accord.  Today we are reliving another segregation concerning truth where we are actively and harshly pursuing to throw God out of our lives in turn for trying the same sugar coated lifestyle of the world. The godless ones have taken a hold of our hearts and are now allowed to produce their agendas onto and into our ways of society.  Without question, we are living in the same type of setting as the children of Israel did when they went from heroes to slaves in a matter of some period of time.  God cannot decrease by any means possible, yet He allows our minds to choose to live under this truth or to live in slavery according to the ruler of the world. 

However, we must take into consideration a huge detail about God, a detail that the Egyptians forgot about and a detail that so many governments have discredited for centuries and that is God is a consistent God and He shall always override ANY government or individual that takes His children into captivity.  The hilarious result of such grave worldly in an increase in God both on the physical aspect of humanity and in the personal inner lives of His children as well.  It does not matter how hard humanity tries to displace God and His Ways, God always increases which means life increases and since life is the eternal definition of God that means He advances in all aspects of our existence too.  I hope and pray that we wake up and realize this truth about God before He has to once again remind us of who He exactly is.  Not even the deaths of first born children completely broke Pharaoh’s heart and it took him and his army drowning in the Red Sea in order for Egypt to fully surrender the notion of captivity for the children of Israel.  God asks us, does He have to demonstrate this watery grave again or any other disaster to grab our attention completely?

I cannot stress enough the importance of the truth about increasing no matter how hard the enemy tries to suppress, all throughout God’s Word, He has made it clear that His love can only be understood if obeyed and followed on His pure and holy level, not on one that is flawed and sinfully selfish.  The sole direction of God is to go forward and to increase, it is His Divine nature and definition He can do nothing but increase.  Even when we try to increase our own status before Him He automatically increases, for God and His definition does not know what the meaning of decrease is.  It is this truth alone that eternally states that if anyone goes against God’s Ways they are in serious trouble for when we elevate our thinking – or believe we have done such a thing – we are in direct conflict and in complete violation of the Covenant God has with His children.  It is this basic principle of Kingdom that we need to understand if we are to grasp the importance of our existence and the reason why God loves us in the manner that He does.

It is this principle that one can witness to the dying world as well, for God is an active and alive God and one who defines Himself through increase then that is what His existence shall produce which means that His Kingdom shall advance through our lives and existence as a reciprocal to the kingdom we represent.  A hard statement but when one says that God is love, love, love yet does not witness and convert people for God’s Kingdom, they are telling a lie!  See, if Satan believes that you have the potential to share the true meaning of the Gospel of Christ to someone, he will not be too concerned if you do just that through false beliefs that he has indoctrinated into your life.  But if you really mean that God is Love and are willing to share this truth with others, it is a guarantee that you will have an ugly fight on your hands and heart.  Just a quick question, all of these rallies, protests, and other organized meetings how many converts to Christ has there been?  Is Christ even represented even though “God is Love” “Love Trumps Hate” signs dominate such activities?  I honestly and truly would like to know if anyone came to Christ during these events, or were they just another imitation rally and “service” as many of our churches offer today. There is no increase here!

Church, we have fallen into this same trap that the world has so willingly provided and it is imperative that we understand how our acceptance of such sin shall lead us down a pathway of destruction, a permanent loss that we shall never recover from again.  It is not God’s desire to wake us up according to Biblical measures but He is a consistent God and shall do what He must in order to save His prized creations from an eternal damnation.  The world seeks to end the truth about God and His Ways, but as we have heard what God has said to us in this article, His providences shall never go away and will continue to grow even if mankind deems Him irrelevant.  No matter what the world and its ruler may convince us to do against God, He shall always have the final say with the advancement of His Kingdom.  In each timeline, God has proven Himself to be eternal and His Ways are the only ones that have been proven over the tests of these timelines.  There is only one way that we can be sure of or eternal existence and that is to understand fully God’s Ways and to guide our lives by these ways at all times.  Even in times of persecution and devastation God’s Word shall always prevail, serve as the beacon to which all mankind is saved, and increase in majesty no matter what lies are told.

DLB