Genesis 1:28

[Samrod]

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

I've always understood this verse to mean that God blessed the human race with success in fertility, overcoming animals, so that they increased in large numbers. He also blessed them with dominion over the animals in verse 26.

But I heard a strange sermon last week that God actually blessed Adam with spiritual growth and that the "be fruitful and increase in number" was only a metaphor.

Have I misunderstood or is this teaching unbiblical?

 

[Aconba]

...

 

[Dutch42]

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

I've always understood this verse to mean that God blessed the human race with success in fertility, overcoming animals, so that they increased in large numbers. He also blessed them with dominion over the animals in verse 26.

But I heard a strange sermon last week that God actually blessed Adam with spiritual growth and that the "be fruitful and increase in number" was only a metaphor.

Have I misunderstood or is this teaching unbiblical?

(ESV)And God blessed them. And God said to them:'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue and it and have dominion over the fish, of the sea....-->

When I hear some like this.. and tells that this only is a metaphor I got always a strange feeling...

Who is telling this?

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

What are they saying that it's a metaphor for?

At any rate, it's not a metaphor.

 

[Goinheix]

whenever thw Bible goes methaforic otherwise is literal.
not wonder a pastor take a bible verse and make it say something else. pastor are trainned to do that.

 

[daydreamergurl15]

I don't think it could be a metaphor for spiritual growth because spirituality and the physical world was not yet disconnected. God walked in the garden, Genesis 3:8 before He punished them, and then when sin entered into the world--or until God punished them and banished them from the garden--that's where death came and a disconnection between the spiritual and physical. We then needed Christ to die for us to redeem us back to God. This world was (and probably still is, I don't know) was visited by those from Heaven (Angel, Angel of the Lord, Christ, ---sadly Satan and his demons) but on a more spiritual level, God redeemed is to God by His blood.

 

[ShemaYisrael]

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

I've always understood this verse to mean that God blessed the human race with success in fertility, overcoming animals, so that they increased in large numbers. He also blessed them with dominion over the animals in verse 26.

But I heard a strange sermon last week that God actually blessed Adam with spiritual growth and that the "be fruitful and increase in number" was only a metaphor.

Have I misunderstood or is this teaching unbiblical?

God blessed Adam and Eve with fertility, and gave them dominion (Heb. rdh) - a word with imperial and royal connotations in the Hebrew Bible.

The idea of a spiritual growth would not fit the context of this passage.

 

[WagginDog]

Let me toss you an idea. Dominion does not translate to spiritual growth, but dominion is a lot of spiritual work that requires spiritual maturity to accomplish. Naked Adam and Eve were told to take dominion, and this was part of their labor. It is also our labor to fight without using physical weapons. Their concerns were spiritual as are ours. They were given dominion over the birds and fish, but birds fly where they must out of necessity. Fish swim where they must without being put on a leash. Physically they were already dominated, but Adam was ordered to take dominion. God created all things and all things are physically already in his domain, but he desires that we take dominion spiritually and through spiritual means. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, and I'm suggesting Adam's weren't either. His mission was spiritual, too.