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From the very first letter of the Bible and the Hebrew Torah, God is telling us what all the rest of the Bible is about. The very first letter of the very first word in the Hebrew Torah is the letter bet in the word Breshieyt. The letter bet in Hebrew means house. You can see this in the name Bethlehem which means “House of Bread” as well as in Bethel which means “House of God”.
Bet means house, but when an ancient Hebrew man “built his house”, he wasn’t constructing a building. An ancient Hebrew man would build his house by taking a wife and having children. So, rather than house, we should be thinking household. God is building His household from the first letter in His Word.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Ephesians 5:25-27
We can see beautifully in this verse from Ephesians where Jesus, the Son of God, takes the church to be his bride as well as in Revelations below.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
Revelation 19:7-9
God, the Father, is building His house (household) by taking us, the church, as a bride for His Son. This isn’t a new plan that appeared for the first time in the New Testament. We see this pattern in Genesis when Abraham sends his servant Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac. Read this portion from Genesis with this in mind: Abraham represents God the Father. Eliezer represents the Holy Spirit. Isaac represents Jesus the Son. Rebekah represents the Bride of Christ who would be the church.
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
Genesis 24:1-4
Now, God the Father who is the Ancient of Days said to the Holy Spirit, “You shall go to my country and to my relatives (children of God) and take a wife for my Son, Jesus.”
Now, if you haven’t read that whole section of scripture, it is a good read. We know that Eliezer found Rebekah to be a wife for Isaac. The Holy Spirit is searching for open hearts among us today to find more and more people to add to the church who will be the bride of Christ.
Now, let’s back up to Genesis chapter 1. We are just going to look at the first part of that verse.
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it;
Genesis 1:28a
There are four commands from God to mankind in this scripture.
The command in the natural is obvious. Man is to be fruitful and productive. Man is to multiply and have children. Man is to fill the earth and spread out. Man is to subdue the earth.
Now, let’s look at this as a spiritual command. We must be spiritually fruitful and exhibit the fruits of the Spirit. We should be multiplying and filling the earth with disciples or spiritual progeny. We should be bringing new Christians into their own spiritual rebirth. Filling the earth also speaks to our need to support the mission field as we can. Finally, we must subdue the spiritual forces that come against the church.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen
Matthew 28:18-20
If you look closely, you may see that Matthew 28:18-20 is Genesis 1:28 backwards!
Jesus says that all authority has been given to Him. Therefore, we are to use His Name to subdue spiritual forces.
Next, He tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. This is how we spiritually multiply and fill the earth.
Finally, He tells us to teach them (our new baby Christians) to observe all that Jesus has commanded us. This is how we become spiritually fruitful.
We all need to be spiritually pregnant. Each and every Christian should be in expectation like an expectant mother that a newborn Christian is coming soon.
God’s desire is for His House to GROW! We can see that in the first Hebrew letter He chose to open His Word. We can see that in the portion of scripture where Eliezer chooses Isaac’s bride. We can see that in Revelation at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Why did God create the heavens and the earth? To build His house (household)
Why did God create man? To build His house (household)
Why did God send Jesus to suffer and die? To build His house (household)
It’s all about God’s house! It has always been about God’s house. It has always been about God’s desire to bring as many people into His house as possible.
It’s about those of us who are the bride of Christ birthing new Christians to increase God’s household. The longer we go between births, the less comfortable we should be.
From the first Hebrew letter, bet meaning house, in Genesis to the last Hebrew letter, nun meaning life, in Revelation, we see God’s plan. Those who become a part of God’s house will receive eternal life.
From the first word, bresheiyt meaning in the beginning, to the last word in Revelation which is amen, we see God’s plan. As it was in the beginning, let it be so. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God’s plan hasn’t changed.
From the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible, it’s all about God building His house!
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Revelation 22:17
Bride, you need to be inviting people to the wedding supper of the Lamb. Have you invited someone to “come” recently? What are you waiting for?
It’s time to birth some new baby Christians for the Father, but don’t forget about those you’ve already birthed. This world has gone crazy. Call them. Check in on them.
We need to protect our spiritual children with prayer, counsel, mentorship, education, and discipleship. The adversary is after new and weak Christians more than ever before… or so it seems.
It has ALWAYS been the admonition of the church to disciple for a lifetime, but that is more critical now than ever before.
Get expecting! Get birthing! Get discipling!