As we begin a new year, I find it appropriate to go to the very beginning of the Bible and consider the original mandate that God gave mankind when He created the heavens and the earth. When God created men, He blessed them and commissioned them, saying: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it… (Genesis 1:28) 

These are four simple commands that God gave to humanity back then in the Garden of Eden, and they are still relevant for us today. 
 
Be Fruitful! 
“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15:8) 

Fruitfulness is a basic characteristic of every living being. According to the Oxford Dictionary “the capacity for growth and reproduction” is what defines life. It means fruitfulness is a basic call of God to all of us. 

The Bible gives us many ways to be fruitful. Of course, this initial calling includes the call to procreate, to establish families. But the parables of Jesus also compare the spread of the Good News of the Kingdom as a cycle of seed and harvest. Thus, making disciples is considered being fruitful with the Lord. And in Galatians, another kind of fruit is mentioned when Paul speaks about the character that the Holy Spirit wants to produce in our lives: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  

It means that God expects from us every year a tangible harvest of change and increase. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is very particular on this issue as he compares us to branches with Jesus being the vine (John 15). Fruitlessness has dire consequences, while fruitfulness is the ultimate goal and proof of our being close to Yeshua. 

Ask the Lord to make 2026 a year of great fruitfulness for you, your family, and your church. I pray that when we look back at the year 2026, we will be different people than we were last year. We want Yeshua to be seen ever more clearly in us. 
 
Mulitiply! 
“But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:8) 

Multiplication and increase are God’s will and mandate for mankind. There are several parables of Jesus which speak about this. In the above parable, the Sower experiences a harvest of one hundredfold, sixty and thirty. Also, the parable of the talent shows that God expects a multiplication of the talents which God has given us. 

Multiplication is a blessing of God. The first commandment in Genesis 1 is initiated by Him. “… and the Lord blessed them…” The great psalmist King David wrote: “He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly …” (Psalm 107:38). The Bible is clear that the increase of numbers in families and nations in biblical times was regarded as a sign of divine favour. And God encourages Israel to ask for multiplication!  

“Thus says the Lord God: ‘I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock.’” (Ezekiel 36:37) 

Ask the Lord for 2026 to become a year of multiplication; that God will give increase to your family, personal life, church or ministry. 
 
Fill the earth! 
For God, there is no limit to increase. In Isaiah, the prophet foresees that the government of the Kingdom of Messiah will have no end (Isaiah 9:7). It means we will never reach the limit of God’s capabilities. He still can add to the little or to the much we might have. 

To Abraham, He promises that the multitude of his descendants will be like the sand of the seashore and the stars in the heavens. Today, we are able to calculate the approximate number of stars that exist in the heavens. Astronomers currently estimate there are some 10²³ stars in the Universe. This compares roughly to 100 trillion stars per person on earth. It means Abraham’s faith could never outperform God’s capabilities. Therefore, the prophets could see the whole earth filled with the glory of God. 

Abraham’s vision of impact was that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And this is the vision that Jesus extended to the Church. Every tribe and every nation are to be reached with the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, even to the ends of the earth (Matthew 24:14; 28:19; Acts 1:8; Revelation 7:9). So let us “fill the earth!” 

Ask the Lord to receive in 2026 a vision from Him that will be large enough to give God the glory. 
 
Subdue it! 
Here we see something interesting! Even in the perfect environment of the Garden of Eden, something in nature required Adam and Eve to subdue it. We can only speculate how this unfolded in that original sinless world of Eden, but the following chapters describe how sin, rebellion and bloodshed entered and spoiled Creation. The consequences were a breakdown of relationships, of increased pain, and of hindering factors like the weeds, thorns and thistles which sprang up in the world. Nature became wild and “that every intent of the thoughts of (man’s) heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).  

You might be wondering why I expect you to believe in a mandate that stems from the Garden of Eden. It seems so counterintuitive in our present-day world. And indeed, it is true that the challenges of today are growing every year. 

Today, we are witnessing an alarming growth in antisemitism, especially in Western countries, that is unprecedented since the early Nazi era. Not only is it disturbing to see large pro-Hamas demonstrations staged in many cities across the world, but it is even more troubling in some ways tom witness the strong anti-Israel sentiments which can now be found today in churches, even in Evangelical circles. Many pastors are boldly boasting in an unprecedented manner about being adherents to Replacement theology and taking pride in sharply criticising Israel. 

In the United States, the bulwark of Christian love and support for Israel in recent generations, for the first time it seems their support is crumbling, especially among the younger people. Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and the ultra-nationalist figure Nick Fuentes have become powerful voices for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric within the mainstream of the conservative camp. Some of these powerful influencers of public opinion are known to be on the Qatari payroll and may have ulterior motives, but others seem to attack Israel for very personal reasons. 

And on top of all of this, we are watching the foundations of Judeo-Christian values, which helped build enlightened, democratic societies, start to rapidly dissolve before our eyes. Freedom of speech is under threat in a number of surprising countries, and churches have often withdrawn into a religious bubble, lacking answers for the challenges of the modern-day world.  

In light of all these new challenges, one is tempted not to think of growth, multiplication and reaching the end of the world, but rather we try to strengthen our fortresses.  

In Genesis 22:17, we read: “[B]lessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.” 

Multiplication in the face of the enemies standing against us! Not just survival is promised, but as Jesus proclaimed to Peter, the “gates of hell” shall not overcome us, but rather he calls on us to possess them. This was the very blessing spoken to Abraham concerning Israel, a blessing which all the evil intended by Pharaoh could not stop, for the more the Israelites were oppressed the more they multiplied. 

There is a great mystery to how the Church grows stronger even in times of much adversity. Iran, China and even the Russian free churches during the Soviet era are clear examples of this phenomenon. The Book of Genesis also describes how Isaac started sowing even in a season of severe drought in the dry area of Gerar, which is today near the Gaza border. The word of God says that in spite of the adversity of drought, Isaac harvested 100-fold that same year. That is fruitfulness on a miraculous level. 

That also is exactly what the prophet Jeremiah foresees:  

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, 
And whose hope is the Lord. 
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, 
Which spreads out its roots by the river, 
And will not fear when heat comes; 
But its leaf will be green, 
And will not be anxious in the year of drought, 
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”  (Jeremiah 17:7-8) 

At the beginning of this new year, I want to encourage you that even though you might face adversity in your personal spiritual life, in your family, regarding your finances, or even your health situation, we must proclaim in face of these adversities that by the grace of God in 2026 will make this a year of fruitfulness, multiplication and vision. 

If God is with us, we are unstoppable, as all authority in heaven and earth has been given to our Lord Jesus, and we are seated with Him in heavenly places.  

Please join me in expecting great things from God in the new year of 2026. May you bear much fruit, may it multiply and spread, may you pursue fresh visions from the Lord, and may you reach a new level of authority in Him.