God’s Pattern of Creation across the Canon

By Mark Brians

Note: this article is a precursor to Mark’s full article, available through Logos

Many are familiar with the stories of multiplication in Scripture. For instance, God takes the very small stores of the widow of Zarephath and multiplies them, making them last miraculously until the end of the drought (1 Kgs 17:8–16). Or during Elisha’s ministry, the Lord provides an increase for a widow who cannot pay her creditors. Elisha instructs her to gather jars from all her neighbors and to begin pouring what little oil she had—only a small amount—into the empty vessels. God grants a multiplication and the oil from the widow’s cruet does not stop flowing until the last jar is filled and her debts are paid (2 Kgs 4:1–7). One thinks of the many other accounts in which God takes something small and makes it more: the sheep of Jacob’s flock (Gen 30:25–43), the Hebrew birthrate after the death of Joseph (Exod 1:6–10), the doubled restoration of Job’s household (Job 42:10–17), and the large catches of fish (Luke 5:1–11; John 21:1–6), and many others.

These are the kinds of Bible stories which make for great children’s Sunday school lessons. I remember growing up with the Betty Lukens flannelgraph boards and being fascinated by the large images of nets of fish, filled pots, flocks, and other kinds of provision. The lesson was clear to me: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God who takes small things and multiplies them, making them great.

Perhaps the most famous multiplication stories are those in which Christ feeds the multitudes with naught but handfuls of bread and fish (Matt 14:13–21; 15:32–39; Mark 6:31–44; 8:1–9; Luke 9:12–17; John 6:1–14). I remember the shock, the joy, and the wonder hearing the stories as a child and whispering under my breath “…and twelve baskets full afterwards!?”

Is there a purposeful pattern to these stories of multiplication? Growing up and reading, and re-reading over and over again these stories of multiplication, it began to become clear to me that these events were not just exceptional curiosities in the drama of Scripture, few in number but marvelous to hear. They were, rather, more profound. Deeper.

Read the full article here.

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Mark Brians is the rector of All Saints Anglican Church, in urban Honolulu. His has written for various digital and print publications including Reading Religion, Themelios, Christianity & Literature, Canadian Journal of American Studies, and the Theopolis Institute blog. He is a contributor to the recent Theology and Tolkien (Lexington, 2023), edited by Douglas Estes, and a co-author with Drew Knowles of a forthcoming Theopolis Exploration volume on Hospitality (Athanasius Press).