Be Fruitful and Multiply in a Barren Body
             The Old Testament is full of stories dealing with issues of man's relationship with the Supreme Creator of the Universe. It is a hard concept to try to understand a world so much unlike our own, because of the existence of a much more "down to Earth" God. This is a world in which God talks to people, gives orders directly, and takes on human like characteristics. In these books, God judges on an almost immediate basis; he punishes people right after their sins and rewards those who appease him with little delay, showing a direct correlation of cause and effect. Still, reading the Bible from an objective point of view, understanding the reasoning behind God's actions is still an extremely hard task to undertake. God appears inconsistent by our standards, so sometimes we can only touch on the surface of the reasoning behind some of his actions using verses from the rest of the Bible as possible explanations for this seemingly strange behavior.
             One of the harder concepts to grasp is Gods actions regarding the Matriarchs, the mothers who, in turn, will spawn the entire Jewish nation. God makes it so the Matriarchs, meaning Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel, all seem to start out unable to bear children. Each, in turn, after suffering their individual plights, eventually give birth to the next generation of leaders. The obvious question to ask here would be why God would make each of these righteous women suffer in order be able to give birth. This all coming after he promises Abraham that his seed will continue and be as numerous as the sand and stars. Also, God creates this barrenness after commanding his people "to be fruitful and multiply". This essay will attempt to clear up some of these discrepancies using verses in the bible to explore the themes behind barrenness and being "fruitful".
             "And God blessed them, and God said to them, b...