The promise in 35:11, given by the all-sufficient God, is mainly for us to be fruitful and multiply. It seems that this resembles gospel preaching. Although there may be some similarity between this promise and gospel preaching, the preaching of the gospel today is a form of fruit-bearing. While preaching the gospel might be an outward activity, bearing fruit is an inward overflow of life. To be fruitful and to multiply means to bring forth children, to produce something out of the riches of your inner life. This can only happen through the overflow of the rich inner life.

Suppose we were all "monkeys" and God said, "Monkeys, be fruitful." If this were the case, a great many "monkeys" would be brought forth. Certainly, God does not desire this kind of multiplication. God wants the multiplication of Israel, not of Jacob. As we have seen, the name Israel has the Hebrew letters for God—El—in it. Our multiplication must be the multiplication of God. The "monkey" multiplication is not the multiplication of God because a "monkey" does not have the essence, the element, of God in it. It lacks the "El." But Israel contains some part of God. We need to be transformed for multiplication. Before Abram became Abraham, God never told him to be fruitful. If God had spoken this word before Abram had become Abraham, the natural man, not the transformed one, would have been multiplied. Only after Abraham had been circumcised and had experienced the changing of name did God promise to make him "exceeding fruitful" (17:6). It is the same with Jacob. In chapter twenty-eight, God did not promise Jacob that he would be fruitful and multiply. There, He only said that Jacob's seed would be as dust. But it is different in chapter thirty-five. Here, God promised Israel that he would be fruitful and multiply and that nations with kings would come out of him. This is not the multiplication of "monkeys," but of Israels.

In their gospel preaching, many Christians have brought forth "monkeys," which are not good for the church life. Do you want to have a multiplication of "monkeys"? No. We must have the multiplication of Israels. In order to have this, we need to be transformed from Jacob into Israel because only Israel can bring forth Israel. Hence, the promise in this chapter is based upon the fact of Jacob's being transformed. This also is for the building of God's house.

Although I brought some people to the Lord before I came into the church life, none of them came into the church life. I brought them into Christianity, but, as hard as I tried, I could not bring them into the church life. But after I entered into the church life, hundreds of others who were brought to the Lord in my early preaching not only came to salvation, but also entered into the church life. You may say, "Brother Lee, before you came into the church life, you were Jacob, and, thus, you brought forth other Jacobs." That is right. But after I came into the church life and experienced transformation, nearly all those whom I brought to the Lord became the material for the building of the local church life, for the building of the house of God. There is a great difference between gospel preaching and this kind of multiplication. We are not merely preaching the gospel by carrying on certain outward activities; we are living the church life to bring forth the proper fruit for the church life.

Notice that verse 11 does not say that this multiplication is for Bethel. Rather, it indicates that it is for nations with kings. This reveals, or at least implies, that the proper church life must be the kingdom. The result of our multiplication must be the church life, and this church life must be the kingdom.

There is a problem with interpreting the phrase "a company of nations" in verse 11. How many nations actually came out of Jacob? Only the nation of Israel issued from him. However, in Hebrew the word translated "company" means a multitude. Furthermore, in 17:5 Abraham is called the "father of a multitude of nations" (Heb.). What are the many nations of which Abraham is the father? I do not believe that God counts the Arab nations because they are the descendants of Ishmael. Only one nation, the nation of Israel, has come out of Abraham. We need the whole Bible to develop any of the seeds found in the book of Genesis. Undoubtedly, Israel was a nation, a kingdom. The church, the millennium, and the New Jerusalem in eternity will also be kingdoms.

Even today, the church life must be a nation, a kingdom. Our multiplication must result in nations. This means that whatever fruit we bear must issue in the church life, which will be a genuine kingdom of God with kings. We are not only here for the church life, but also for the kingdom. For the church we do not need much discipline, but for the kingdom we need considerable discipline.

At the end of the Gospel of Mark, the Lord said to His disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15), and in the conclusion of Luke it is written, "That repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations" (Luke 24:47). But in Matthew 28:19, the Lord said, "Go therefore and disciple all the nations." The Gospel of Matthew is concerned with the kingdom, and in this Gospel the church life today is the kingdom. Matthew 16:18-19 indicates this: "On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens." In these verses the words church and kingdom are interchangeable. This reveals that the church is the kingdom and that the kingdom is the church. The church life today must be the kingdom. Because in Christianity there is no kingdom, it is true to say that in Christianity there is not the proper church. In Christianity there is no discipleship, no discipline. We must bear the fruit who will be genuine disciples, those who will come under the divine discipline so that the church life might truly be the kingdom. In the church life today, there is the need of discipline. If we do not accept this discipline today, how can we expect to reign during the kingdom age? If you have never been disciplined under God's authority, you will not know how to rule over the nations. The church life is a preparation for the kingdom, and in it we are now being disciplined to be Christ's co-kings.