Questions From Readers

● What is meant by a token fulfillment of the procreation mandate? Is not its fulfillment to be more than just a token?—A. L., United States.

The general mass of mankind, “those who practiced vile things,” will not be brought into the new world by resurrection until the thousand-year reign is well along and paradisaic conditions have overspread the earth. (John 5:28, 29; Luke 23:43, NW) It is the survivors of Armageddon that will join in carrying out the command to “be fruitful and become many and fill the earth” with righteous offspring. But their fulfilling of this command cannot be understood to mean populating the earth to completeness, for that would leave no room for the resurrected multitudes that are to come.—Gen. 1:28, NW.

Hence, rather than a complete fulfillment of the procreation mandate it is a token fulfillment. It will constitute a token of what God could accomplish. It will demonstrate Jehovah’s power to populate the earth with a righteous race by means of human procreation, as purposed at the time of creation. We have an example of such a token fulfillment in Noah’s perfect number of generations (10 × 7 = 70) after the flood. (Gen. 9:1) So the filling of the earth by the other sheep surviving Armageddon will betoken or represent or demonstrate Jehovah’s power to accomplish the procreation mandate in this way, and hence may be called a representative fulfillment or a token fulfillment, but not a complete one that would leave no room for the later resurrection of “those who practiced vile things.”