The Birth Dearth
We are now living in a post birth-focused world. This has created what is called a birth dearth. In a recent article titled “Birth Rate Poses Looming Economic Cloud” published by an online news publication called Prophecy News Watch, it is stated that the countries of the world as China, Japan, Russia, as well as Europe and even South America and the United States are all suffering from the reduction in the size of families.
The result has and will continue to effect the economy in a great way.The article comes from the book What to Expect When No One is Expecting by Jonathan V. Last. He lays out the case that fewer people are choosing to have children, which means that Social Security and Medicare will become less stable as more and more people begin to draw benefits and fewer are paying in. In Japan it is said that due to the lack of births in the last generation “they sell more adult diapers there than baby diapers.”
The same article mentions Mark Regenerous, who is associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, as well as a faculty research associate of the university’s Population Research Center. He stated, “The future is banking on there being people to populate it.” He also said that “…young-to-middle-age adults are the economic drivers, creators, and frankly they pay the bill for the promises we’ve made to our senior citizens and the poorest among us. The more we promise, and the longer we live, the larger labor force we need, or else the higher taxes need to be raised.”
The one bright spot that Mr. Last noted was that in regard of religious families, He said, “People who are having a lot of kids now are the ones who end up inheriting the earth.”
In the following message I would like to point you to God’s Word the Bible on the subject of family planning- that is, for Christians to purposefully and prayerfully plan for the Bible mandate to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, for Christian couples to do everything in their power to purposely have a large family in a world that promotes the opposite.
What does God say in His Word concerning this idea of couples having children?
I. God commands us to have large families.
This is God’s mandate clearly given to our human race, and it has never been rescinded. Adam and Eve were commanded to have as many children as possible.
Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…”
II. The command to have children was given both before and after the flood. It was given both before the fall of man as well as after the fall.
John Wesley writes concerning this mandate that this verse speaks of. He writes, “A numerous lasting family to enjoy this inheritance; pronouncing a blessing upon them, in the virtue of which, their posterity should extend to the utmost corners of the earth, and continue to the utmost period of time.
Keep in mind that Mr. Wesley himself came from a family where he was one of nineteen children.This command was given to Noah and the future race. Genesis 9:1 states, “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Genesis 9:7, “And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
III. The plan to have a large family was practiced by the Patriarchs.
The patriarchs obeyed this command. God told the patriarchs of the Bible to have children and they obeyed.
A. Abraham was encouraged at God’s plan for him to have many children.
God promised to use his family to bless all families in the future. Genesis 12:3 states, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” God’s promises to Abraham were a great blessing to him.
Genesis 15:5-7. “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
Genesis 17:6-7, “And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”
Genesis 22:17-18 “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
B. Notice the desire of Isaac for the Patriarch Jacob.
All through the Bible having large families were considered a great blessing from God. See Genesis 28:3. “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee.”
This was considered a definite blessing from the Lord for Jacob to have many children from God’s good hand as possible. See Genesis 28:14. ” And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
Genesis 35:11, “And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.”
We can learn from this verse that because God is Almighty, we can trust him with the help to raise large families.
C. Look at Joseph’s attitude about his children.
Joseph counted his two sons as two huge blessing from the Lord. See Genesis 41:52. “And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Notice that Joseph did not state this until God gave him two sons.
IV. Large Families are encouraged in the Psalms.
David wrote about this subject.
A. Children are considered by the Psalmist as an heritage and a blessing from God.
Psalms 127:3-5 says, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.”
Notice some perceptions of this great psalm. Notice in this psalm of David that…
B. Lots of children are encouraged and to be sought after as a “reward” from God.
C. Large families give strength to one’s testimony for the Lord. Notice they make a “mighty” or strong testimony.
D. Next, large families make “happy” fathers and mothers.
Why? The reason is that parents experience God’s hand in caring for a child’s needs through parents who seek the Lord, parents who seek God’s wisdom and provisions to raise them.
E. In this same psalm we see that large Christian families are a definite threat to the Devils kingdom.
“As arrows are in the hand” This means God has tools in his arsenal to send to the fields of the world as workers in His kingdom to snatch lost souls from the fires of His wrath.
F. We also see in this psalm that numerous offspring are a testimony of God’s power to oversee the entire family in adverse situations in life. We note that God defends large families just as powerfully as he does any individual. “They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.”
G. We also see in Psalm 128 that large families are both encouraged and considered a blessing from God. See Psalm 128:3. “Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table”
H. We realize God’s blessing means the multiplication of children. Psalms 107:38, “He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.”
V. Job gives us an illustration of a man greatly blessed with a very large family.
Ten children were given by God to Job before his test, and ten more children were given to Job after his test and the death of the first ten children.
Job 1:2, “And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.”
Job 42:12-13,”So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters.”
VI. Large families were also clearly promoted in the prophets.
A. In Isaiah we see the earth was made for people. See Isaiah 45:18, “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.”
B. In Jeremiah we note large families are a means to bear fruit unto God. See Jeremiah 23:3. “And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.”
C. Also in Jeremiah, God Himself encourages the births of Jews in the Holy Land after their return from exile. See Jeremiah 31:27, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.”
D. In Malachi we see God encourages couples both to marry and have a Godly seed. Malachi 2:15, “And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.”
Would it not be treacherous for a man to refuse to allow his wife to have a large family of children? Is this the reason some men cannot maintain a marriage? I suggest it is.
VII. Large Families are encouraged in the New Testament.
In the New Testament, large families are definitely encouraged. Jesus Himself taught never to forbid children. Matthew 19:13-14 states, “Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Mark 10:14 also says, “…when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”
We must have them first so not to forbid them later.
Could it be that this generation places little value on children because Christians prevent them and purposefully plan not to have them? Thank God that Mary and Joseph did not practice abortion. They could have tried to save their own lives and let Herod attempt to kill Jesus.
Matthew 2:16,18 says,”Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men…In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
Jesus gives his heart for the children. See Matthew 23:37. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
Peter preaches about God’s promise for our children. Acts 2:39 states, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
Our children can not receive God’s promises if we choose not to have them.See Isaiah 44:3-4. “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.”
Paul encouraged the idea of having lots of children. Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 12:14, “… seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.” Our best social security is through our family.
Concerning pastors in 1 Timothy 3:4, “One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity”
Notice, it is assumed that pastors have children, plural. See again in Titus 1:6, “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
Notice concerning widows in 1 Timothy 5:10.
“If she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.
Concerning younger women, see 1 Timothy 5:14,
“I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”
There is no greater blessing to a Christian than having faithful children.
Titus 2:4. “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children”
A woman can’t love children until she is willing to have them.
Notice, children are a gift.
Hebrews 2:13. “And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.”
God does not want us to walk in the lies of the Devil, but instead to allow for children to come to this planet, and teach them to know and serve their Creator.
3 John 1:4 states, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”
Now, in regard to the dearth of births today, even among professing Christians, we have looked all through the Bible at God’s plan for people to have large families on purpose. We saw that God commanded families to multiply both before and after the flood, and also both before and after the fall. We saw that the Bible Patriarchs anticipated lots of children in their families. The Psalms encourage large families as well. We have seen that large families are clearly to be considered a blessing from God as well as “an heritage.” We also looked at children being sought after as a reward from the Lord. Large families also add strength to one’s testimony and give cause for happiness in one’s family. They give one a large arsenal to shoot at the devil’s kingdom to rescue souls from the burning. They are an aid to overcome adversity. Large families have always been a way for lives to be fruitful as members of the race. We also saw that Job was blessed with twenty children, ten before his great test and ten after the second time he was blessed. Lastly, we looked at places large families are encouraged in the New Testament for Christian couples by Jesus, Peter, and Paul, and that we as John should rejoice when we have them and they walk in the truth of the Word of God. We saw that large families without a doubt are definitely encouraged in the New Testament for Christian couples.
Closing~
Now, in closing, I want to look at some examples of additional people in the Bible who had large families.
Sarah through Isaac
Genesis 17:16. “And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.”
If you personally can’t have more children, you can encourage your children to have more. Sarah could only have one child, but she did not prevent her son from the idea of having as many as he could.
Look at some additional examples of the blessing that goes with having large families on purpose.
God’s promise to Ishmael
Genesis 17:20 states, “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.”
Consider Shemei who multiplied children.
1 Chronicles 4:27 says, “Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah.” Notice that Shimei did not just have a large family, but he also taught his children the value of having large families.
See Hannah
The great Prophet Samuel came from a large family. Notice concerning Hannah.
1 Samuel 2:21. “And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.
Notice how happy she was at the birth of the first born Samuel!
1 Samuel 2:1-5 “And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.”
God’s Blessing to Obededom
God’s blessing to Obededom was directly related to having a large family.
2 Samuel 6:11. “And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his household.”
1 Chronicles 13:14. “And the ark of God remained with the family of Obededom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obededom, and all that he had.”
1 Chronicles 26:4-5 “Moreover the sons of Obededom were, Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethaneel the fifth, Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peulthai the eighth: for God blessed him.”
Consider Heman
1 Chronicles 25:5-6, “All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. AndGod gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king’s order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.”
So the question for us is this- if God has a blessing to give to you, are you willing to receive it? There is a birth dearth in the world. Children are no longer wanted like they were in the days of old. Families are getting smaller, and the family itself is going extinct. Isn’t it time we lay aside self will and self service and raise a generation of children for the kingdom of Christ? Don’t you think it is time to trust the Lord for our families needs and for their futures? We need our hearts turned and our lives changed, and we need to allow God to use our homes, and allow for the lives of the multitudes of names and faces that could have been had we allowed God to bless us the way He wanted to. I encourage you to trust the Lord for another child. Then you may realize this great heritage, this wonderful blessing, that God wants to give you-that helper who will help you when you are old, That arrow you may by God’s grace use to attack the gates of hell.
You will be glad you did.
Isaiah 58:12 states, “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”
Luke 1:1-18, “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
In these last days, we learn that the all out attack of the Devil is upon marriage and the idea of having large Christian families.
1 Timothy 4:3, “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”
The Devil really hates topics like these.
Maybe you are having a hard time with it as well. May I encourage you to trust the Lord and allow those little blessings to come into this world and trust God for the help and wisdom you need to care for them. Do not deprive yourself of what God wants to give you, and a major blessing that you can receive from his hand.
Turn the birth dearth into a bounty of births, and you will be so glad you did.
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