A long time ago, in a blog far, far away — in other words, lost in one of my old blogs’ archives — I’ve written a variety of things regarding the early chapters of the Book of Genesis. I plan to eventually migrate that content over to KingdomGeek:Disciple, but until then, I want to keep those types of posts coming as I think of them because I can’t help but find the Book of Genesis — especially chapters one through eleven — captivating.
Let’s start out with Genesis 4.
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” The Book of Genesis, 4:1
Adam [amp] Eve are famous for their disobedience. Their names are virtually synonymous with the forbidden fruit, with original sin. That’s understandable enough — what transpired in the garden of Eden fundamentally changed humanity.
But what we have here in the first verse of the fourth chapter of the first book of the Bible is obedience, obedience to the command issued in Genesis 1:28 to “Be fruitful and multiply.”
To this command, there has never been a retraction issued by the Lord. “Be fruitful and multiply.” It was the command given to Adam [amp] Eve — to humanity as a whole with our first parents as our representatives. The command was reiterated to Noah [amp] his family (Genesis 8:17), with them again being representative of humanity. And again, there is no retraction of the command.
Be fruitful. Multiply. Fill the earth.
That’s interesting, isn’t it? Just think of some of those early families. These were typically not families of one or two; families grew to be quite large. It was seen as a sign of God’s blessing. “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord,” Eve declared. Children then were seen for what they truly are: little bundles of joy from Heaven… or, more properly, they were a heritage of the Lord.
If Christianity entails having the mind of Christ — conforming our worldview to that of the Lord’s as described in the Scriptures — then doesn’t it make sense that we as Christians view families as God does?
The world says that families should be planned and that any method — condoms, morning after pills, even abortion — be used to stick to the plan. Contrariwise, God says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Psalm 127:3).
The world says that small families are best, that two is all you need, but God says, “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. 5Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” (Psalm 127:4–5).
The world says that we can slaughter our unborn, selfishly sending souls into eternity to suit our own damned agendas. Yet God unequivocally declares, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days” (Deuteronomy 30:19–20).
But today, how many big families do you know? Off hand, the biggest family I think I know personally is the previous generation in my own, my dad having four siblings. While I don’t know her well, I’ve had some contact with Amy Scott, mother of six — I also read her blog; perhaps you should to!
How many “Israels” do you know today, though? Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Dan, Gad, Benjamin, Joseph, Issachar, Asher, Judah, Naphtali, and Zebulun. Those were his kids… well, the boys anyway.
I hope [amp] pray that God blesses me with multiple children. They are blessings to me from God for God, and knowing that, I cannot fathom how families — especially Christian families who should know these things — would want to somehow prevent such blessings.
More often than not it seems a matter of convenience, as mentioned before, and finances, but what would amaze some is just how little we actually need to survive and how much we could actually afford if we had our priorities in order.
We are living in a world wherein people, unlike Adam [amp] Eve, refuse to obey God’s command. Every conceivable method of avoiding obedience is used, including the wholesale slaughter of the unborn… and every conceivable excuse is used to justify not even trying to obey, the most common excuses being driven by our culture’s love affair with Mammon (1 Timothy 6:10).
I’m not saying birth control is a sin — unless, of course, it causes an abortion — but what I definitely am saying is that by doing down that route, you’re missing out on real life, tangible gifts from God and, perhaps more importantly and to the point, the opportunity to obey Him by being fruitful.
I encourage you, brethren, to take God’s commands, His wisdom to heart, trusting that He knows better than any of us how families ought to be “planned.”
As the hymn says, “Trust and obey for there’s no better way”!
It is certainly the desire of my heart, and my wife’s heart, to have a large family. It is unfortunate that many don’t conform their thinking to the Word of God. Children are a blessing, not a curse. There are always exceptions, and people need wisdom, however we must never view children other than how the Scriptures call us to.
I agree that children are a blessing from God. I also feel that if a married couple is walking the path set before them by the Lord, then they’ll have the right amount of children at the correct time. I don’t necessarily agree that “be fruitful and multiply” has to mean a large family. However if the Holy Spirit is nudging a couple to have another kid, they shouldn’t disobey that calling based on worldly excuses.
This also reminds me of those couples that are unable to conceive. Some of them just need a miracle so they can conceive anyway. Some of them can turn it into an opportunity to adopt a child who otherwise would grow up an orphan (oops, the politically correct term for orphan in the USA is “foster child” so my bad).
Thanks for the thought provoking post. God bless!
I think it’s good to have children, but if there’s no blessing then I guess that’s that.
Case in point: having been married 11 years, we’ve tried a few times to conceive but without success. It doesn’t really bother or disappoint us since we just take it that God deems that we are not to have children for some purpose, but it still gets to the flesh a little, y’know? Like when I see how seemingly easy it is for some to conceive or those with children enjoying family time, I get a little envious. ;-)
Both of us are getting on in years and it’ll now be dangerous to conceive. We might look at adoption later on, but for now it’s status quo and we spend our time, money and energies on other worthy issues.
On the worldview, it has always been an irksome thing to me that with the all-out rush to go green nowadays, even human lives can be sacrificed to save “mother earth”. Scientists tell us of our carbon footprints and some even go as far as to put a guilt trip on folks who buy into the farce that bringing another human being into the world will add to the demise of Gaia. It has even gone to the absurd level of seeing oneself as a “murderer of Gaia“!
All in all, it’s another form of rebellion against God’s commandments if we look at it from the Biblical perspective.
My blessings and congratulations to those who have children!
BTW, what a ‘coincidence’ that you are working through Genesis, I am too, but just haven’t found the time to pen my thoughts on some things I’ve learned so far, besides the one I did on Creation. :-( I do look forward to reading more of your perspectives on the same chapters!
Soli deo Gloria!
Hmm, coincidence or providence? :)
I agree with what you say regarding modern man’s love affair with Mother Earth; although, I guess such paganism has existence just about as long as man has. As much as I disagree with that mentality, it’s ironic that my favorite game is Final Fantasy VII and one of my favorite songs is “Blackened” by Metallica… both of which speak of the death of the planet by man’s hand. I guess it makes for good fiction. :)
Don’t know if you saw it or not, but my second Genesis post is up.
Some people would like to have more than 1 or 2 children, but can’t handle that many children. I think you should have children, but you should have the mother can handle. Some people like the Duggers can handle 19 children, others can only handle 2. It doesn’t mean that people don’t want children. I agree that children are a blessing, but you should have what you can handle, particularly the mother who is home with the child all day!