These were the words spoken by God to the man and woman immediately following their creation, according to Moses (Gen. 1:26-28). Not only was stewardship of the earth entrusted to mankind, but part of this responsibility involved the blessing of procreation. God ordained marriage by bringing the two people, Adam and Eve, together and making them one flesh (Gen. 2:24-25); and numerous passages of the Sacred Text illustrate the many benefits of this special union from God--including the blessing of children (Psa. 127:3). Children are not required for marriages to be successful or for people to be happy, but the option for the married to have and raise children always exists with God's approval. When this original principle for the home was established, it became as immutably binding as other principles to which Jesus referred thousand of years after they were first given (Matt. 19:3-9). Of special interest is the fact that the procreative power of the home works in the context of man's dominion over the earth. In other words, being fruitful and multiplying and "filling the earth" (literally) is part of the plan for man's delegated dominion and part of what makes everything "very good" (Gen. 1:31). 

     You may be curious why I should say all this, since this is teaching of which you are most certainly convinced. However, not many days ago, I received an inquiry from a brother asking my thoughts on some recent quotes from prominent people in our culture about the growth of the population. Specifically, these men and women were expressing their disdain for marriage and the bearing of children (and the latter more than the first). For example, Bill Maher, the host of a talk-show on the HBO network, stated "I'm pro-choice, I'm for assisted suicide, I'm for regular suicide, I'm for whatever gets the freeway moving. That's what I'm for. It's too crowded, the planet is too crowded and we need to promote death." Maher's comment might be dismissed as a publicity stunt except that he joins a growing voice that the world just has too many people. Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, recently opined that "all of our problems are the result of overbreeding among the working class" and that "the most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." Many others have issued similar statements, but you do not have to read them all to get the point: the world is overpopulated and some form of population control is needed. 

     To read the many statements like these, it appears that two reasons primarily stand behind them. One is the selfish arrogance that believes "I am the most important person in the world" and the other is the assumption that a growing population is killing the earth. I believe that people should be educated to learn that pregnancy is the prerogative of the home (Heb. 13:4), and that men and women should abstain from intercourse until it can be shared exclusively with one's spouse (1 Cor. 7:1-9). However, to suggest that bearing children should be restricted for someone else's egocentrism or because it increases the world population is opposed to the pattern God established at the beginning. The words Moses recorded in Genesis show that (1) man is not here to be served but to be a servant and (2) God connected procreation with man's stewardship of the earth. Bearing children is not the mark of an evil person bent on destroying the planet, but the right of the husband and wife to raise "godly seed" (Mal. 2:15) on a planet that will be sustained by God until He ends it (2 Pet. 1:7). Sorry Bill Maher, but God said "be fruit and multiply." Let God be true and every man a liar. ~ David B. Smith