The First Command?

I'm not exactly sure where the thinking set in within our Western materialistic 'melting pot' American culture, but it seems today that the average American family has 2.6 (1998) people in it.

2.6 people? I assume that means a Dad, a Mom, and .6 children. What is .6 children, exactly? Well, of course, you statisticians and math majors out there would be quick to remind me that these figures would easily break down and reveal the details of family life that contain whole people in families, most of which have 1 child. (To see the 'recent de-evolution' of the American family...it can't be evolution since that is supposed to mean "bigger, better, stronger, faster", etc.,...go to this link.

My question is this: just where did we come up with the figure of 1 child (or none as 40% must think) as the "perfect number" for the family? Sounds kind of Communistic to me. Don't get me wrong, I want parents to be responsible and I want kids to be taken care of, and I know that many people struggle to have children of their own (don't worry, God has a plan, and you are involved in it!), but maybe there are more creative ways than we care to think about when we come to this topic?

I remember hearing a couple of people comment on this topic in the last few years which has stuck in my mind. They said something like, "If people kept on having children like the "Bible times" we would have enough room or food!" Room? Has anyone recently looked at a map? Have you ever driven across Wyoming, or Iowa, or Texas? The space is endless, we have more ROOM than we even know what to do with! And food? I am all about feeding the hungry, but most food to third world countries seems to be bound by political chains rather than the people lacking the available nourishment. As technology continues to find more ways to increase plant production, America has to worry more about how much food it wastes rather than "Is there enough?" According to a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we waste 96 billion pounds of food in America each year. That turns out to be:

263,013,699 pounds of food wasted each day...
10,958,904 pounds wasted each hour...
182,648 pounds wasted each minute...
3,044 pounds of food wasted in America each second!

I'm not sure those two "commonly used" arguments have much weight. So why the .6? Please, understand that I know some would love children. I also know what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7 and elswhere, where he states that some people are going to be single and will not have children, and that is God's plan for them. But I'm not talking about the minority here, I am talking about the majority of those on God's green earth.

And speaking of "Biblical times", how many people were around during the 1,600 years or so after Creation before the world-wide flood in the days of Noah? (Gen. 6-8; 2 Peter 3:5-6) It has been roughly estimated anywhere from the ultra-conservative 235 million to 6.5 billion or more. For a concise article on this,see this.. For another interesting article on this, longer and possibly not as reliable,see this.

I wonder what Adam's ancestors would have thought had he had only .6 children? (ok, let's round up to 1, which doesn't even get us anywhere since you need 2 to make another...see the problem...and yes, brother married sister, the "do not marry" rule did not occur until the days of Leviticus when our DNA became more and more infiltrated with bad mutations after over 2,000 years of 'copying'...copy your VHS 2,000 times over and throwing out the original each time and see how long it takes to get 'snow' in the picture!) Do you know how long it would take to "fill the earth" as God had commanded with no grandchildren?! This was His first command to the man made in His Image. He said:

ESV Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (again, math majors, knowing that the parents will eventually die, doesn't that put the family "2 in the hole", which means that having 2 kids is 'replacement', 3 kids 'addition', while 4 or more is to 'multiply'? Just a thought.)

But do you know what's really interesting, other than those being the first words of God to the first man and woman He created (in mature form, of course), is what God said to His creations just before the people He made in His image:

ESV Genesis 1:21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

Most of us know what happened on day (24 hour periods of time) 5...He created the water animals and the birds, according to their kinds (see an Answers In Genesis' article for a good working definition of "kinds" like this or this or a semi-technical article on a fairly new brand of research called baraminology here. Then He blessed them saying be fruitful, multiply, fill. Do you know that these creatures usually do not have .6 offspring. Think about it, how many offspring do birds usually have? One egg?

We had a Chickadee couple in the tin roof of the back door overhang at our vicarage house. They found a really interesting spot to mate, free from many predators. The only problem was the entrance/exit. It was very tough for the kids. See, Mom and Dad would fly straight North from a perched spot into a hole in the siding covering the bottom of the overhang. For a small baby bird, this was not only tough, it was really tough. We found that the parents did not only like their spot, they were adamate that de-evolution was NOT taking place in their 'kind'...see, of the first 2 "litters", I picked up 2-3 dead babies. But that didn't stop them. They had more by the time we were on our way out of that house. That's just one summer! It seems that these birds only need a matter of about 7 weeks to disperse, only 5 weeks from the time the eggs are laid. The nests generally range from 5-10 eggs at one time. That could produce up to 30 birds in one season (and we could probably suggest that a more southern place would allow for more time).

I know, the whale typically only has one or, at most, two at a time. But they also bear 'after their kind' every year once reaching maturity. I don't think we should necessarily be 'chickadees' at 10 at a time or anything, I am just wondering where .6 came from? Why, after many wonderful years of marriage, do many people decide that 1 is all its gonna be? Again, I know some people have trouble having children, and their time may not be now. God can do all things, and he may have a plan of adoption for some people as well. Remember, we are in the business of Redeeming, just like our Savior.

But I'm not talking about those exceptions. I'm speaking about the majority who can and do (or do not) have children. Why .6?

Once, when the world's population was depleated to 8 (Noah and his family), God gave a similar command:

ESV Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

The earth is NOT full! (See links above) Besides, God also promises more:

ESV Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (for all you NIV lovers out there, the BDB [Hebrew Dictionary] says Psalm 127:3 referrs to both sexes=children, just for discussion purposes)

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior...blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! Hey, I not only believe this, I'm a part of it! My oldest son, Thomas, who is not very old, has been very quick to come to the aid of Mommy and Daddy after the birth of these new babies. He has done so many things, from keeping Josiah 'in the fold', to reminding Daddy that 'we need to get back to the hospital to help Mommy and the babies', to holding them, telling them he loves them, and even helping to push their cart down the hall. He covers them with blankets and comforts them with good words. He speaks of helping us take care of them and feed them, and he even made Daddy put the baby car seats in the van before we went to the hospital, three days before we needed them!

I'm not saying that we haven't prompted him on some of these things, but helping him understand and see what it means to be a big brother and love his younger brothers and sister is part of our job as well.

'Blessed is the man whose quiver is full' continues to ring in my mind and heart. I must also notice that this particular psalm does not seem to only indicate biological children. It does seem to speak towards the womb of the biological parents, but it doesn't rule out children that come from non-biological wombs. A child from another womb, needing a Mother and Father, can be just as much a blessing as the biological children, and equally just as blessed.

So, don't be bashful. Take care of business on ALL areas of life, especially the ones backed up by promises from the Creator and Sustainer of ALL THINGS...and don't forget, North Dakota, Wyoming, etc., are very UNpopulated. If you want to know for sure, check out this and check out the 1990 Population Density in the United States for a "night-time" satellite map of America. The white specs are the glows of "life" (not counting the Amish, of course...they're sleeping with no lights on in their communities, so we can rule them out of this mapping). Let me just say: there's a lot of black out there to FILL. I know how evangelism could get better: enlist and train more soldiers!

May God bless you as you have and teach your children about their Father, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

ESV Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.