What is the importance of procreation according to the Bible?

Answer

In the first chapter of Genesis, God tells Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and increase in number” «And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. », (Genesis 1:28). This initial directive—which was also a blessing—that God gave humanity was to have children, to procreate. The same instruction/blessing, “be fruitful and multiply,” is reiterated to Noah’s family in Genesis 9:1 and 7 (ESV).

When God gave Adam and Eve the command to procreate, they were the only two individuals on the planet. They had been created “male and female,” their bodies designed for union and child-bearing «So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. », (Genesis 1:27), and God blessed them with fruitfulness. Procreation was crucial, as God’s plan was for humans, created in His image, to “fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (verse 28). Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives found themselves in a similar circumstance: they were the sole inhabitants on the earth. Therefore, God gave these eight individuals a comparable directive and the blessing of fruitfulness.

Procreation remains significant in modern times. One evident reason is that without procreation, humanity’s presence on this planet would cease. Additionally, having children is a divine gift. Various Scripture passages highlight children as a blessing, such as Psalm 127:3–5:

“Children are a heritage from the LORD,

offspring

Receiving a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are children born in one’s youth.

Blessed is the man

whose quiver is full of them.”

Procreation in a Christian family gives the parents the privilege of nurturing their own flesh and blood, with fathers bearing the primary responsibility to “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” «And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. », (Ephesians 6:4). Teaching one’s own children the commandments of Christ is a privilege and a joy.

None of this is to say that procreation is commanded of believers today. If “be fruitful and multiply” is an express command for all couples to bear children, we run into a problem. Unless we are willing to say that infertile couples are directly disobeying God, we cannot say that procreation is a command. Nowhere in Scripture is infertility condemned as a sin or labeled as a curse from God. Biblically, we can please God and bring Him glory whether or not we have children. Marriage is not required «For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. », (Matthew 19:12), and neither is having children. Jesus, who was not married and had no children, is the perfect example.

Even if we are not physically “fruitful,” we can be spiritually fruitful and multiply the citizens of the kingdom of God when we obey Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations” «Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: », (Matthew 28:19).

(Matthew 28:19).