O.T. Question about attitude toward children

[Jen7]

Exodus 1:12 portrays the oppression of God’s chosen people in Egypt but states that “…the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelite…”

Now I have quite a few children myself… but I would think that under an oppressive slavery families would naturally cease procreating. For example, the idea of getting pregnant in the face of the current societal unrest makes me nervous. A mother naturally seeks a certain amount of stability around pregnancy and childbirth and care for an infant.

Why did God’s people multiply MORESO under oppression?? Any insights? What is God communicating to us?

 

[TK421]

It’s pretty historically standard for oppressed/enslaved groups to have a lot of children.

The nervousness and anxiety in large part comes from 1st world thinking: the more a person has, the more they have to fear and be anxious over and the more they tend to dwell on the future instead of existing in the present moment. When a person is a slave with little or nothing beyond their own life, they pretty much exist/survive on a day to day basis and people end up having a lot of kids. A person’s mindset is completely different.

It also has a spiritual connotation: the way the faith can flourish under oppression because it refines it through fire.

 

[DaveBj]

It’s pretty historically standard . . .

Well stated. To add one detail, when a group is oppressed, then sex becomes pretty much the only pleasure they have. That is a big reason why they have a lot of children.

D

 

[goout]

Exodus 1:12 portrays the oppression of God’s chosen people in Egypt but states that “…the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelite…”

Now I have quite a few children myself… but I would think that under an oppressive slavery families would naturally cease procreating. For example, the idea of getting pregnant in the face of the current societal unrest makes me nervous. A mother naturally seeks a certain amount of stability around pregnancy and childbirth and care for an infant.

Why did God’s people multiply MORESO under oppression?? Any insights? What is God communicating to us?

Because God identifies as “I Am”. Or in other words I Exist. So existence is a (the?) primary good.
Human beings are made in that image of God. So, human existence is good, per se.
As human beings, we don’t have the prerogative to evaluate a human life as worthy or not. We will all struggle through life. Some seem to suffer a lot more than others.
But in God’s final analysis, it is good to share in God’s existence.

Consider: if the Israelites resisted the birth of children with fear of suffering, no Moses.

All this being said, God leaves us in the power of our own counsel to plan wisely how we are to raise children. Your question is not an easy one to consider.

 

[Todd_Easton]

What is God communicating to us?

The increase of the Israelites in Egypt was a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to multiply their descendants “as the stars of heaven.” What is God communicating to us? Perhaps it is simply that God can be trusted to keep his promises, even under oppression.

 

[VeryBlessed]

It seems counterintuitive to us first-worlders, but I’ve heard that in poor cultures, more children meant more potential security for the family. More workers to put bread on the table, more chances that one of them will “make good” and be able to help the others. And maybe there is also a mindset which says, “You can oppress me, but you can’t steal from me the joy of family.“

And maybe the truth that “Children are a gift from the Lord” is all the more obvious in poverty, where fewer treasures compete for your attention.

 

[Sarcelle]

Having spent some of my childhood years in a dirt poor country, I noticed that childhood mortality is very high. Couples have a lot of children because a high percentage of them will not survive to adulthood.

So it’s not really tied to a high degree of faith but to a practical purpose. Children are the social security of their parents. There is no state funded pension in a poor country.

 

[Jen7]

Thanks, all! I appreciate all these insights!!

 

[Todd_Easton]

Social unrest could be reasonable grounds for spacing births. Your pastor might be able to help you assess your situation.

 

[Convert3]

I’ll be a little more blunt. What else did they have to do? It was about the only pleasure they had, so more children were born.

 

[Jen7]

Social unrest could be reasonable grounds for spacing births. Your pastor might be able to help you assess your situation.

Oh I have a newborn right now so it’s a moot point, but I was just making the point that social unrest gives me pause vs the Chosen People seemed inspired to h e even more children & I was surprised by that!

 

[Jen7]

I’ll be a little more blunt. What else did they have to do? It was about the only pleasure they had, so more children were born.

Well to be blunt myself… that’s a pretty high value on pleasure! The ensuing morning sickness, decrease in productivity in the third trimester & for multiple years after the birth… not to mention another mouth to feed… these things would surely offset any pleasure during slavery I puke think. As a slave your child might not even really be your own…

 

[Lara]

The same thing happens to men going away for war; the desire to procreate goes up.

I’ve also noticed this tendency in a plant I owned. If I didn’t water it, it would bloom. It’s about the struggle for survival.

 

[otjm]

I’ve also noticed this tendency in a plant I owned. If I didn’t water it, it would bloom. It’s about the struggle for survival.

In that you are lucky, I guess. My neighbor gifted me with a pot of flowers, which I simply forgot about until all but one hardy geranium were dead.

6 or 8 weeks later, the geranium is still poking along, although not flowering.

But back to children: we live in a society of obscene abundance, much of which many in the world cannot even imagine. We now struggle as a society to even reach replacement, which is about 2.1 children per family; and many couples have decided to have no children at all.

And yet we see these other parts of the world still way ahead of us in terms on average number of children per family. Some of that is undoubtedly driven by economic reality; more hands means more production, be it firewood, drawing water, or harvesting food as it ripens.

In short, there are multiple driving forces in humanity; some more prevalent among the poor, others more prevalent among the not so poor.

Okay, rich.