The Creator does not want the earth empty!

I have heard of people complaining that the world is overpopulated. The Creator from the very beginning blessed the earth’s new tenants and told them to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). After the flood wiped away living things on the earth (Genesis 7), the same command of fruitfulness and multiplication was given, “Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it” (Genesis 8:17). The earth was created to be inhabited and for thousands of years, all living creatures have replicated themselves ensuring sustenance and preservation. Imagine if the last child was born a thousand years ago, I will not be here and neither will you be reading this post.

An American government research done in 2019 shows that “Americans are having fewer and fewer babies” and not “making enough babies to replace ourselves.” The expected number of births needed for the population is 16 percent below the number needed to keep the population stable without additions through immigration, the report finds. Similar situations have been reported in Europe and other continents. Recently, China lifted the one-child ban to ensure sustenance. In recent years, Western nations have relied on immigration to get enough workforce as their own populations dwindle. The current economic conditions, decline in childbirth rate and the desire to control births are some of the factors causing the decline in population. If developed countries continue to decline in numbers, their economic and political fronts would have to gradually rely on immigrants and descendants of immigrants for sustenance. So why should people complain about the world getting overpopulated when we need humans to keep the world going?

For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:18)

Similarly, all other living things need to be fruitful and multiply. Animals, fishes, trees and every living thing stand the chance of extinction if we are not intentional about their replication, productivity and safety. Everything God made is important. The fierce lion and the slow sloth are all important in our ecosystem. The fact that an individual or another living creature does not directly affect us does not mean they are irrelevant. If we keep encroaching on animals, they will be extinct. If we keep attacking people and encourage actions that indirectly hinder growth, we will lose the diversity of our beautiful world. What does the Creator say about all these? Isaiah 45:18, “For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” The Lord formed the heavens and the earth to be inhabited. Until the Lord returns, or calls us home in glory, the heavens and the earth should remain populated and inhabited. 

May the Lord grant fruitfulness to all His children and may we ensure fruitfulness in the other creation.