When God created us, He “created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27, emphasis added). He then initiated the first marriage (2:24) and the family (4:1-2). At our creation, God also included a command: “…Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…” (1:28). Have we forgotten?
Japan made news recently when its government initiated a dating and marriage app to create couples. Why? The number of marriages and the birth rate are at an all-time low. In fact, the current birth rate of 1.2 per woman is well below that which is needed (2.1) to sustain the population. The Japanese government realizes that history indicates that if not corrected, they are a nation in decline.
The people of Japan are hardly alone. China’s birth rate is at 1.15; Italy at 1.3; Germany and Norway each at 1.5; Australia and the UK 1.6; Iran 1.7; Latin America 1.8; and India 2.0. The lowest is Taiwan at 1.1 and the highest is Niger at 6.7. The more developed countries average 1.5 and the least developed average 3.8. Israel at 2.9 and the Arab states at 3.0 are exceptions. The global birth rate average has declined from 5.0 in 1950, to 2.3 in 2021.
The United States of America? In 2023, we had the lowest birth rate in our history – 1.62, well below population replacement (2.1). God created the family as the healthy environment for raising children and maintaining a society. The number of new marriages each year is declining, and only about half of Americans are married, down from 72% in 1960. [Singleness for some may be God’s gift, see 1 Corinthians 7:7-9.] Only 20% of Americans get married before age 30. The percentage of mid-life adults who have never married has increased from 16.8% in 2000, to 29.1% in 2021.
The U.S. recorded 3.6 million live births in 2023, but over one million additional babies didn’t make it due to abortion – 73,000,000 didn’t make it world-wide! We are a world civilization in decline. Have we forgotten the dignity of motherhood and fatherhood, and of life? Remembering that God is the Creator of those in the womb would go a long way toward solving the decline of nations across the globe:
For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance…the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them (Psalm 139:13-16).
Pray that the awe and accountability of parenthood would be restored to hearts in America and around the world!
Sources: “Japan,” World Magazine, July 2024, p. 23. Web searches for stats.
