Why does the African culture hold having children in such high regard?

Conrad Mbewe highlights the cultural perspective in Africa, where having children is seen as honorable and a blessing from the Lord. In this context, the idea of marriage without children is almost unthinkable, as there is a belief that God has not blessed those without children. This view aligns with the Old Testament teachings that encourage marriage and procreation as a means of participating in God's blessings and fulfilling His commands.

In contrast, the New Testament expands this idea beyond the physical family, emphasizing the importance of spiritual multiplication through evangelism and church planting. The focus shifts to spreading God's word across new cities and nations, until the knowledge of the Lord fills the earth. This spiritual multiplication is viewed as a continuation of the Old Testament's call to grow and prosper, but now through a broader, global mission.

Psalm 127:3 (NKJV): "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward."

In the African context, having children is still seen as something that is honorable. And so individuals will want to have as many children as they can be able to handle, rather than the opposite direction where you get married and say to yourselves, well, this is about us, we're not having children and so on. That's unthinkable. In fact, in Africa, if you don't have children, there is a black male almost within the context of the psychology in the community that God has not blessed you. So having children is seen as a blessing from the Lord.

And so any passage in the Old Testament, including Jeremiah, that's speaking in terms of get out there, marry, you know, have children and get involved in business and so on seems to simply be seen as of course that's the right thing to do rather than a command that people should feel grudging about, you know, how can God be asking this of us? Obviously in the context of Jeremiah, it was the understanding that having gone into Babylon, they should not hold back the life that God had already given them to engage in because Israel and any other nations multiplied through marriage and having children. When we then, again, as I said at the beginning, go into the New Testament, we go beyond the physical family and the appeal there is, you know, evangelize, multiply through multiplying churches, see God's word go forth in all these new cities and new nations and new continents and so forth until the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.