Jacob had twelve sons. His household of about seventy people grew into a nation of well over a million men, women, and children in just four generations. That kind of growth stands in sharp contrast to what we see today. In many countries, the number of children being born keeps falling. According to the United Nations, the global fertility rate dropped from around five children per woman in the 1950s and 1960s to 2.2 in 2024. The number 2.2 does not mean anyone gives birth to a fraction of a child. It is simply an average. Across large groups of women, some have more children, and some have fewer, and the total is divided to produce that rate.
Demographers treat roughly 2.1 as the replacement level. That is the average number needed for a population to stay about the same size over the long run if few people move in or out. Two children replace the mother and father. The small extra amount accounts for those who do not survive or do not have children themselves. When the rate stays below that level for many years, each new generation becomes smaller than the one before it. People who track these numbers pay close attention because the change affects the age mix of a society and the size of the working population. In the United States, the rate has also reached record lows near 1.6, according to recent CDC data. This is why you see politicians push for immigration to keep a strong workforce rather than relying on the declining workforce of American citizens.
Why the drop?
Greater access to contraception and the popularity of abortion in many places compared with earlier decades play a clear part. Higher costs of raising children, people waiting longer to start families, and shifting personal priorities also matter. Children are expensive!
What if I told you the same kind of shift occurs in the Bible, and we are instructed to consider a similar expense?
From “Be Fruitful and Multiply” to “Eunuchs for the Kingdom”
From the beginning, the focus was clear. Yahuah blessed the first man and woman and said, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it (Genesis 1:28). The same word came to Noah after the flood. Later the fathers heard it again. Having children was treated as glory and blessing. Women like Leah, Rachel, and Hannah saw childbirth as central to their purpose. A lack of children was called a reproach. Even the laws about a brother marrying a widow existed so a man’s name and seed would not disappear from Israel. Physical children built families and nations under the covenant.
Then Yahushua came, and the focus moved. After He taught that a man should not put away his wife except for fornication, the disciples said it is not good to marry. Yahushua answered them. He said not everyone can receive this saying. He spoke of eunuchs (Matthew 19:10-12).
A eunuch is a man who cannot or does not engage in sexual relations or produce children. Yahushua listed three kinds. Some are born that way from their mother’s womb. Today this can include people born with physical conditions that prevent normal sexual function or reproduction. Some are made eunuchs by men. In ancient times this often meant surgical castration. In modern times it can include certain medical procedures that remove or destroy the reproductive organs, such as some transgender treatments or forms of genital mutilation. And some make themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of heaven’s sake. These are people who choose to remain single and undivided in their devotion so they can give full attention to the Kingdom of God.
Serving God on a Spiritual Spectrum
This was a hard saying. It was not a command for everyone. Think of it as a spectrum of devotion. Pure, undivided devotion to Yahuah sits at the highest end. Choosing to remain single for the kingdom is a high calling for those who can receive it. At the same time, it is fully acceptable to marry, raise a family, and turn away from all sin according to the gospel. Marriage remains honorable.
The shift is a change in priority. Yahushua taught His followers to take no thought for their life, what they would eat or drink, or for their body, what they would put on. Instead, He said to seek first the kingdom of Yahuah and His righteousness, and the needed physical things would be added (Matthew 6:25-33). The gospel governs the spiritual person. It teaches that the physical body is secondary to the pursuit of the Kingdom.
There is a constant war between the flesh and the Spirit.
To be carnal is to be ruled by the physical body and its natural urges. To be carnally minded is death, because the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit. To be spiritually minded is to be at peace. The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the two are contrary to one another.
(Galatians 5:16-17; Romans 8:5-8)
Under the earlier order, fruitfulness was often measured by physical offspring and increase in the land. Under the gospel, fruit is redefined. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). Yahushua said He is the Vine and believers are the branches. Any branch that does not bear fruit is taken away and cast into the fire (John 15:1-6). A man is not defiled by what enters the body but by the evil that comes out of the heart.
The physical body itself is temporary. It is described as a tent, a temporary dwelling place. In the Messiah, a person becomes a new creature. Old things pass away (2 Corinthians 5:17). Those accounted worthy of the resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage. They become equal to the angels (Luke 20:34-36). Yahushua even redefined family. He said that whoever does the will of His Father is His brother, sister, and mother (Matthew 12:50).
Shifting to Spiritual Priorities
Paul wrote that because of the present distress, it is good for a man to remain as he is. The unmarried person can care for the things that belong to Yahuah without distraction. The married person has cares of this world as well (1 Corinthians 7:32-35). The goal is the same for both: to live free from the rule of the flesh and to bring forth spiritual fruit.
So the shift from “be fruitful and multiply” to “eunuch for the kingdom” reflects a change in priorities. One path builds physical families and nations. The other path chooses single-minded devotion so that nothing pulls attention away from the kingdom. Both paths exist in the Word. Pure devotion is the highest, yet marriage and family lived in obedience to the gospel remain fully acceptable.
Looking for more?
This is only a short look at a deep shift. For the full teaching on these passages, the context around them, and how they fit together, watch the related lessons and courses available on the site by searching the Bible book and chapter in quotes (i.e., “1 Corinthians 7”). There you will find complete studies that walk through the text line by line.
