Blessings and Arrows

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."  So God created man in his own image, 
in the image of God he created him; 
male and female he created them. 
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Genesis 1:26-28
 
Blessed be the name of the Lord forever, may His word, spoken through His Holy Spirit, be a blessing unto all who hear it and obey.  Jesus said:  "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." Luke 11:28
 
It pleased the Lord Almighty to create us in His image therefore, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:31  If even the heathen delight in their children, though they do not know God, how much more so does the Lord of Glory delight in the little faces of children born to those who love Him and obey Him?  "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise, to silence the foe and the avenger" Psalm 8:2 

"Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring." Malachi 2:15

The Lord Almighty longs to bless His servants with children to bring them joy, and to be raised up to praise and honor Him in all that they do!  Is this not the very purpose of Man?  How blessed are we to have received such a heavenly gift from the Father, that He has given us the ability to conceive new life, to partake with Him in creating little ones to be raised up to honor and praise him forever!  What great and awesome blessing is this, that my mind cannot understand it, nor my spirit cease to sing praise and thanksgiving for it!  Why have we let ourselves become so fearful, so selfish, that we would destroy and hold back the immeasureable goodness of God's blessings?


"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, 
children a reward from him.   Like arrows in the hands of a warrior 
are sons born in one's youth. 
Blessed is the man 
whose quiver is full of them. 
They will not be put to shame 
when they contend with their enemies in the gate."  Psalm 127:3-5


Someone once told my father, that in ancient times, a warrior would go into battle with about 3 or so arrows in his quiver, this was of course spoken only to "refute" the verse above as supporting of large families, and for no other reason.  But let us always endeavor to strive for truth in all we say, no matter how obvious it may already be to those not blinded by their own ignorance, unbelief, selfishness, and cowardice.

So, let's take a look at armaments throughout the ages:

Hittite Quivers held 20 or 30 arrows, p. 20, Hittite Warrior, by Trevor Bryce, Adam Hook, Osprey Publishing

Assyrian quivers held 30 to 50 arrows, Nuzi and Amarna tablets.

Samurai Quivers held 50 arrows, p. 232, Secrets of the Samurai: The Martial Arts of Feudal Japan, by Oscar Ratti, Adele Westbrook

English archers at the battle of Agincourt carried 60-72 arrows into battle, with boys running more arrows to them throughout the battle. Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England, Juliet Barker.

French Infantry cartridge boxes of the Napoleonic Era held 35 cartridges, British cartridge boxes held up to 60. 
Simo Häyhä of Finland, having 542 confirmed kills against the invading Russians in the winter of 1939-40, carried 50-60 rounds of ammunition with him into battle every day.  Häyhä is, to this day, rightly regarded as the world's foremost sniper.  Valkoinen Kuolema, By Petri Sarjanen

American GIs in WW2, fielding the M-1 Garand rifle, carried approximately 100 rounds of ammunition into battle.

The modern American infantry soldier fielding the M16 rifle carries approximately 210 rounds of ammunition in his combat load, with M249 SAW gunners carrying 500 rounds or more.

You would be hard pressed to find any soldier, of any time period, who carried less than 10 projectile munitions, whether they be darts, arrows, slingstones, musketballs, or modern rifle cartridges.  Indeed any soldier armed in such a weak manner would be considered suicidally foolish, and not only a liability to himself, but to his fellow soldiers.

What then shall we say?  That children are merely expendable "ammunition"?  Born only to fight our enemies?  No.  Every child who is formed, is formed for this purpose: to give Glory to the Lord.  Not only to praise Him in voice and in word, but in truth and in deed.  To honor the Lord with all that is theirs, to share bread with the needy, to comfort those who hurt, to share the Gospel of Salvation to all, and to speak out against what is evil!  In doing so, our children become as well-aimed arrows, arrows formed to fly into battle, to strike down the Enemy, to drive him back and inflict heavy losses and destruction upon him and all his wicked army!

Listen to the words of the Lord, spoken through Isaiah:

"He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, 
in the shadow of his hand he hid me; 
he made me into a polished arrow 
and concealed me in his quiver."
Isaiah 49:2

These words were spoken prophetically of Jesus, but they are true of all who belong to Him!  If even the angels, who go before the very throne of God, carry swords, how much more should we, who live in this evil world, put on our spiritual Sword, which is the Word of God, and make war against the enemies of our King!

Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Let us then endeavor to seek God's blessings, children from Him, as the heroes of old had done.  Let all who call themselves God's people cast off this filth of "birth control" and live truly as His people, bold as lions, and with glad hearts receive His greatest blessings!