Birth Control

2018-02-19

And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also. (Genesis 38:6-10)

This is the only passage where birth control took place (as far as I know). As was custom in those days, if a man died with no children, a near relative would marry the widow and raise up children for the dead. Onan failed to do that, and the LORD was displeased. This cost Onan his life.

We could say that this event displeased the LORD because he was depriving his dead brother seed. However, Onan did not have to marry Er’s widow (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). He knew what he was getting into.

Since the Bible commands us to have children (Genesis 1:28), and that children are a blessing (Psalm 127:3-5), we should want to have children, for it is what God wants for every married couple.