bible, especially the Old Testament is very clear on the issue U £1.. of population. The Almighty God did the creation of the . e whole universe and everything in it within six days. Of all the
things created, the creation of man was very unique as he is regarded as
the crown of the creation. Man was particularly blessed by God in
Genesis 1 :28 to multiply and increase in number on the face of the earth.
And incidentally, the blessing of God on Adam was also pronounced on
each of the patriarchs.
The thrust of this paper which.is on population explosion is an
exegetical study of Genesis 1 :28 and its application to the patriarchs,
nan'lely Noah; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and the Nigerian
society. The basis of comparism of the above named societies is located
in the fact that the patriarchal society, on the one hand, was. highly
favoured by God as demonstrated in the establishment of His covenant
with each of the patriarchs. On the other hand, Nigeria is also a nation that
is highly favoured by God. The nation is blessed with various natural and
human resources which have made her a force to reckon with in the whole
world general and in Africain particular: The intriguing questions
. include: why did God pronounce a special blessing on man to multiply
and increase in number at the time of his creation? Did God make enough
provision for the growing population of the patriarchs? How can one
relate. the population growth at the time of the patriarchs \vith the
explosive population growth if) the contemporary Nigerian Society with
its slow development? What are the factor(s) responsible for the
population explosion at the time of the patriarchs and in the contemporary
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Nigerian Society? What is the role of individuals, religious organizations
and government on the issue of population in Nigeria? .
The exegetical-comparative method is adopted m the paper. [n
other words, the exegesis of GenesIs 1 :28 IS done with the help cfl-kbrew
Lexicon and Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. This is
corroborated with the comparative study of population explosion at the
time of the patriarchs and the Nigerian Society. All the biblical quotations
are from the New lntemation Version of the Bible.