The Demographics of Glory and Ruin Text: Proverbs 14:28
Introduction: God's Political Science
We live in an age that is convinced it has invented new and sophisticated ways to ruin itself. Our political masters, our court prophets in the media, and our tenured academics all chatter endlessly about the great crises of our time. And curiously, at the top of their list of problems to be solved is the existence of too many people. They speak of carbon footprints, sustainability, and responsible family planning, but what they mean is that children are a liability, population is a cancer, and the ideal human future is a sterile and sparsely populated one. They are high-minded Malthusians, and their policies are a relentless war against the cradle.
Into this suicidal consensus, the Word of God speaks a bucket of cold, clear water. The book of Proverbs is not a collection of quaint fireside homilies. It is hardened wisdom for ruling the world, because it is the wisdom of the One who made the world. And in our text today, God gives us a piece of divine political science, a spiritual metric for measuring the health of a nation. It is a simple diagnostic tool that cuts through all the sophisticated nonsense of our modern experts. Do you want to know if a nation is being led well? Do you want to know if its rulers are glorious or if they are on the road to ruin? God tells us to do a headcount.
This proverb is not just about statecraft; it is about the blessing and curse of the covenant. It is a direct outworking of the first command God ever gave to mankind. Before the Fall, before the giving of the Law, before sin had even entered the world, God spoke the cultural mandate: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it" (Genesis 1:28). This was not a suggestion; it was a blessing and a command. Fruitfulness, children, growth, and dominion are woven into the fabric of a healthy, God-honoring humanity. To reject this is to reject the created order. And as we will see, to reject the created order is to embrace ruin. This proverb, then, is a tale of two kingdoms: one that embraces God's creation design and is filled with glory, and one that rejects it and is filled with ghosts.
The Text
In a multitude of people is a king’s splendor,
But in the dearth of people is a prince’s ruin.
(Proverbs 14:28 LSB)
The Splendor of the Multitude
Let us take the first clause:
"In a multitude of people is a king’s splendor..." (Proverbs 14:28a)
The word for splendor here means glory, honor, or majesty. The proverb states a direct correlation: a large and growing population is the glory of a ruler. Why is this? It is not simply because a king with a large population has a bigger army or a larger tax base, though those things are certainly true. The reason is theological. A multitude of people is a sign of God's blessing upon the land. It is an indicator that the conditions in that kingdom are conducive to life.
A multitude of people means that the nation is at peace, not being decimated by constant warfare. It means there is economic prosperity, so that families can afford to have and raise children. It means there is justice and the rule of law, so that men are willing to invest in the future by bringing new life into the world. It means that the culture values children, honors motherhood, and respects fatherhood. A thriving population is the fruit of a righteous social order. A king who rules with wisdom, justice, and humility before God will create the conditions for this kind of flourishing. His glory is not something he manufactures for himself; it is the reflected glory of a people who are blessed by God under his rule.
This is the outworking of the covenant promises. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore (Gen. 22:17). When Israel was obedient, the people multiplied. When they were in Egypt, we are told that "the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them" (Exodus 1:7). This fruitfulness was a sign of God's favor, and it terrified the tyrant, Pharaoh. Tyrants are always terrified of fruitfulness. They see people not as image-bearers to be cultivated, but as resources to be managed or threats to be eliminated.
A wise king, a godly king, understands that his people are his glory. He does not see them as a problem to be solved, but as a blessing to be stewarded. His splendor is found in crowded streets, bustling marketplaces, and playgrounds full of laughing children. This is the picture of a healthy, vibrant, and blessed society. It is a society that has a future because it believes in life.
The Ruin of Emptiness
The second clause provides the stark and sobering contrast.
"But in the dearth of people is a prince’s ruin." (Proverbs 14:28b)
The word "dearth" means a lack, a scarcity, an absence. The word "ruin" means destruction, terror, or downfall. A declining or stagnant population is not a sign of enlightened progress; it is a sign of a prince who is headed for destruction. And notice the shift in title from "king" to "prince." This is not accidental. The first ruler presides over a stable, glorious kingdom. The second is a lesser ruler, a prince, whose hold on power is tenuous and whose future is ruin.
Why does a lack of people lead to ruin? For all the practical reasons you might expect. An aging population with no young people to support it collapses the economy. There are no soldiers to defend the borders. There is no one to innovate, to build, to farm. The future is cancelled. The lights go out, not with a bang, but with the quiet whimper of the last man turning them off in an empty house. We are seeing this demographic winter descend upon Europe and Japan, and America is following close behind. These are the lands governed by princes on the road to ruin.
But again, the ultimate reason is theological. A dearth of people is a sign of God's judgment. It is a curse. Deuteronomy 28 warns Israel that if they disobey God, they will suffer plagues, famine, war, and exile, all of which lead to depopulation. A culture that embraces what God forbids will find itself unable to produce what God commands: life. A society that celebrates sexual deviancy, that redefines marriage, that sees children as a career impediment, and that slaughters its unborn by the millions is a society that has chosen death. Abortion is not just a sin; it is a sacrament to a culture of sterility and self-worship. Such a society is under the curse of God, and its empty cradles are the evidence. The prince who presides over this, who encourages it, who subsidizes it, is overseeing his own destruction.
His ruin is not just political or economic; it is existential. He has built a kingdom of death. He has waged war on the future. He has despised the blessing of God, and the result is a nation of ghosts, a civilization that has lost the will to live. His legacy is not splendor, but silence.
The Gospel and the New Multitude
This proverb finds its ultimate fulfillment in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true King, and His splendor is found in a multitude of people. But this is a multitude that no man can number, from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation (Revelation 7:9).
The ruin of the prince is the story of the first Adam. He was a prince who, through his disobedience, brought ruin and death to his people. His sin led to a great dearth, a spiritual emptiness and depopulation of the kingdom of God.
But Christ, the second Adam, is the glorious King. Through His life, death, and resurrection, He has come to bring life, and life abundant. He is building a kingdom, and the first sign of that kingdom's advance is fruitfulness. The Great Commission is a renewal of the cultural mandate, but on a global and spiritual scale. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). This is a command to be spiritually fruitful, to multiply believers, to fill the earth with the knowledge and glory of the Lord.
The splendor of King Jesus is His Church. We are His multitude. And this spiritual fruitfulness should, and does, lead to physical fruitfulness. As the church embraces the Word of God, we should be the ones marrying, having children, and building multi-generational households of faith. We are to be a city on a hill, a demonstration plot of God's created order in the midst of a dying civilization. Our full quivers are a testimony against their empty cradles. Our joyful, noisy homes are a rebuke to their quiet, sterile apartments. We are showing the world the splendor of the King, while they are demonstrating the ruin of their princes.
Therefore, do not be deceived by the wisdom of this age. Do not listen to the princes of ruin who tell you that children are a burden and the world is too full. That is the logic of Pharaoh, the logic of Herod, the logic of death. We serve the King of life. His splendor is in His people. So be fruitful. Multiply. Fill the earth with disciples, and fill your homes with children. Build the kingdom. Display the splendor of the King. For His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and of His dominion there will be no end.