Back in Old Testament times, the greatest honor for a woman
was to give birth. It was an expression of her supreme womanhood.
Barrenness superstitiously indicated a lack of blessing or
God's curse.
To get people’s attention and to focus them on God, God
sometimes inhibited conception – Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Samson’s mother,
Hannah, Michal, Elizabeth.
In the Bible, it caused the parents to pray fervently, to
appreciate God’s grace, to see His miraculous power, to work out the timing of
some future events and to love the child more.
It was not always a sign of sin in the parents, but a time
of building up one’s faith in God and to understand that He is in control.
Today, God may still close wombs, though we must take into
consideration other factors, like physical causes, unknown to the writers of
the Bible back then. The Bible talks about the times that God actively closed wombs
back then, but that does not mean that all infertile couples today are a result
of God’s judgment. God could be working
on people’s faith or timing the child for some future event. We just cannot know for sure.
Today, much like in the Bible, while the couple prays for
God's blessing and direction, it can be a time of building up one's faith and strengthening
the couple's relationship as they rely on God and each other.