The stars in the sky?

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Viki59

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As God told Abraham that his descendents would be as many as the sands of the desert and the stars in the sky, (not sure of the exact quote) does this mean that the end of the world is nowhere near, since only about 12 billion people have lived so far? We need a lot more to reach the number of stars in the sky.
Or maybe that’s not meant to be taken literally, although it seems like a promise from God ought to be.
(Or maybe this is just too silly a question and it’s too late at night!)
 
Perhaps you were thinking of this verse:I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. (Genesis 22:17)

But thou didst say, `I will do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’" (Genesis 32:12)

And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. (Genesis 41:49)
These last two verses seem to indicate that the expressions “as the sand of the sea” and “as the stars in the sky” refer not to a specific quantity but to a quantity so great that for practical purposes it cannot be numbered or measured.

We moderns are used to hearing about things numbering in the millions, billions and even trillions but consider for a moment that if an individual actually tried to count to a million at a rate of one count per second it would take him more than 11 days of continuous counting to complete. If he tried to count to a billion at the same rate it would take him more than 31 years of continuous counting to complete. Forget about trying to count to 12 billion because it would take over 380 years of continuous counting to complete.
 
Those are simply expressions, ways of saying “a whole, big lot!”

Interesting side note–at that time humanity was completely ignorant of the possibility of there being X00,000,000,000 stars in our galaxy, and X,000,000,000 galaxies besides. The only stars they knew about were those visible to the naked eye. I don’t remember their exact number, but I’m pretty sure it’s <5,000.

DaveBj
 
St. Augustine’s “Literal Interpretation of Genesis” tells us that the stars are angels, at least that is what my memory recalls.
 
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