The bible says that the people of Israel will be as many as the number of stars but when I compare them with the chinese, I think the chinese is far more numerous than the people of Israel. So hwo do we explain what God tells us in the bible?
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As numerous as the number of stars ...
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Read Genesis 15.
Abraham was worried about being childless at this time. So the Lord promised Abraham that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
There is no mention of an actual number or that there would be more Israelites than any other race.
Abraham was worried about being childless at this time. So the Lord promised Abraham that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
There is no mention of an actual number or that there would be more Israelites than any other race.
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epistemaniac
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its just a figure of speech... not to be taken any more literally then when we might say "it's raining cats and dogs" or "I feel like the whole world is closing in on me" or "I saw the sun rise today" (when in fact the sun does not rise, the earth rotates) ... the point being is that any time you are trying to interpret the Bible, you have to take into account that the same sorts of literary devices we use in our everyday language was being used by the authors of scripture as well, can also be and in fact is present in the pages of Scripture as well.... for instance, when the Bible says that Jesus is a "door", clearly, that is not meant to be taken literally... so too, when the Lord promises to make Abraham's descendents as numerous as the stars or as numerous as the grains of sand, they are not to be taken any more literally then the figure of speech that says that Jesus is a door....
blessings,
Ken
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I think that it means that He will get more children of the stars, like all the people who will come after him.
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I think this is just a promise that is yet to be fulfilled. While Abraham probably wasn't aware of just how many stars there are, he would have seen that the number of grains of sand on the beach are overwhelming.
I don't think this promise will be fulfilled until after the return of Christ.
I don't think this promise will be fulfilled until after the return of Christ.
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- Aug 6, 2005
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1. Hyperbole?
2. I wonder how many stars can actually been seen at any given place with the naked eye?
3. I'm tempted to post (but won't, LOL) that the 2,000,000,000 Christians just might be the children of Israel, but that would open a real can of worms, so I won't even consider posting that.
Pax!
- Josiah
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pgp_protector
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We'd be in trouble if it was as many as the stars
I think the visible count was at 70 sextillion stars right now.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/07/22/stars.survey/
I think the visible count was at 70 sextillion stars right now.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/07/22/stars.survey/
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pgp_protector
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Keep in mind that they're a people who are CONSTANTLY being threatened with genocide. Also, you can't forget the other line Abraham founded. (And yes, we are now considered his heirs.)
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Are you sure China is the largest Christian nation? Majority of the people in China believes in chinese religion.
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1. Hyperbole?
2. I wonder how many stars can actually been seen at any given place with the naked eye?
3. I'm tempted to post (but won't, LOL) that the 2,000,000,000 Christians just might be the children of Israel, but that would open a real can of worms, so I won't even consider posting that.
Pax!
- Josiah
I don't understand your number 3.
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