Journaling Through the Bible: Sand of the Sea

"For You said, 'I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'" 

Genesis 32:12 NKJV

When we think of sand, what images come to mind? Do you think of the beach? Time? Sand traveling through an hour glass?

When I read this passage, I thought about the idea that there will be many humans that will help populate our earth. People with different opinions who share their joy and sadness, their creativity, and their ideas with each other. Future friends and loved ones.

There is so much sand on our planet. As a child you may have asked, how many grains of sand are on the beach (or the earth)?  In the Bible, God says that the sand is too numerous to be counted or numbered. Well, apparently there are "7.5 x 1018 grains of sand, or seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains" according to a group of researchers at the University of Hawaii and science writer David Blatner. 

Like many others, the idea of counting sand makes me thinking of stars. When I hear about the multitude of sand or of descendants, I think of the multitude of stars in the sky.  This phrase always reminds me of one of my favorite songs from Les Miserables. I always felt like the song was Javert's prayer, pleading to God, for assistance in capturing Jean Valjean, who is merely a thief, a fugitive in Javert's eyes.

I also am reminded of the Edgar Allan Poe poem, A Dream Within a Dream.

I feel very fortunate that everything we see is not merely "a dream within a dream." We are destined for a better place after this sand-covered earth. So even though we 'weep,' face injustices (like Joseph did), and our descendants may not be as numerous as those of Jacob, we will find peace in Heaven.