Sands of the Sea

A common expression in the scriptures to describe a large number is “the sands of the sea.”  For example, Solomon’s wisdom and understanding was described in these terms: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore” (1 Kings 4:29).  I certainly would wish the Lord to describe me as having the “largeness of heart” similar to the number of sands of the sea!  On the other hand, usages of the term also describe the greatness of opposing armies: “And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude” (1 Samuel 13:5).  A Book of Mormon scene was described in similar language: “And behold, as they were crossing the river Sidon, the Lamanites and the Amlicites, being as numerous almost, as it were, as the sands of the sea, came upon them to destroy them” (Alma 2:27).  Certainly life sometimes gives us challenges that feel as numberless as the sands of the sea. 

                 More importantly, though, we see this phrase used particularly with the description of the posterity of the prophets.  The Lord promised Abraham, “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies” (Genesis 22:17).  Later Jacob reiterated the same promise that he had received, “And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude” (Genesis 32:12).  Later Old Testament prophets confirmed this as they described the children of Israel, which literally means the children of Jacob: “Thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness” (Isaiah 10:22).  Hosea similarly stated, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered” (Hosea 1:10).  In the Book of Mormon Nephi described his and his father’s posterity that he saw in vision: “And I looked and beheld the land of promise; and I beheld multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in number as many as the sand of the sea” (1 Nephi 12:1).  In our world that often finds little value in children—killing an estimated 40 million unborn children a year—the blessing that the Lord finds the most valuable that He can give to the faithful is an innumerable posterity.

               A parallel phrase to the sands of the sea is that of the stars of the heaven.  The Doctrine and Covenants used both in these words about Abraham: “As touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye could not number them” (D&C 132:30).  Ultimately the way that our seed continues in an unlimited fashion is through the gift of eternal posterity that, in some way we don’t fully understand, comes to the faithful in the worlds to come.  The vastness of the promise is underscored by these words of Elder Maxwell, “The Restoration’s revelations and translations accommodate a vast universe; thus it is no surprise to us that scientists’ latest estimate of the number of stars in the universe is approximately 70 sextillion—‘more stars in the sky,’ scientists say, ‘than there are grains of sand in every beach and desert on Earth.’”  It’s of course staggering to consider such numbers if we truly believe the posterity of the righteous could be as numerous as the starts of the sky. For now, I’ll content myself to trying to raise the four children I have already been given—that’s hard enough as it is!