4250, 4251, 4252, ... Uhhh, Wait a Second

“He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength;  His understanding is infinite.”[1]

Reading this verse the other day startled me. Wow! What a claim.

“He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.”

So, how many are there God? A quick survey of some of the Web sites that discuss these matters told me the answer. The most straightforward answer is “We don’t know.” Much verbiage is used to say this in different ways, although sincere, dedicated people seek an answer. Two of my favorite comments were, "about as many as the number of hamburgers sold by McDonald's,"[2] or the simple, “This is a lot of stars!”[3] 

Truly, when you get into Septillions, sextillions, powers of 10 , ‘a 7 followed by 22 zeroes’ and such, it really has no meaning to us. It simply means, “This is a lot of stars.”

Does God know their names?

There are more than six billion people on the Earth and they all have a name. No individual knows them all, but in the “collective knowledge of mankind,” (whatever that is), all 6 billion names are known.

But the collective knowledge of mankind does not know how many stars there are or their names.

To help us understand how many, some compare the stars to grains of sand. Sand is easier to estimate than stars because it exists in a limited area. One site says the number of stars are about the same as the grains of sand on earth. Another comments, “It's … about 10 times as many stars as grains of sand on all the world's beaches and deserts.” Still another, “… source (BBC) stated that there are about 1,000 stars to every grain of sand on Earth!!”[4] So, we see a wide swing here and we simply say, “No wonder I get sand in my swimming suit.”

The Bible gives an indication that God knows the number of the sands. “How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.”[5] His thoughts toward you are more than that number. Could be a septillion! Going back to our verse, “His understanding is infinite…” while the number is not infinite.

So He knows how many grains of sand there are. He knows how many stars there are. Jesus said, “the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”[6]

Sand. Stars. Hair. Numbering?!? Why God?

The verse about numbering hair goes on, “Therefore…”[7] Therefore what? Therefore you are valuable.

So maybe the numbering is so that we would know that His loving thoughts toward us are ‘a 70 followed by 22 zeroes?’ That’s more concern for you than all the hamburgers sold by McDonalds! That’s a lot of love.

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[1] Psalm 147:4-5 (New American Standard Bible)

[2] “How many stars are there in the Milky Way?” Astronomer  William Keel, http://www.faqs.org/faqs/astronomy/faq/part8/section-3.html

[3] “Ask an Astrophysicist,” Laura Whitlock, http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970115.html

[4] “How Many Stars are in the Universe?” http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_stars_are_in_the_universe#ixzz24eHWZQ9o

[5] Psalm 139:17-18 (New American Standard Bible)

[6] Matthew 10:30 (New American Standard Bible)

[7] Matthew 30:11 (New American Standard Bible)

You Don't See Many Jewish Boys in Prison

Someone once made the comment, “You don’t see many Jewish boys in prison.” This simple statement made me stop and think.

It appears to be true. Consider the following: 

“Maximum-security prisons in the United States have relatively few Jewish inmates, according to the Aleph Institute, a Chabad-affiliated organization that reaches out to Jews behind bars. Most Jews in the prison system usually end up at lower-security facilities for crimes such as fraud or tax evasion.”[1] (With exceptions like Bernie Madoff (left) , David Berkowitz, and some mafia types!!)

Another website says, “Jews in prison in the United States are a small group in absolute or relative numbers. In 1998, there were approximately 1,700 Jewish prisoners out of 1.5 million, according to Congressional testimony--a little more than one in 1,000.”[2] That is .00113% of those in prison. At one point only 10 Jews waited on death row.

Relative to Black, White, and Hispanic inmates, it seems to be true. "Not many Jewish boys go to prison."

Why? Are they better people? No. They’re just like everyone else. Is it because many of them are rich? That might be a factor but not the whole picture.

Jewish culture is largely based on belief in God and a moral code. Hard work, family, and faith are important concepts. The moral code applies to each member of the community. This is the root reason as to why few turn to a life of crime. They traditionally live by a moral code that includes God. That is my point. When people live this way, things go better for them.

You might think, “But many of the prisoners are Christians and Muslims, they have a moral code too.” True. But the vast majority of them come to those religious convictions after they are imprisoned. Crises like divorce, a near death experience, a hurricane, or going to jail - fuel religious conversion!

One study by a Department of Justice researcher noted, “A disproportionately high number of prisoners were not in any way practicing religionists prior to incarceration. That is, they exhibited none of the standard sociological measures of religiosity, such as regular prayer, scripture study, and attendance at worship services.”[3]

A lot of men and women come out of prison as Christians, but few start out that way. Desperation leads to change.

It is not people committed to a belief system and moral values who primarily end up in prison.

Which belief system? Which moral values are superior? The Christian Bible and ethic is unique and produces amazing results. That’s for another discussion.

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[1] http://freethoughtnation.com/component/content/article/63-acharya-s/49-jews-in-prison.html

[2] http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Judaism/2000/08/Jews-In-Jail.aspx#ixzz1z7y0l0q0

[3] http://www.adherents.com/misc/adh_prison.html