In the biblical narrative, sand is often used as a metaphor for abundance and multitude. The book of Genesis records promises made to the patriarchs, such as Abraham, that their descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore, as seen in Genesis 22:17 and Genesis 32:12. This imagery is also found in the prophetic book of Hosea, where God declares that the Israelites will be as numerous as the sand. In contrast, the Gospel of Matthew uses sand to illustrate the foolishness of building one's foundation on unstable ground, as in Matthew 7:26. Additionally, the apostle Paul references the sand metaphor in Romans 9:27, highlighting God's faithfulness to His people.
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But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”
Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum! If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.
After looking this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”
A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.
Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
They will call the peoples to a mountain; there they will offer sacrifices of righteousness. For they will feast on the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.”
So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance, like the sand of the sea, that he stopped keeping track of it; for it was beyond measure.
And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.
The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
All of them come bent on violence; their hordes advance like the east wind; they gather prisoners like sand.
Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.
So these kings came out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a great number of horses and chariots.
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”