Like the Stars?

15 Marcheshvan 2773

Remember when you first learned about how Hashem promised Avraham that his children would be like the stars? You were impressed, weren't you? And a little confused. Because right now, we are not similar in number to the stars, but then again you figured (or at least I did), this probably refers to the days of the mashiach. Then, at last, this promise will be fulfilled.
What you probably didn't consider is that that isn't what G-d promised at all. But if you look carefully at the words of the passuk, G-d didn't promise Avraham that his children would be as munerous as the stars.
Read that conversation closely. What does G-d say?

'Avraham, come outside.'
Avraham goes outside.
We don't know what time of day it is.
'Avraham, please look skyward.'
We don't know what he sees when he looks up.
'Count the stars if you are able to count them.
Thus will be your children.'

There are four general times of day it could be (day, night, dawn, dusk), and either Avraham can count the stars or he can't. That's 8 possible scenarios. It seems unlikely to me that this is taking place at dawn or dusk because the conversation in juxtaposed with the brit ben habetarim, which we are told happens before and during sunset. So we're down to 4 possibilities. Assuming Avraham can't count the stars brings us down to 2 so let's look at those:

-If it's nighttime and Avraham can't count the stars, then the reason he can't count them is presumably because there are so many of them.
Avraham says, 'I can't count them; there are so many!'
And G-d says, 'Thus will be your children.'

-Now, there are about 10^23 stars in the visible universe. That's 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Definitely an uncountable number. However, on a given night, at a given place up to 2000 celestial objects may be visible to the unaided human eye. It's a large number, but definitely countable if you have enough time. But if you've ever watched the stars at night you'll know that they move. So even if you could count them in theory, you can't keep track of them. So, here we have Avraham trying to count a mere 2000 stars and he keeps forgetting if he counted that one yet, because it's in a different place now and he ends up counting the same star twice and another not at all, until he just says, 'I give up! I can't count them, because they keep moving!'
And G-d says, 'Thus will be your children.'

[Of note I recently heard an interpretation that would refute this one. The stars were points of light by which navigators could find their way at night. They were used as such because of their constancy; stars are always in the same place at the same time, and they do not move around the sky as the planets do. (That's why they're called 'planets,' by the way. 'Planeto' is greek for 'wanderer,' because they were wandering stars.) Since the stars are so reliable that they can used to orient oneself and find direction, G-d is telling Avraham that his children will be like the stars in that sense. The inheritors of his legacy will be there throughout the ages providing the direction and reference points according to which the world may orient itself. His children won't be active leaders, but by their very consistency they will become a standard and a model.]

-If it's daytime then the reason Avraham can't count the stars isn't because they are too numerous, but because he can't see them! Back in his day people beleived that at night the sun, which was not considered a star and moved in its own sphere, went under the earth. I don't know if they beleived the moon and stars travelled around the earth as well. If they didn't, they must have concluded that the stars are not visible during the day because they are concealed by the brightness of the sun.
Imagine the conversation goin like this:
'Avraham, count the stars if you are able to count them.'
'I can't see any stars. The sun is too bright!'
And G-d says, 'Thus will be your children.'

Of course, it's always possible that at any time of day Avraham may not be able to count the stars due to cloud cover, but in the Negev this is rather unlikely. ;)
I hope this broadens your perspective on this story, and all the stories in Tanach.