Deuteronomy 28:62

You shall remain few in number, whereas you could have become as numerous as the stars of the heavens, because you would not obey the Voice of the Lord your G-d.

Deuteronomy 4:27

...And you shall remain few in number among the nations where G-d shall lead you.

What kind of a nation is supposed to be eternal, yet is expelled from its Land and scattered amongst the lands, and persecuted so brutally that its people die out. Israel is an oddity. It is odd that people speak of the remnant of Israel. It is odd that Israel has even survived over the ages, and it is all the more odd that Israel has been Restored in its Land and rebuilt itself.

If you wanted your nation to live forever, what would be the best way of ensuring your success? Why then, you'd have to be strong and solid in your land. You'd have to be in control and preserve yourself and your dominion. And most of all, you'd have to multiply and have many people. According to probability, it is a game of numbers. The more people you have, the longer your nation will last. But Israel has remained few in numbers.

If you look at a nation such as China, that has been around for the last two thousand years, you'll see that China's secret for survival has been the rate of its growth. Many nations have conquered and ruled China, but none could keep control, because China has too many people to be contained and thus it has remained. At around 200 B.C.E., China, under the Han dynasty, had about 10 million people. Israel too had a few million, maybe three or four million people, some in Israel and the rest scattered amongst the nations. But Israel has been around much longer than that. At around 1300 B.C.E., when Israel was Freed from slavery in egypt, it was also a large nation, with at least a million people. While China grew, Israel has shrunk. Israel has remained few in numbers, while it should have become as large as China, "as numerous as the stars of the heavens," and as plentiful as the sands of the beach.