TOO MANY MEN?

The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. —Judges 7:2, 3

At least three nations had combined their armies and crossed the Jordan River to attack the people of Israel. Their armies would be described as settling in the valley of Jezreel “thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore” (Judges 7:12). In response, Gideon sounded the ram’s horn and sent messages to the surrounding tribes of Israel “so that they too went up to meet them” (Judges 6:35).

While the Israelites might have still felt outnumbered, it is easy to imagine Gideon’s confidence growing as the groups from each of the tribes and clans marched into the camp and the Israelite army assembled. It took God’s prompting to remind Gideon of the instruction given to Moses that the officer leading the army of Israel should announce that “anyone afraid or fainthearted” should return to their homes (see Deuteronomy 20:8).

But God urged Gideon that this battle was not about numbers; if it were, the army of Israel would always be outnumbered. Instead, the soldiers who remained would need to fully place their trust in God’s strength and His presence with them.

It is easy to imagine Gideon’s confidence being tested as his army melted away. More than 20,000 men left that day, and more were sent home after God tested them further, leaving only 300 of the original 32,000. Less than one percent seemed to be enough for God’s plan. Counter-intuitively, God urged that 300 men who were forced to rely fully on Him, having no reasonable expectation of victory apart from His intervention, were a greater army than 30,000 or more who thought their numbers and their own strength might be enough.