“Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many people for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’”JUDGES 7:2 · BSB · READ THE CHAPTER →Hebrew: gibbor chayil, “mighty man of valor”
When God called Gideon, he was hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat where the Midianite raiders couldn't see him. The angel greeted him with words that must have sounded like a joke: “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” God named him by his future, not his fear.
Gideon gathered 32,000 men against an army the Bible describes as thick as locusts. God said, Too many. Anyone afraid could go home, and 22,000 left. God said, Still too many. He tested them at the water, and only 300 remained.
God gave the reason plainly. If Israel won with a big army, they would boast that their own hand had saved them. God was not short on power. He was protecting His glory and their humility.
Then He armed the 300 with trumpets, empty clay jars and torches hidden inside them. At the signal they smashed the jars, the light blazed out, and they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” The enemy army turned on itself and fled.
Paul later wrote that we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us. You may feel like a clay jar hiding in a winepress. Good. God fights His greatest battles with the fewest resources, so no one can mistake who won. And sometimes the jar has to break before the light can get out.
- Where do you feel outnumbered and under-resourced?
- What might God be removing so that only He gets the credit?
- What would it mean for your “jar” to break so the light shows?
Thank God out loud for one weakness this week, and ask Him to show His strength through it.
Jesus didn't die to make you comfortable. He died to make you His.