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Judges 7:2The 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.’”

The Midianites were a very numerous and formidable force.  We are not told just how many they were, except that “They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts.  It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it” (6:5), and this had been going on unchallenged for 7 years!  And God, the LORD, considered that if Gideon gained victory over them with 32,000 men their prowess would go to their heads and they would boast about their achievement!

The first culling operation reduced Gideon’s force to 10,000, which was still too many, and Gideon finally won the victory with just 300.  About three centuries later the Prophet Elisha and his servant Gehazi were surrounded in Dothan by the whole hostile Aramean army.  Gehazi was understandably worried, but Elisha, who was obviously not very good at maths, said to him, “Don’t be afraid, those who are with us (2) are more than those who are with them (probably far in excess of 10,000).”

The Apostle Paul may have had these events in mind when he wrote to the Church in Corinth: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay in order (‘hina’) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).

As I get older, and my ‘jar of clay’ becomes more cracked and fragile, I am learning to accept more and more the reality that, as Harriette Auber puts it: “Our blest Redeemer, ere he breathed his tender last farewell, a Guide, a Comforter bequeathed, with us to dwell.  He came in tongues of living flame, to teach, convince, subdue; all-powerful as the wind he came, as viewless too.  He came, sweet influence to impart, a gracious, willing Guest, while he can find one humble heart wherein to rest.  And his that gentle voice we hear, soft as the breath of even, that checks each fault, that calms each fear, and speaks of heaven.  And every virtue we possess, and every victory wond and every thought of holiness, are his alone.  Spirit of purity and grace, our weakness, pitying, see; O make our hearts thy dwelling-place, and worthier thee.”

– Bruce Christian