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Judges 7:10-11  If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying.  Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.”  So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.  

What a gracious God we serve!  Gideon had managed to enlist 32,000 volunteers to help him carry out his God-given commission to defeat the 250,000 strong Midianite force.  Eight-to-one against isn’t very encouraging odds, but with God’s help they might just be able to pull it off.

The LORD saw it quite differently (as he so often does with our best laid plans).  Even with those 8-1 odds, Gideon and his men might be tempted to think they’d gained the victory in their own strength, so God decided to cut his numbers down further still, first to 10,000 (25 to 1), then to 300.  Now each of Gideon’s men only has to kill 833 Midianites in the scuffle!  It is at this point that we see how gracious God is in his dealings with us.  Unlike the 301 nervous Israelites, He knows the ‘hidden’ resources available to him: like the panic reaction He has built into men and camels who are awakened suddenly in the early hours of the morning; and the power of dreams and rumour to unsettle the human psyche. 

So God decided to give Gideon and Purah a sneak-peek at some of the perceptions that were currently floating around the enemy camp (verses 13-15).  Similarly, three hundred years later, he will give Elisha’s servant such an encouraging insight into the ‘hidden’ resources available to him when they are hopelessly outnumbered at Dothan (2 Kings 6:13-17).  As we face mounting active opposition to the spread of the saving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in our society today, we need to be sensitive to these little glimpses of God’s mercy and provision when we are faced with overwhelming odds in our work for him.

And let us learn from what Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer when the two of them set out on a mission to fight the powerful Philistine forces: “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men.  Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf.  Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” (1 Samuel 14:6) – and from Paul’s word of encouragement to the Philippians (1:27-28): “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.  Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.  This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved – and that by God.”

– Bruce Christian