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.'”
Gideon had been called by God to attack the Midianites who were preparing to raid and sack the land of Israel. The Midianites had 135,000 men, but Gideon had only 32,000 men. Gideon no doubt thought he had too few men, but God told him that he had too many. The Israelites had cried out to the Lord for deliverance from the Midianites (Judges 6:6-7) and the Lord determined to make it plain to them that it was He that was going to save them. Thus, He had Gideon reduce his force to a mere 300 men.
It is part of the fallen nature of humankind to take credit for any success it has in life. Instead of giving the praise and the glory to God, we give the praise and the glory to ourselves. Given this prideful feature of fallen humanity, the Lord must remind us on a regular basis just who we are. One example of this can be found in Isaiah 10, “Does the axe raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood!” (Isaiah 10:15). The prophet poses these ridiculous questions to emphasize the origin of all power. Since it is God who is actually in control of all things, it is prideful foolishness to assume otherwise.
Although we may cry out to the Lord for deliverance like the Israelites did, pride may still cause us to take credit for any deliverance we may achieve. The Lord must often make it plain to us that this is not the case. He did so dramatically with the army of Gideon—giving success to a group outnumbered 45 to 1. It is to our benefit to realize that it is the Lord alone who brings deliverance. It is to our benefit to have our pride kept in check.
When you cry out to the Lord for your deliverance, don’t be surprised if it comes in a way that makes it plain that He got it for you.
By John Huisman, Friend of Bible League International
