Its all about attitude

God reducing the army by the first 22'000 was to stop pride and arrogance, but there was also another more tactical reason.

The law spelt it out :

'Then the officers shall add,
"is any man afraid or faint-hearted? let him go home"' [Deut. 20:8]

Everyone knows that good morale is vital in this sort of war scene. Fear and negativity are contagious.

The promised land was hidden from the trekking Isrealites because they chose to believe the negative report from the 10 spies (10 were bad, 2 were good!) [Num. 13:32]

They were beaten without even realizing that they were in a battle.

To some, issues matter more than people.

These people would have been a liability on the battlefield and were better off at home.

Love you X

Weakness in strength

In Judges 7:2 we see one of God's reasons for severely reducing Gideon's numbers. It was to take away Isreal's ability to boast about their great victory over the Midianites.

With so few men, they MUST now recognize that any positive outcome in this battle would be down to God.

This was God attempting to save the Isrealites from their own pride.

However, they soon forgot all about the God who saved them, when in Judges 8:22 they would declare that Gideon had saved them in battle.

Pride has a short memory.

To the Midianites looking on at the 300 men left, they would have laughed and joked about how they'd be back in Midian in time for tea after demolishing this poor excuse for a nation.

But this 'poor excuse' for a nation had a secret weapon on their side . . . the God of the universe!

Love you X

Impossible odds

Then the voice spoke again . . .

"There is STILL too many men!"

So God wasn't happy with the quality of the 10'000 men left with Gideon. The Hebrew translation for this statement is to 'sort them out' the same way that farmers would seperate the wheat from the chaff or goldsmiths seperate pure metal from dross.

This screening process centered around what method Gideon's soldiers drank water from a stream.

If they knelt down and drank they would be sent home, if they scooped water with their hands they could stay.

What sort of mad panic would be rushing through Gideon's mind as he witnessed 9'700 kneel and lap the water?

Gideon's army was now out-numbered 400 - 1.

These were impossible odds [300 against 135'000]

NOW God had some room to work!

Love you X