“And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour, come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few” – 1 Samuel 14:6 (KJV).
One lesson Christians must learn as they walk with God is that when it comes to God performing to solve our problems or meet our needs it does not depend on the number of people or forces against us, neither does it depend on our numerical strength. God often work with few people to make it clear to the Christian that his victory cannot be attributed to number of people with him.
God can work with multitude or with few people to accomplish the same result. The point he tries to pass across to us is that the battle is the Lord’s. He does not require large number or large weapons to ensure victory. Most times, we get worried and discouraged because of the number of people up against us or because of the few people with us, forgetting that the battle axe is prepared for one, but victory is of the Lord.
For Gideon, God had to trim down the number of his team even when he felt they were so few to confront the Midianites who were numerous. The thirty two thousand men with Gideon were reduced to three hundred. The first step was to ask the fearful to return. In response, twenty two thousand people turned back. While Gideon was wondering how the ten thousand men can face the Midianites, God was not through with the downsizing because he said they were too many less they ascribe the victory to themselves.
The second step was to check the battle readiness of the team. Only three hundred of them passed this test, so Gideon’s team was slashed to three hundred.
Surprisingly, the three hundred people were given trumpets instead of weapons of war because the Lord fights the battle for his people. As the three hundred men blew the trumpets, the Lord set the Midianites sword everyone against his neighbour (Judges 7:22). This was God’s way of showing his people that he does not depend on crowd to save his people.
David missed this when he ordered Joab the captain to number the people of Israel and Judah. He was not intent in getting correct census for planning but shifting his faith to the number of his host of soldiers instead of trusting in God. This attracted the wrath of God (2Samuel 24: 1-17). For man, majority carries the vote but with God, there is no restraint in number.
Prayer: Lord, help me to understand that you can save with many or with few.
Rev. Vincent Diolu