The people who are with you are too many

2 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

Judges 7:2 (NKJV)

Gideon has decided to heed the calling of God and lead Israel to deliverance from the Midianites. He had pulled a lot of crowd to himself to achieve this vision, as he must have thought that he needed the crowd to overcome the numbers the Midianites had. It is just common sense, if he had enough people, they should at least be able to go to battle with the Midianites. Unknown to him that the ways of God are different.

In 1Samuel 14:6b, Jonathan says that, “nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.” Therefore we understand that there is no situation that catches God unawares or makes Him incapable of saving us, whether there are many or few. But we see here that God decided that Gideon should not go with many, but actually make them few. Although, in this case, the Lord gave the reason for this. It is so that Israel does not claim glory for itself and say they have saved themselves.

God is not one to share His glory with man. You cannot ascribe the work of God to man. God alone deserves all the glory, and it is very important that we understand this. In fact, our creation itself is to glorify God, not ourselves. Our very existence is meant to give God glory, the entirety of our life is aimed at giving HIm glory. So, it would not be wise of us to think that we actually deserve any glory for ourselves. 

One important thing God wants to ensure in your life is that no one can take the glory over it. Not your parents nor your helpers nor anybody. It must be that God is given the glory. So, in our context, there are many times God would require of us to reject something or people. He might even take some things or some people away from us if they are going to take His glory. Abraham once turned down the spoils of war because he did not want it said that it was the spoils of war of another nation that made him rich. He wanted to scribe his riches and everything in his life to God.

What are we saying? Does God have an issue with many? No He doesn’t. He has an issue with who will receive the glory when all is said and done. Sometimes in our lives, God intentionally ensures that the person you depend on to help you wasn’t able to. Not because that person wasn’t willing, but because God doesn’t want the person to take glory over your life, that he/she made you who you are. That boast is reserved for God alone. It was God who saved Israel, not Gideon nor the armies of Israel, but God. And this must keep on ringing in our hearts. It is God who can help us, and not man. Yes, he uses men, but they are the vessel. He is the one who really sends us help, and we must realise the source of our blessing, our salvation, our help and all that we receive upon this earth. The source is God. 

PRAYER

Father, forgive me for the times I have taken the glory or try to give it to the men you used. I understand that you alone deserve all the glory because you are the source of it all. All of my help comes from you.