Jan. 17thGideon

Gideon’s story is often remembered for the number that shrank, from thousands to three hundred.

But Scripture does not present this merely
as a lesson in courage or strategy.
It is a deliberate unlearning of
how victory is usually imagined.

When the Lord reduced Gideon’s army,
the text is explicit about the reason,
“Lest Israel boast over me, saying,
‘My own hand has saved me.’” (Judges 7:2).

This was not about efficiency.
It was about ownership of glory.

What makes the account more striking
is what Gideon brought to the battle.
Not swords raised in formation,
but trumpets, empty clay jars, and hidden torches.
Tools that made noise, revealed light, and shattered easily.

In their time, the jars had to be broken for the light to be seen.
The trumpets, when blown, announced presence, not power.
So Israel’s victory then unfolded in the enemies‘ confusion, fear,
and divine intervention, not military dominance.

Israel did not win because they overpowered Midian.
They won because God made it unmistakably clear
that He was the one was acting in behalf of Israel.

Gideon himself mirrors this pattern.
He was not confident by nature.
He hesitated, and even asked for reassurance.
And yet God did not bypass him. God shaped him.
Not by inflating his strength, but by steadily
removing every false place of confidence.

So by the time the battle came,
there was nothing left to trust
except the word of the Lord.

And this pattern does not end in Judges.

When we arrive at Christ,
we find the same divine logic,
now carried to its deepest fulfillment.

In Christ, God’s victory did not arrive with armies or force.
It came through a body broken,
light revealed, and a triumph that
clearly belonged to God alone.

The cross looked like weakness.
Like defeat. Like something that should not work.

And yet, just as with Gideon’s jars,
the breaking was the very means
by which the light was released.

The gospel does not invite us to trust in our numbers,
our strength, or our ability to control outcomes.
It invites us to stand where Gideon stood,
empty-handed, obedient, and aware that if victory comes,
it will be because God has acted.

And when that happens,
no one will mistake
where the glory belongs.

What do you have in your hand right now?
What are your „trumpets, empty clay pitchers, and torches“?
Remember that as long as God is taking on the battle on your behalf, even the littlest thing in your hands is able to bring victory and breakthrough.