Judges 7 begins with two armies encamped near each other in preparation for battle. You have Gideon’s army which is numbered around 32,000 Israelites. And then just North of him you have the Midianite army which is numbered around 135,000 men. So the Israelites are outnumbered about 5 to 1. And what does God tell Gideon to do? He tells Gideon to start sending men home. He says “too many.” He says, “I’m going to give you victory, but even when the odds aren’t in your favor, you still may be inclined to boast over me. So, send guys packing.”

Gideon sends 32,000 men home and keeps the remaining 300. So, we went from about 32,000 to 300. From everyone in Gideon’s army having to kill 4-5 men to everyone in Gideon’s army having to kill 450 men. Seems a little insane. And I would imagine there were a few guys who were thinking the same thing. According to human reasoning, carnal reasoning it looked foolish. Gideon was being a bad leader by needlessly giving his men a more difficult task. The Midianites had been pillaging Israelite lands for seven years and Israel finally has a chance to stop it and Gideon is throwing it all away. He’s not exercising wisdom here. He’s not being reasonable.

Pastor Wilson said a few weeks ago that some men are reasonable and others are mighty. Reasonable men don’t send most of their army home when the odds are already stacked against them. Reasonable men don’t take steps that go from ship to sea. Reasonable men don’t take slingshots to fight giants. And reasonable men don’t continue to preach a message that gets them mocked, beaten, and eventually killed. God isn’t looking for reasonable men. He’s looking for obedient men. So, let us strive for obedience and leave the results up to God.