Why were only 300 people chosen?
When all of Gideon’s men were gathered and camped, there were originally 32,000 men. God said Gideon had too many men for Him to deliver Midian into their hands.
At that time, the Israelites were worshipping the gods of the Amorites and had forgotten about Him.
God did not want Israel to believe they had defeated the Midianites because of their own strength but to know that it was through Him that they were victorious. And so, the process of choosing the 300 people began.
God helped Gideon to choose his 300 men
To begin with the selection of the people who will be part of his army, God told Gideon to announce to the people that whoever trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead. With this command, 22,000 people left leaving 10,000 people in his army.
The 22,000 were ‘fearful and afraid’ and therefore they were eliminated. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Even with 22,000 choosing to leave, God still said there were too many men. So God He told Gideon to take the men to the water where God would sift them.
With 10 00 men the ratio was 45:1
God said, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.”
The 300 men who lapped water with their hands to their mouths were the ones chosen as Gideon’s 300
The 300 ratio was then 1:1350 The reality was this was not Gideon’s 300 but God’s.
It was not about the type of men but the number.
The impossibility of victory is the equivalent of what Jesus’ Disciples saw on the impossibility of being saved: Matthew 19:25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
It is a fight between God and His enemies: between God’s people and those who reject God, between good and evil, between truth and falsehood.