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Context No. 3187 of 4322 · Judith

Context · Reflection

Judith 14:6-10: in context

6And they called Achior out of the house of Ozias; but when he came, and saw the head of Holofernes in a man’s hand in the assembly of the people, he fell upon his face, and his spirit failed. 7But when they had recovered him, he fell at Judith’s feet, bowed down to her, and said, “Blessed are you in every tent of Judah! In every nation, those who hear your name will be troubled. 8Now tell me all the things that you have done in these days.” And Judith declared to him in the midst of the people all the things that she had done, from the day that she went out until the time that she spoke to them. 9But when she finished speaking, the people shouted with a loud voice, and made a joyful noise in their city. 10But when Achior saw all the things that the God of Israel had done, he believed in God exceedingly, and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and was joined to the house of Israel, to this day.

Achior the Ammonite is brought before the people, and when he sees the head of Holofernes and hears everything Judith has done, he faints, then falls at her feet in blessing. And when he grasps all that the God of Israel had done to deliver his people, he believes in God greatly, and joins himself to the house of Israel.

Setting aside the grim scene, the point is Achior's conversion. Achior, a Gentile who had earlier warned Holofernes that Israel's God protects his people, now sees that very word vindicated, and it brings him to faith. Seeing what the God of Israel had done, he believes and joins himself to God's people. The deliverance of God's people became the means of an outsider's conversion; the display of God's faithfulness drew a Gentile to worship the true God. When people see God act faithfully for his own, it can draw the watching outsider to believe.

Does the way God is seen to act among his people draw others toward faith, and am I part of a witness that leads outsiders to believe?

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