Scripture Daily

Context No. 4108 of 4322 · Judith

Context · Reflection

Judith 7:6-15: in context

6But on the second day Holofernes led out all his cavalry in the sight of the children of Israel which were in Bethulia, 7viewed the ascents to their city, and searched out the springs of the waters, seized upon them, and set garrisons of men of war over them. Then he departed back to his people. 8All the rulers of the children of Esau, all the leaders of the people of Moab, and the captains of the sea coast came to him and said, 9“Let our lord now hear a word, that there not be losses in your army. 10For this people of the children of Israel do not trust in their spears, but in the height of the mountains wherein they dwell, for it is not easy to come up to the tops of their mountains. 11And now, my lord, don’t fight against them as men fight who join battle, and there will not so much as one man of your people perish. 12Remain in your camp, and keep every man of your army safe. Let your servants get possession of the water spring, which flows from the foot of the mountain, 13because all the inhabitants of Bethulia get their water from there. Then thirst will kill them, and they will give up their city. Then we and our people will go up to the tops of the mountains that are near, and will camp upon them, to watch that not one man gets out of the city. 14They will be consumed with famine—they, their wives, and their children. Before the sword comes against them they will be laid low in the streets where they dwell. 15And you will pay them back with evil, because they rebelled, and didn’t meet your face in peace.”

The enemy commander Holofernes, unable to overcome the fortified town of Bethulia by direct assault, adopts a crueler strategy: he seizes the springs that supply the town's water, planning to starve and parch the people into surrender. His advisers assure him that thirst will do what swords could not; without water, the besieged people will collapse.

It is a picture of a familiar tactic, cutting off the source of sustenance to break a people's will. And, as the story unfolds, the people of Bethulia are indeed brought to the edge of despair, tempted to give up when their water runs low. When the ordinary sources of our strength and sustenance are cut off, when the springs we relied on run dry, it is a severe test of faith, and the temptation is to despair and surrender. Yet the story of Bethulia does not end in surrender; God provides deliverance when the people hold on and trust him. When the sources we depended on are cut off, we can hold on, remembering that God is the true source who never runs dry.

When the ordinary sources of my strength and sustenance are cut off and I am tempted to despair, do I hold on and trust that God is the true source who never runs dry, able to deliver even when every visible spring has failed?

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