Judith 2:14-20: a reflection

14So Holofernes went out from the presence of his lord, and called all the governors, the captains, and officers of the army of Asshur. 15He counted chosen men for the battle, as his lord had commanded him, to one hundred twenty thousand, with twelve thousand archers on horseback. 16He arranged them as a great multitude is ordered for the war. 17He took camels, donkeys, and mules for their baggage, an exceedingly great multitude, and sheep, oxen, and goats without number for their provision, 18and a large supply of rations for every man, and a huge amount of gold and silver out of the king’s house. 19He went out, he and all his army, on their journey, to go before King Nebuchadnezzar, and to cover all the face of the earth westward with their chariots, horsemen, and chosen footmen. 20A great company of various nations went out with them like locusts and like the sand of the earth. For they could not be counted by reason of their multitude.

The passage describes Holofernes mustering an overwhelming army for his campaign: a hundred and twenty thousand foot soldiers, twelve thousand cavalry, camels and provisions beyond counting, a multitude like locusts and like the sand of the earth, too many to number. It is a picture of immense human force, gathered to cover the whole earth and crush all resistance. And yet, as the story of Judith will show, all these numbers would come to nothing; the uncountable host would be undone.

Notice what Holofernes trusted: sheer scale, overwhelming numbers, vast resources, a force so large it seemed impossible to resist. His confidence rested on the size of his army, the abundance of his provisions, the multitude of his men. It is the ancient temptation to find security in scale, to believe that enough numbers, enough resources, enough force, guarantees success. But numbers, however vast, are no guarantee against the purposes of God.

That is a caution against a temptation we share, in our own terms. We too can be tempted to find our security in scale and resources, to believe that if we have enough, enough money, enough backing, enough strength, we are safe and cannot fail. Holofernes' uncountable army is a warning: human numbers and resources, however impressive, are no true security. They can come to nothing. Do not rest your confidence in the size of your resources or the scale of your strength. Numbers do not guarantee outcomes; God does. Let your security rest not in what you can count and muster, but in the God before whom the largest army is nothing.

Lord, Holofernes trusted an army too vast to number, like locusts and like the sand of the earth, and yet all his numbers came to nothing before your purpose. Guard me from the same illusion in my own terms. Keep me from resting my security in scale and resources, from believing that if I have enough, enough money, enough backing, enough strength, I am safe and cannot fail. Numbers and resources, however impressive, are no true security; they can come to nothing. Help me rest my confidence not in what I can count and muster, but in you, before whom the largest army is nothing. Let my security be in you alone, not in the scale of my own strength.