Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

Gideon obeyed the Lord's direction, and with a heavy heart he
saw more than two thirds of his soldiers leave for their homes.
Again the word of the Lord came to him: "The people are still too
many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you
there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go
with you,' the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to
you, 'This shall not go with you,' the same shall not go."
The people were led down to the waterside, expecting to make
an immediate advance against the enemy. A few quickly took a little
water in the hand and sucked it up as they went on, but almost all
bowed on their knees and slowly drank from the surface of the
stream--just three hundred out of ten thousand took the water in
their hands. These three hundred were selected, and all the rest were
permitted to return to their homes.
Those who were determined to care for their own wants in a
time of danger were not to be trusted in an emergency. The three
hundred chosen men not only possessed courage and self-control,
they were also men of faith. They had not defiled themselves with
idolatry. God could direct them, and through them He could bring
about deliverance for Israel. God is not honored as much by great
numbers as He is by the character of those who serve Him.
The Israelites were stationed on the edge of a hill overlooking
the valley where the invaders' camp was spread out "as numerous as
locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the
seashore in multitude." Gideon trembled as he thought of the battle
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