Lux Lucet

Memorial at Thermopylae bearing Simonides famous epitaph: Tell them in Lacedaimon, passer-by / That here, obedient to their word, we lie.   

“Come and take them,” retorted king Leonidas to the Persian envoy who had asked him to surrender his arms. Brave words those. Especially in light of the overwhelming odds facing the Spartans. The Persians had an army numbering in the hundreds of thousands. One ancient source puts it at over two million. In any event, the Persian forces vastly outnumbered the small Greek army of about 7,000 men. After two days of heroic fighting, Leonidas and the 300 other Spartan soldiers who were with him were surrounded and killed by the Persians.

Those familiar with ancient history immediately will recognize this as a reference to the Battle of Thermopylae, fought in 480 B.C. The Spartans’ stand against the Persians was the stuff of legend, even in ancient times. Simonides, a Greek poet from about the same time, composed a famous epitaph for the slain that reads,

Tell them in Lacedaimon [Sparta], passer-by,

That here, obedient to their word, we lie.

Today, these words are inscribed on a memorial plaque at the site of the battle. In more recent times, interest in the Battle of Thermopylae has been inspired by a graphic novel titled 300 and a movie by the same name.

From the account of their actions at Battle of Thermopylae, it is clear that the Spartans were a remarkable people. What can we say about them? First, they were great warriors. It was often commented that Sparta, unlike most other ancient cities, lacked defensive walls. Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus reportedly explained this by saying, “A city is well-fortified which has a wall of men instead of brick.”

Second, they had a strong sense of honor. Not all the Greek forces at Thermopylae fought to the death. Some surrendered. Others retreated. But Leonidas and his men went down fighting. In ancient warfare, it was considered shameful for a man to drop his weapons and flee. Such was the Spartan love of honor that Plutarch, an ancient Greek writer, quoted Spartan mothers as telling their sons as they went off to battle, “Come back with your shield, or on it.”

Third, they lost. Doubtless they were very brave. And doubtless they were heroic. But in the end, they were all dead. The Greeks went on the win the war, perhaps in part due to the efforts of the Spartans at Thermopylae. But it was the Persians who held the field at the end of the day.

Another 300

As famous as it was, the stand at Thermopylae is not history’s only example of 300 men facing impossible odds. In one of the great Messianic chapters of the Old Testament, Isaiah, prophesying of the coming Christ, likened his coming to, “the day of Midian,” when God broke the rod of the oppressor (Isaiah 9:4). This is a reference to the defeat Midianite army at the hands of Gideon and his 300 chosen men.

As the book of Judges tells us, an army composed of Midianites and Amalekites, “as numerous as locusts” had invaded the land of Israel. The invasion was not some isolated incident either. Judges tells us that, “the LORD delivered them [the Israelites] into the hand of Midian for seven years” (6:1). And this was not some random bad thing that happens to so-called good people. Scripture tells us the reason for Israel’s suffering. They had “done evil in the sight of the LORD” (6:1) and were suffering the consequences of their disobedience. But now, the time of deliverance was at hand, and Gideon was the man whom God would use to bring it about.

Gideon choosing the 300.

But salvation from the invaders was not to come in the manner people naturally would suppose. Gideon, as one would expect, assembled a sizeable army numbering 32,000 men, and set up a camp near the Midianite host. But God told him his army was too big, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’ ” (Judges 7:2).

As a result, God told Gideon, “proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead’ ” (7:3). As a result of this, Scripture reports that “twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained” (7:3). In addition to being a strong statement about the sovereign power of God, this passage implies his disapproval of the commonly accepted practice of the military draft and other forms of forced national service. Anyone who was afraid was free to leave. There was no need to sign a statement. Those who left were not forced to carry bedpans. They simply went home.

Even after over two thirds of his army quit, Gideon still had too many men in God’s eyes. God provided a second test, how the remaining men drank water, that whittled Gideon’s forces down even further, “And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men” (Judges 7:6). So there we have it. The Israelite 300.

And what can we say about these men? First, the Bible does not praise their fighting skill. We know they were brave, because they didn’t go home when given the opportunity. But Scripture says nothing about them being exceptional fighters.

Second, they along with Gideon had faith. Doubtless, they could see the absurdity – from a human perspective – of the size of their army compared with that of the Midianites. Scripture doesn’t tell us, but perhaps some were mindful of what God had done for Israel against the chariots of pharaoh and believed he could once again deliver his people.

Third, unlike the Spartans, they won. There was no heroic last stand. No eloquent epitaph adorned their burial place. They walked from the field of battle alive and victorious. They conquered, not in their own strength or skill. The victory was God’s gift to his people. And to him belongs the glory.

The contrast between the Spartan 300 and Gideon’s 300 is more than a story about armies and battles. It is really the story about contrasting theologies. It is the contrast between the way of the world and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spartans represent the way of the world. They fought in their own strength and lost. Gideon and his men fought in God’s strength and carried the day. In like manner, those who think they can merit heaven by their own good works, they will fail. All our righteous works are filthy before God. None of them could ever earn his approval. But those who believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he whose perfect righteousness cleanses his people from all sin, they are declared righteous by God, apart from any works. To them belongs the victory.

God’s deliverance of Israel from the Midianite horde is a picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is he that saves us from our sins and conquers all his an our enemies. And it is no accident that Isaiah uses it to preface one of his great Messianic prophecies.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

As we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace in world filled with lies and violence, may his Spirit lead you in all truth and peace. In him alone is our victory.