Against all the odds.

History records numerable accounts of surprising battlefield upsets where seriously outnumbered armies won the day. One such battle was when the Carthaginians and their allies, led by Hannibal, surrounded, and practically annihilated a larger Roman and Italian army. It is regarded as one of the greatest tactical feats in military history and one of the worst defeats in Roman history. Hannibal’s army of 55,000 soldiers, from Carthage, defeated the invincible Roman army of 80,000 strong. Hannibal’s invasion stunned the Romans. In 216 B.C., he dealt them a staggering defeat at the Battle of Cannae by drawing back the endangered centre of his line to form a pocket. The oncoming Romans were trapped when his resilient forces swept around their flanks and enveloped them. The situation was reversed however, when in  203 B.C., Hannibal abandoned the struggle in Italy to defend North Africa, and he suffered a devastating defeat at Zama the following year.

The story of Alexander the Great has often been told because, with inferior numbers, he often routed larger armies through his brilliant military skills The Battle of Gaugamela in Oct.1 331,(the third time he had met the Persians) was the battle in which Alexander the Great completed his conquest of Darius III’s Persian Empire. It was an extraordinary victory achieved against a numerically superior army on ground chosen by the Persians.   The Greeks crushed the weaker Persian foot soldiers by routing the wings before turning towards the centre of the Persian line. The remnants of the Persian army fled to their ships and left the battle. Herodotus records that 6,400 Persian bodies were counted on the battlefield; the Athenians lost only 192 men.

The Battle of Agincourt: 25 October 1415, was an English routing of the better equipped and numerically superior French – A muddy battlefield and heavy armour played a major part in the French defeat. Along with the hail of arrows from English long bow archers, the French advance was also hampered by the deplorable condition of the battlefield. Several days of torrential rains had turned the recently tilled ground at Agincourt into a soggy morass. The English, under Henry V removed their heavy armour and this gave them a tactical advantage. The French, in their heavy armour, became bogged and were picked of one by one by the English. The battle probably lasted no longer than three hours and was perhaps as short as half an hour, according to some estimates. While the precise number of casualties is unknown, it is estimated that English losses amounted to about 400 and French losses to about 6,000, many of whom were noblemen.

Most importantly, the battle was a significant military blow to France and paved the way for further English conquests and successes. The French nobility, weakened by the defeat and divided among themselves, were unable to meet new attacks with effective resistance. Henry managed to subjugate Normandy in 1419, a victory that was followed by the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, which betrothed Henry to King Charles VI’s daughter Catherine and named him heir to the French crown.

The Battle of Agincourt was immortalized by William Shakespeare in his play Henry V. (It was this play where we get the phrase, “Band of brothers”)

There are numerous Bible stories of inferior armies defeating hordes of invaders: For example 2 Chronicles 20 describes “A great multitude coming up against Jehoshaphat” v2. In  V:15 God’s prophet, Zahaziel, said, “The battle is not yours but God’s” NB v17 where they were told they wouldn’t even have to fight! And so it was, that in v21 they left for battle led by the temple choir v21-22. As the story unfolds the coalition of invaders ended up turning on each other and destroying themselves. (Vs 22-23.)

We could talk at length of the stories of Gideon, Johnathan, David and others, but we need to remember that we too, are in a life-and-death battle with a wily foe. We are outnumbered, fighting against incredible odds. The forces of evil appear invincible. We seem to be facing certain loss. Defeat seems inevitable. Victory appears out of sight. From a merely human perspective, it seems that Satan’s forces will overwhelm us. The church is locked in a battle with ideologies. The atheism of Nietzche and his modern disciples, Karl Marx and his communist allies, and Charles Darwin and his so-called science of evolution, all seem formidable foes. Like Elijah of old we seem heavily in the minority as we face the prophets of Baal. But Mt Carmel was a great victory.

We can thank God, that though we are outnumbered, though the odds are (humanly speaking) stacked against us, though Satan’s attacks are vicious and often seemingly victorious, through Jesus we will win at last. The theme of the Bible’s last book, Revelation, is this: Jesus Wins, Satan Loses. The heart of this battle is outlined in Revelation 12 where the beginning of the war is chronicled and traced through history. The one who “knows the end from the beginning,” declares our victory in advance.