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Judith 3:8 "And [Holofernes] demolished all their shrines and cut down their sacred groves; for it had been given to him to destroy all the gods of the land, so that all nations should worship Nebuchadnezzar only, and all their tongues and tribes should call upon him as god."

 

The shrines and sacred groves Holofernes is destroying are those of the pagan gods of the nations surrounding Judea. He is marching through the sea coast, striking "fear and terror" in all the people of Sidon and Tyre and the other surrounding nations. (Judith 2:28) But when he reaches the border of Judea, Holofernes encamps in order to resupply his army (Judith 3:10), and that is where and when the story of Judith plays out.

 

Holofernes had been ordered to destroy all other gods by King Nebuchadnezzar, so to his mind that was who had "given to him" this task. But he will not succeed against the God of Israel, because the God of Israel is the one true God. Nebuchadnezzar has no power over Him, neither the king nor his general have any power other than the power God has given them, as is true for everyone, everywhere, all the time (and as we will hear Jesus tell Pilate centuries later). So it really was the God of Israel who had "given to" Holofernes the power to carry out his task to the extent he was able. 

 

God is not happy with any false worship, even if it is among people who do not know Him yet. False worship confuses the world, and is a portal for the principalities and powers that are our true enemies to gain more of a foothold. So God allows, even gives to, Holofernes the power to go through all of the lands surrounding Judea destroying their false gods. But when Holofernes comes up against the true God he doesn't stand a chance, and is ultimately defeated by a single Jewish widow (just to further reinforce God's true power). 

 

So when we are on a roll, when everything is going according to plan and we are marching through life and tempted to think it is all because of our ability or power or insight, we should remember that whatever we're accomplishing has been "given to us" through the power of God. We will succeed only as long as we are doing His will; the moment we come up against that thinking to challenge it, we will fail miserably. But if we always give ourselves over to His will, recognizing that it is His power accomplishing whatever we do, we will never fail, and will accomplish amazing things, as Judith did.