by David Scott Robertson
"And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle" (Exodus 12:37-38 KJV).
When Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt en route to the Promised Land, the Bible tells us that more than the children of Israel left Egypt that momentous day. A "mixed multitude" went with them. The New Living Translation says, "Many people who were not Israelites went with them, along with the many flocks and herds" (Exodus 12:38).
I don't know what it is about the "mixed multitude" that fascinates me, but it does.
The book of Exodus focuses on the mighty miracles that God performed to free His people from centuries of slavery in the idolatrous nation of Egypt but little is said about the mixed multitude that accompanied their hasty exit.
I hate to speculate, but I can't help but wonder about this non-Jewish people group who evacuated Egypt that apparently was so great in number that the Bible describes them as a "multitude."
Do you suppose some of them were slaves from other nations conscripted into hard labor along side of the Israelites? Were some, in fact, former Egyptian officials who defected because of their profound respect for Moses and a newfound faith in the great God Jehovah? This is not inconceivable since Exodus 11:3 tells us:
"The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people."
The influence of Moses transformed some of these pagans into God-fearing men as we discover in Exodus 9:20:
"Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside [when Moses prophesied a plague of killer hail was coming]."
Perhaps they and their households and slaves comprised part of the mixed multitude. Maybe the mixed multitude were foreigners from other nations who had settled in Egypt for economic reasons. There they may have prospered and flourished. But ten devastating plagues later, they were broke with no livelihood, no source of income, no hope and future. Perhaps they were once "free" but now were "enslaved" by debt.
Maybe the mixed multitude contained many "curiosity-seekers," those who wanted to go see for themselves the much talked about sacrifice that the Israelites were commanded to perform to their God and expecting to see some glorious manifestation of Israel's God.
Many, if not most of the mixed multitude, may have been an unthinking mob who just "went along with the crowd" not really knowing why but joining in the mass exodus anyway.
I could go on but the established fact remains that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people blended into the departing Israelite community as they left Egypt in a mass exodus.
Having been sufficiently motivated by the awesome plagues God sent on Pharaoh and his nation, they were convinced in the reality of the God of Moses and Aaron.
Furthermore, they experienced deliverance from death from the pursuing army of Pharaoh with orders to kill all those that fled through the Red Sea (Pharaoh probably gave orders to indiscriminately kill any of the mixed multitude who fled through the Red Sea with Moses.)
Shoulder to shoulder with their Israelite traveling companions, the mixed multitude would experience God's miracle provision in a barren wilderness. They watched, with their own eyes, as God performed miracle after miracle - the Red Sea swallowing the entire army of Pharaoh in one fatal blow - they saw the awesome Tabernacle and sacrificial system - they saw the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night leading Israel - they heard God speak to Moses and through Moses - they tasted bitter waters made sweet and drinkable and on and on. The mixed multitude even had their very lives sustained through the miraculous food supply from heaven that came to be known as "manna."
So, here is what I think would naturally happen to the mixed multitude in the subsequent weeks and months that follow.
They would all, without exception, convert to the faith of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They would become obedient to the Old Covenant requirements of the Law to please the great God Jehovah who richly provided them with a hope and future, even though they were foreigners of mixed ancestry (Nehemiah 13:3). They would do all they could to encourage the Israelites to faithfully serve their powerful God because associating with them had saved their lives.
But tragically, that's not what happened.
"Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt, and the people of Israel also began to complain. "Oh, for some meat!" they exclaimed. We remember all the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic that we wanted. But now our appetites are gone, and day after day we have nothing to eat but this manna!" (Numbers 11:4-6)
Their negative report apparently spread to every family in the twelve tribes of Israel for the scriptures say, "Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled" (Numbers 11:10).
Where am I going with all this?
I suppose we who have been delivered from the slavery of sin can identify much with the children of Israel in the time of the Exodus. Before we are saved, Satan is our evil taskmaster. While in sin, we are doomed to a harsh existence with the devil desiring to keep us in bondage and destroy our children and fruitfulness.
But just like God sent Moses to deliver His people back then, so God sends a deliverer to us in our day bearing the authority of God and the good news of the gospel. Like Israel leaving Egypt, we leave sin and through the waters of baptism we experience our version of the Red Sea passage.
Then we begin to walk in a wilderness led by the Spirit en route to a land flowing with milk and honey, that is, heaven.
While we are walking through our modern world, we have as our traveling companions a mixed multitude. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who seek to influence us to depart from the faith and go back to "Egypt", back to a life of sin.
To me, the message of the "mixed multitude" is that it is fine to associate with people of other cultures and even religious persuasions. We can work with them, walk with them, eat with them, play sports with them, and even live next door to them permitting our children to play with theirs. However, a line must be drawn when it comes to allowing them to negatively influence us or our children to compromise God's righteous requirements of our lives and lifestyles. Our belief system which is based on the living and proven Word of God cannot be undermined by those who have never read it, understand it, let alone obey it.
There can be no tolerance of a murmuring spirit that causes division among the brethren, something that made the list of seven things that God hates (Proverbs 6:19).
So how do we handle the mixed multitude in our present day and age?
I think first we should understand that Jesus died for the mixed multitude. Those of us who are Gentiles and not of Jewish descent are actually part of the natural mixed multitude. When we receive Christ as Savior and Lord, we are grafted into the family of God and become joint-heirs with Jesus, and this by the grace of God. We need to understand that God is not willing that any of the mixed multitude should perish but that all should come to repentance and experience eternal life.
Next, I think we should ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) in establishing good boundaries in which to conduct our lives as the mixed multitude live among us. We need to let the light of the gospel shine through our lives (Matthew 5:16) that all may know that God lives not only among us, but in us.
Finally, we must adopt Joshua and Caleb attitudes that are resistant to grumbling, complaining, and murmuring and energized with faith. We must understand that we are well able to possess the lands that God has set before us, lands filled with more of the mixed multitude.
DSR
3/15/04