A Mixed Multitude....

I hope you are finding our year-long Bible Challenge as interesting and thought-provoking as I am. The text of the Bible has many different levels of meaning, all of which are worth thinking about and learning from. The first level or way of reading the Bible is to look at its plain meaning, then we can consider the meanings implied but not directly set forth in the text.

In our Bible Challenge readings this week we read in Exodus of the escape of the Jewish people from Egypt and the miracle of the splitting of the sea. Together with the People of God, Exodus recounts in 12:38, A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.

The term “mixed multitude” in Hebrew is erev rav. These Hebrew words are only used as a term once in the entire Bible, in Exodus 12:38. How can we understand it? First of all, by looking at it in context. Exodus 12:37-39 reads, Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

So, erev rav is used in the context of the line before it, setting forth who went out from Egypt. Exodus 12:27 says who and what departed. First it mentions the male descendants of Jacob, then children. That women were in the company of those leaving Egypt is implied. Then, it mentions the erev rav together with livestock, implying that the mixed multitude was different than the People of God.

Many, many commentators have speculated on who made up the mixed multitude. Some say it was a mixed bag of disaffected Egyptians, criminals, debtors, and others who had reason to think life would be better for them if they escaped. Other scholars, focusing on the word “mixed” think it means people of mixed Egyptian and Israelite descent.

In general, the erev rav are identified with the asafsuf, the rabble-rousers in Numbers 11:4, The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat?

This complaint, of course, is after the miracle of the manna and the quail which fell on the camp of the Israelites daily, and right after they left Mount Sinai. The Hebrew word “asafsuf” also occurs only once in the Bible. After they are destroyed in Numbers 11:33-34 they are never heard of again.

In general, the mixed multitude that followed God’s People in the flight from Egypt can be understood as a group of non-Israelites who were actually not supposed to be there, but they followed after. But, in a way, we can look at this metaphorically.

When a person makes a change of life from the world to God, when a person becomes a Christian, he or she “escapes” from the bondage of sin (metaphorically, Egypt) and begins the long journey to the Promised Land, the Lord’s World to Come. This desert through which we walk is hard, but the promise is sure. We have to rely upon God’s mercy every step of the way. Complaining and questioning is a sign that our faith isn’t yet strong, but time will help cure that, as we see God acting time and again.

When we make our escape from bondage to sin, however, we bring with us an erev rav, a mixed multitude of what we were supposedly leaving behind. That mixed multitude of wrong viewpoints, and bad habits and tendencies holds up our progress and tries to act as rabble-rousers in our hearts. Despite all that the Lord does for us, no matter how many miraculous acts we witness, no matter how many promises we make, there is still the asafsuf which wants to question God’s wisdom and complain about what He’s doing, even though it’s His intention to, at the next instant, give us what we need.

Jesus explained this in Luke 11:9-13 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.“Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?“Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

I think that just about every struggle we have with living in faith is derived from doubt, doubt that God loves us, cares for us, and will only do us good. As Romans 14:8 says, For whether we live, we live to the Lord; and whether we die, we die to the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

The challenge put to God’s People has always been the same: to whom do you belong? Do you belong to Egypt, or God?