Psalm 89:1
I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
Exodus 12:38
And a mixed multitude went also with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.
Numbers 11:4
And the mixed multitude among them [the rabble who followed Israel from Egypt] began to lust greatly [for familiar and dainty food], and the Israelites wept again and said, Who will give us meat to eat?
Who are mixed multitudes?
When the Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, the first stage of the exodus from Egypt, there were up with them "a mixed multitude." (Exodus 12:38; Numbers 11:4) They were probably the offspring of marriages contracted between the Israelites and the Egyptians; and the term may also include all those who were not of pure Israelite blood. In Exodus and Numbers it probably denoted the miscellaneous hangers-on of the Hebrew camp, whether they were the issue of spurious marriages with Egyptians or were themselves Egyptians, or belonging to other nations. The same happened on the return from Babylon, and in (Nehemiah 13:3) (compare with Nehe 13:23-30) a slight clue is given by which the meaning of the "mixed multitude" may be more definitely ascertained.
In Jeremiah 25:20; And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
Jeremiah 50:37, A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
"mingled people" is a term of contempt for the hybrid blood of certain of Israel's enemies.
Exodus 12:37 gives us our first “census” of the population of Hebrews who left Egypt for the Land of Promise. We are told that around 600,000 men departed from Ramses, not to mention children and, presumably, women. Some conservative estimates have suggested that, even by placing just one woman and one child with each man, the numbers would swell to nearly 2 million. And, if we learned anything about the typical Jewish families from the Book of Genesis, we can safely assume that being an only child was a rarity. More realistic approximations have been made by scholars of anywhere from 3 to perhaps as many as 6 million Hebrews leaving Egypt in the Exodus, although we really have no way of knowing for sure.
One thing we do know from the text, a “Mixed Multitude” accompanied the Twelve Tribes of Jacob as they set out toward Palestine. Neither fully Jewish nor fully Egyptian, these racially mixed people were the sons and daughters of one Hebrew parent and one Egyptian. The product of two separate and competing cultures, these “half-breeds” were perhaps too Egyptian to really fit in with the Children of Israel, and definitely too Jewish to be completely comfortable among their Egyptian brethren.
A portrait of those even to this day who divide and subvert the Body of Christ from within, the mixed multitude were those with split loyalties, coming close to the presence of God yet never fully committing to Him. These were the people who pined for the things they left behind in Egypt whenever times grew tough, the first to grumble and complain when hardships arose. They were an ever-present source of trouble and discord among the Hebrews, eroding the morale of the entire nation by their own negativity.
The mixed multitude did not leave Egypt because they were weary of Egypt, hungering for the rest and redemption that God alone can provide. They followed after Moses more out of curiosity and a fascination for the sublime. Power had been demonstrated in the land, supernatural manifestations had stirred the imagination of those with one foot planted firmly in the land of the Pharaohs and one foot tenuously stepping toward the other half of their heritage. Like a young man raised on a rural farm, accepting his first invitation to see the bright lights of a far off city, it was the lure of novelty, the draw of the strange and unfamiliar that the mixed multitude were responding to — not the promise of deliverance.
The mixed multitude of the Exodus is a spirit and is inherent in unconverted church members of today. As were the mixed multitude drawn toward a demonstration of power, so are many who fill church pews each Sunday morning or come to revivals and crusades. Wherever the Spirit of God is moving, there will always be inquisitive spectators, curious onlookers who will readily identify themselves as true believers in order that they might retain an up close seat to the action. These are not folks hungering for God, but hungering for entertainment, diversions from the ordinary that might delight their emotions rather than feed their souls.
They are usually former spirit mediums, tarot card readers, palm readers, voodoo priests and Santeria exponents who have not been fully converted. They are ready to mix their former evil spiritual knowledge and activities with Christendom. They believe there is a middle way between the two, meanwhile we know there is no meeting place between darkness and light.
These are tares among the wheat of God’s true people, grumblers and complainers who gnaw away at the unity of the Body of Christ. They will drink deeply while the waters are flowing, but are the first to protest during seasons of drought. Uncommitted to the Lord, these people are never contented to simply walk away, to return to “Egypt” where their allegiance really lies; they will invariably sow seeds of discontent among those who genuinely belong to the Lord.
The spirit of the mixed multitude can destroy many a destiny at a whim. This is because deep rooted Christian men and women can easily be diverted by these “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
They operate in twos and threes to convince unsuspecting victims using the biblical phrase in 2 Corinthians 12:1b which says, “Every fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” Matthew 18:16 confirms it further; “But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
They are the ones who are first to complain when things are not going smoothly for them in church.
1. They are the ones who suggest alternatives when they see you have been in that situation for long. “I know one man who can fix that your barrenness and they take you to a demon grandmaster.” Or a Sai baba, or sangoma.
2. There the ones who will suggest going to Haiti or New Orleans to meet a voodoo priest all the way from Canada or California, just to deal with your supervisor, or an offending co member of the church.
3. They are the ones who will carry the first lady’s bag while spreading rumours about the man of God and female church members.
4. They are the ones who are suggesting that you go and get a love potion and put inside your fiancées drink so he will quicken the process of marrying you.
5. They are the ones who know the kind of “herbs” and concoctions that will get you pregnant when you have been waiting on God for a while for the fruit of the womb.
6. They are the ones who will suggest to you that you join that secret society for power, so that you can outshine others in church.
7. They are quick to tell the man of God, in front of the whole congregation, “I cannot do that 7 day fast, and I know many of us cannot do it. You fast for us, we will pay you, pastor.”
8. They are the first to suggest to the man of God that He should ditch the first lady if she is getting too influential in the church and that he can take a new wife, they will support him.
The incredible thing is that all these people I am talking about are the ones sitting next to you in church every Sunday, at every miracle service. They are the ones jisting with you at every women’s conference, at every men’s committee and the church building committee. Some of us also are unfortunately involved. To those who sit astride the fence today, know that you can do so only for so long. The time will come when you must decide which side you will stand on. You are either committed to the Lord Jesus Christ or you are not. Pretending to follow Christ might fool others, but God is fooled by no one. Won’t you fully commit to Him today?
Let us pray
1. Father expose and disgrace unrepentant members of the mixed multitude in the body of Christ in Jesus name.
2. Oh Lord, deny the enemy of my destiny the chance to destroy me in Jesus’ name.
3. Every power trying to divert upright Christians from Jesus, die in Jesus’ name.
4. Oh Lord let the spirit of the mixed multitude be arrested and cast out in my local assembly in Jesus name
5. I reject every suggestion of going back to Egypt in Jesus’ name
6. Oh Lord, reverse every result or consequence of looking back to Egypt in my life in Jesus’ name.
7. Father expose, disgrace and arrest satanic agents masquerading as Christians and church members in my midst in Jesus’ name.
8. Father, choose the right spouses for my children in Jesus’ name. Do not let them get involved in the mixed multitude.
9. Choose the right local assembly that is not a mixed multitude church for me in Jesus’ name.
10. Choose the right pastor or spiritual advisor that is not a mixed multitude pastor in Jesus’ name.
