Gtcotr/ss071419
Deuteronomy 7 NKJV
6 “For you are a
holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a
people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the
earth.
7 “The LORD did not set
His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other
people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 “but because the LORD
loves you …
God
chose the Children of Israel and that is what made them a special people. He
chose them not because they were nicer, more holy, better or bigger than
others. God chose the descendants of Jacob because He loved them. They were
family …
Deuteronomy 9:6 You must
recognize that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land because you are
good, for you are not — you are a stubborn people. (NLT)
God
loved Abraham and made a covenant with him to love his family forever. And, God
keeps His promises. The Jews weren’t special until God chose them. At that
point, they became the most special people on earth.
When
Moses led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, it was a great day for them.
They were all excited … Pharaoh had lost, and they had won. The Bible says that
they plundered the Egyptians who had previously enslaved them and that the Children
of Israel went out of the land with a mighty hand. It must have seemed like a
victory parade and, with all that excitement, other people, non-Jewish people,
perhaps other slaves or businessmen or tradesmen who depended on the Children
of Israel for their living, and maybe even some friends of the Jews decided
that it would be better for them to tag along with these winners instead of
staying behind in Egypt with the losers.
It
is possible that some of these “tag-alongs” had been living in close daily
contact with the Jews and had been converted to a mild form of Judaism and
worship of Jehovah, at least in practice if not in heart. At any rate, some of
the Egyptians left Egypt along with the Children of Israel under the new
leadership of Moses … the man of the hour. They wanted to go to this Land of
Promise … a land flowing with milk and honey in which there was no lack for
anything. Sounds like a great deal to me too!
Exodus 12:38 A mixed
multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds — a great deal
of livestock. (NKJV)
Exodus 12:38 A rabble of
non-Israelites went with them, along with great flocks and herds of
livestock. (NLT)
Exodus 12:38 There was also a
crowd of riffraff tagging along, not to mention the large flocks and herds of livestock.
(The Message)
These
“rabble-rousers”, “riff-raft”, “mixed multitude” of people were this
group of Egyptians who had either loosely converted to Judaism or were so
acquainted with the Jews that they felt safer and more comfortable with them
than with their own people. However, we find that they were only pretend
followers of Jehovah and at best, tag along “fair-weather” friends. They were
never really “all-in” with God. At heart, they were shallow and selfish and as
soon as they realized it was not going to be all about them, and that this
journey was going to be a little harder than they first imagined, they began to
complain and spread discontentment among the Israelites. What they said was
true, but it was ungodly and it was perverse.
Have you ever known someone who got onboard
all excited and then at some point began looking around for something to be
dissatisfied with … then they start bad-mouthing the trip or the food or the
service or the leadership and pointing out things that aren’t perfect? These
people dig up bad stuff and tell anyone who will listen just trying to stir up
trouble.
Proverbs 16:27 An ungodly man
digs up evil, And it is on his lips like a burning fire.
Well
it seems every group has a few rabble-rousers and Moses and the Church
in the Wilderness was no exception. As time went along, even though the
Children of Israel were right in the middle of God’s will, making progress, in
the midst of one of the greatest miracles that had ever been seen, bread coming
from heaven, under a cloud in the wilderness, free from slavery and headed to a
land flowing with milk and honey, the riffraff in the congregation began to
look around for something to complain about.
For
the most part, people will remain content until someone stirs them up with
claims they are being neglected, mistreated or done wrong. Then, all of the
sudden, there’s trouble in the family – on the job – or in the Church.
Numbers 11 NKJV
4 ¶ Now the mixed multitude
who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also
wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?
5 “We remember the fish which
we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and
the garlic;
6 “but now our whole being is
dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our
eyes!”
These
“rabble-rousers” stirred up so much trouble in the congregation that it overshadowed
the blessings and the good things God had done and was doing for everybody.
They were in the middle of a great miracle. Manna was coming from heaven every
day and yet they complained.
The
complaints grew so that people started crying and believing their families were
somehow being mistreated. You can read the rest of the account in Numbers 11
but suffice it to say that all of those complaints of the people even affected
Moses. Moses was doing all he could do but it just wasn’t enough to please
everyone, especially those “rabble-rousers”.
Finally
Moses went to God and said, “Why have you afflicted me with the burden of these
people? These aren’t my children. You’ve asked me to guard them and guide them
like a nursemaid and bring them to the Promise Land. But, I’d rather you go
ahead and kill me now rather than me have to continue trying to please them …
they just can’t be pleased.”
You
can read the rest of the story and see what God did to both remedy and correct
the trouble and the troublemakers. But, for now, what can we learn from this
Bible account that will help us in our walk with Christ today?
1.
Don’t be a Rabble-Rouser.
a.
Fussing
and complaining makes it worse on everybody.
b.
Refuse
to dig up evil or listen to others who have burning lips.
c.
It’s
ungodly. Why trouble God or your family or the church?
2.
Be thankful for the miracles that are happening all around you.
a.
Souls are being saved; lives changed; hope
restored …
3.
Remember, God loves you and has chosen you to be His child.
