“A mixed multitude also went up with them” [EXODUS 12:38a]. [1]
The world is attending our services. That is the good news! The bad news is that the world is attending our services. Churches of this day tend to order services of worship of the Living God with a view of accommodating the desires of the world. Church leaders convince themselves that they will draw more outsiders to attend the services of the churches. We tell ourselves, “If we don’t get them in the building, we can’t tell them the Good News.” However, I have observed that though our intentions were noble in the beginning, the presence of the crowd soon becomes the reason for the service. Rather than meeting the Risen Son of God, we seek a crowd. Before we know what happened, the Faith has been infiltrated and we become hesitant to declare the truth of the Gospel lest we offend those in attendance.
When Israel was delivered from bondage to the Egyptians, they began a journey of discovery. Shortly after leaving Egypt, the people discovered that they would need to depend on God. They were accompanied by a large number of non-Jews, identified as “a mixed multitude.” The non-Jews that went with them out of Egypt were less than enthusiastic to discover they would have to depend on the Lord. The Word of God addresses this problem when Moses writes, “Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at’” [NUMBERS 11:4-6].
Bible translators have struggled to capture the concept that the Hebrew conveys concerning those who accompanied the Israelites. The rabble is variously described as “many other people,” [2] “a crowd of mixed ancestry,” [3] “a large company of every kind,” [4] “a mixed crowd,” [5] “a rabble of non-Israelites,” [6] “a mixed crowd,” [7] “a large company of others.” [8] Eventually, we get the point that these people wanted the benefits of being associated with Israel, despite not sharing their cultural heritage.
Do you suppose that only Hebrews were slaves in Egypt? It is impossible to imagine that slaves from many countries were not included among the enslaved in Egypt. The Midianite traders that marketed Joseph don’t appear to have restricted their trade in slaves to young Hebrew men. Slaves were undoubtedly gathered from wherever they could be found. Perhaps some were taken captive during wars fought by the Egyptians against their neighbours. Therefore, in the same way a jailbreak might free all the prisoners, many of the Pharaoh’s “inmates” decided they had had enough, that anything was better than the slavery of Egypt, and they threw their lot in with the Hebrews and the fellow named Moses.
Don’t forget that these people were outsiders—they had no idea who Abraham was. They had never heard of Isaac or of Jacob. Though they had witnessed the mighty plagues that had devastated the Egyptians, they didn’t know the Lord GOD—they had never worshipped Him nor even heard of Him. The Hebrews themselves barely trusted Moses, and these assorted hangers-on definitely had no loyalty to Moses. Their focus was on themselves and their wants. The Israelite exodus was a convenience to gain the immediate desires of the “mixed multitude.” These hangers on did not share the Jew’s faith, weak though it may have been. Their association with Israel was casual, at best. The presence of this crowd is best defined as self-seeking.
The mixed multitude proved to be a drag on the spiritual health of Israel. Their desires constantly caused them to think only of what they once had rather than where they were headed. Among the churches of this day is found a mixed multitude. They seem at times to truly be a multitude! They outnumber the saints, or so it seems on many occasions. Their presence, coupled with the contemporary infatuation with democracy combines to lead the faithful into spiritual dead-ends that leave the people of God confused and at the mercy of the moment.
IDENTIFYING THE MIXED MULTITUDE AMONG US — I’m under no illusion, and you should not be deluded into believing, that everyone who says he is a Christian, or that she is a Christian, is one. I remember when I first came to grips with this shortly after I had become a follower of the Christ. I had spoken to a neighbour, asking if he was a follower of the Son of God. This man immediately smiled and said, “Oh, yes, I’m a Christian. In fact, I’m a Baptist just like you! I was baptised at the First Baptist Church of Tulsa on August the 4th 1968.”
I was pleased to hear this, but I followed up on my initial question with what seemed logical to me then, and which still seems logical, “Where do you go to church?” His reply startled me, though I suppose I’ve become used to the response I received that day. “Oh, I haven’t gone to church since August 11th, 1968. I’ve just been too busy for that stuff. And besides, there are too many hypocrites in the church.”
This was a man who wanted the benefits of being associated with the Faith. He saw his foray into the Faith as a transaction that purchased an eternal fire insurance policy. It only cost him a little time on a Sunday, made no demands of him throughout the remainder of his days, and left him free to conduct his life as he desired. If he needed anything from the church, it would always be there so that he could use it whenever he wished. He saw the church as a place to be “hatched, matched and dispatched.” The church would recognise the birth of his children, serve as a place for him to be married, and be available to ensure that he could have a wonderful send-off when he died. In his estimate, the church was available to be used according to his personal desires rather than being a place where he could grow strong in the Faith, a place where he could strengthen others, comfort others, and encourage others.
The man I’ve just mentioned was not an anomaly, not an aberration; tragically, such individuals are more common among the professed followers of the Master than we care to admit. Even more common are individuals who have insinuated themselves into positions of leadership and trust among the churches, though they reveal no evidence of a transformed life. Clearly, this has been a problem since earliest days of the Faith. Jude, a brother of our Lord, wrote in the little missive that bears his name, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” [JUDE 3-4].
Jude had planned on writing this brief letter to extol the Faith of Christ the Lord. However, the presence of influential pretenders compelled him to warn of the danger presented by these charlatans. He identifies these destructive termites as ungodly people, people who pervert the grace of God into sensuality, people who deny the lordship of Christ. Though they present themselves as followers of the Christ, their lives deny that they have ever known Him. They see the faithful as people whom they may manipulate for their own ends.
As was true with Jude, the Apostle to the Jews also wrote of these same individuals and the destructive impact their presence would have among the people of God when he wrote, “False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” [2 PETER 2:1-3].
The Big Fisherman identifies them as “false teachers” arising from among the people. Clearly, these individuals are persuasive, capable of misleading the unwary and bringing opprobrium upon the Faith. They are motivated by their own desires, having no desire to seek God’s glory. They always have a reason for why we cannot follow what God has delivered and an argument for why we need to accommodate what they call “reason.”
Late in his service among the churches, Paul, also, warned of these destructive individuals in his final statement to the elders of the congregation in Ephesus. You will recall that the Apostle to the Gentiles warned the church leaders who met him on the beach at Miletus, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” [ACTS 20:29-30]. He speaks of these destroying marauders as “fierce wolves.” The Greek word that he uses is the word Barús; the word speaks of something that is weighty or heavy. Paul is warning that people who are weighted down with honour in the eyes of this world will present themselves as leaders. These leaders weighed down with the honours esteemed by the world, will arise from within the house of God. But they seek disciples for themselves rather than seeking disciples for Christ, and they will prove to be destructive to the work of God.
The Apostle’s concern for what would be unleashed on the Faith was not something that arose only late in his service among the churches. In what may have been his earliest letter to the churches, the Apostle warned about individuals who appeared to be part of the assembly of the Lord, but who had no relationship to the Faith. He wrote a letter to the churches of Galatia, “Because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me” [GALATIANS 2:4-6].
Here, Paul speaks of those who opposed the message of grace as seemingly influential, though they sought to enslave the faithful. They were exposed as phonies by the Apostle, people in whom the truth of the Gospel was not evident. And yet, the people of God would be susceptible to being led astray by individuals such as these. The danger that was then imminent when Paul spoke is present today. Wolves appearing as honoured spokesmen of the Faith have invaded the churches, opening the doors to a mixed multitude that knows nothing of worship of the Risen Son of God. Their concern is summed up in the question, “What’s in this for me?”
Here was the grave danger of the rabble, the mixed multitude—their minds were not set on the things of God! They were the ultimate in carnal-mindedness. Paul spoke of those with their minds focused on the flesh when he wrote, “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” [ROMANS 8:5-8].
When Paul writes, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God,” you will understand that he is warning about the mixed multitude among us. Throughout the forty-year trek up and down the Sinai peninsula, the constant bickering, the incessant grumbling that nearly drove Moses batty often originated in the unbelieving rabble. The griping seems as if it is recorded on every page throughout Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Although in most cases, no mention is made of the instigators; yet in Numbers we read: “Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at’” [NUMBERS 11:4-6].
Take note of that little word, “also!” When complaining began among the rabble, it spread to the people of God. Grumbling, complaining, whining often begins with the unrighteous who see themselves as being along for the ride. However, should that spirit of complaining not be quickly addressed, it will spread. And the discontent will grow until it creates a crisis.
Oh, yes, the people remembered the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, the garlics they had for free; but they had forgotten the cruelty of their captors and the hopelessness of slavery. Though God was providing the “bread of heaven” for them each day, they could only remember the pickles and onions they once had. Indigestion and halitosis was preferable to a complete diet that gave them strength and nourishment. Slavery was preferable to freedom, because slavery meant certainty and freedom meant the people must assume responsibility for themselves. Isn’t that just like us! God provides His richest blessings, and all we can remember is what we imagine we once had. We fail to focus on what God has provided, remembering only the dependency we thought we had when we were held in thralldom.
When Israel was at last settled in the Promised Land during the days of Joshua, not all the pagans were moved out. Some were spared and remained. They are called the am-ha-aretz in the Hebrew, meaning “people of the land.” These individuals became a constant sore in the side of the nation. They worshiped other gods, observed pagan practices, and had no sympathy for the faith of the Israelites. Their proximity made it impossible for Israelites to avoid them, and soon the Hebrews were adopting their mannerisms, their fears, and their values.
Tragically, the foreign element is still with us among the churches. Living in this fallen world, we gradually adopt the attitudes of this broken, sinful world—attitudes that are innocuous in our estimate. Our neighbours are just like us; or more properly, we are just like our neighbours! We don’t want to stand out from the people who are our neighbours; we want to be accepted by them, so we avoid doing anything that we believe they might possibly find offensive. We have so tempered our language that we no longer promote righteousness, except in a most tangential way. And we definitely avoid naming sins lest we offend someone because they have a child enmeshed in that sin or because they themselves embrace that sin. Being acceptable to the world, because the world is seated with us, is a priority for our churches today.
Again, tragically, the typical evangelical assembly today appears to mirror the situation that Moses faced. The mixed multitude that followed Moses through the wilderness, the same mixed multitude that also drained his energies, seems to have infiltrated the churches, draining the energies of the faithful in this day. The faithful are present, and their families join them, at least until the children are in their teens, but scattered throughout the congregation are the outsiders who do not share the Faith, the “mixed multitude,” the “rabble.” Some of them are undoubtedly seeking the Lord, but they are not “there” just yet. They do want to know the Lord, but they don’t want to be fanatics about the issue. Others are just along for the ride, attending church out of curiosity or attracted by the free food, or the entertainment, or the pretty girls.
What we must never forget is that outsiders are not children of the Heavenly Father; they are not redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; they have never been born again. Until they are saved, they do not live according to the Spirit; they live according to the flesh. Do not forget, “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law.”
Whatever else must be done in the assembly of the righteous, we who follow the Son of God must not turn over the leadership of the congregation to these people; we must never allow them to take control of the process of making decisions for the congregation. No matter how numerous they have become, no matter how influential they are in the world, no matter how wealthy they are, they have no place in guiding the congregation of the Lord.
THE CONGREGATION IS ENERVATED BY THE MIXED MULTITUDE — After so many years as slaves, the people of Israel were prepared to leave Egypt. They accepted the leadership of Moses, whom the Lord GOD had appointed to lead the nation. Moreover, the rabble, the mixed multitude that accompanied Israel, was willing to follow Moses, especially since they were able to flee their own enslavement. However, their willingness to follow the man of God held true only so long as their desires were taken into account. They wanted the benefits of being freed from slavery without any of the responsibilities that would accompany that newfound freedom. Underscore that thought in your mind—the mixed multitude would follow Moses so long as he deferred to their desires. In short, their desires would prevail over the will of the Lord GOD.
The same holds true for the mixed multitude among the churches in this day. They are willing to accept any enhancement to their social standing because they are attending services in a church. If they are able to be elevated to leadership, they will gladly accept the vote of confidence so long as their new position permits them to rule over others. After all, being an elder, or a deacon, or teaching a Sunday School class gives a measure of respectability to the individual. However, they are less likely to want to change their lifestyle. Serving is fine, so long as there is no particular cost associated with the serving. Following God is acceptable, so long as God leads this crowd where they want to go.
There are some things that need to be recognised because of the presence of this mixed multitude among the churches. [9] First, let’s give God praise that they are in church. It is always possible that they will hear the Gospel and become followers of the Christ. We invite people to come share the services of the assembly, knowing that some will hear the message of life while participating in the service. The Spirit of God is with us, working in our midst, granting repentance to some who come into our meetings. Glorify the Father because outsiders, even religious outsiders, do come into the services from time-to-time.
When this mixed multitude attends the services of worship, we welcome them. We want those who have not yet believed to come to the House of God. We must always be careful to ensure that those who are not regular in attendance know that they will be warmly welcomed. Our members must go out of their way to welcome those who are coming for the first time. We must ensure that they can find a parking space, that they can find a place to sit in the service where they are comfortable.
However, having said this, it is a grave mistake to cater to outsiders by attempting to be like them. Above all else, we provide a service of worship. We seek to meet the Living God. We come before Him, seeking to glorify His Name. We don’t speak like the mixed multitude. We don’t dress like the mixed multitude. We don’t hold the same attitudes of the rabble. Our worship music is not meant to mimic the world just so the world can feel comfortable.
God commanded Moses when the people had been delivered from slavery, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes” [LEVITICUS 18:2-3]. God’s holy people were to be distinct from the culture of the land they had left and distinct from the Canaanites who lived in the land they were to possess. The mixed multitude may be put at ease if we are just like them, but they will fail to see the distinction which the Lord means for us to have. When we adopt the attitudes and the language of the peoples about us, we soon begin to adopt their values. After that, it is a steady descent into irrelevance.
It is popular today to conduct “seeker services,” to plan our worship so it is appealing to the unsaved so they will want to attend. In effect, doing this places a church in jeopardy of catering to those who are unsaved. We choose music for the church thinking it will appeal to youth, many of whom are not saved, though they were perhaps raised in the church. The problem is not contemporary Christian music, which is a matter of taste; the problem is that so much of what is sung sacrifices doctrine for melody and/or rhythm. To do this is to jettison the very foundation of our Faith for a transient emotion. Catering to the lost inevitably leads to theological cratering.
If catering to outsiders is a mistake, and it is a mistake, it is a far more significant error to put the rabble in charge. Many times, ungodly individuals appear capable, even highly qualified, to serve on congregational boards or committees. We need to bear in mind that an individual who is unsaved, an individual who is part of the mixed multitude, is a spiritual foreigner—that person is not following the Lord. It should not be thought an insult when they ask to participate in some providing oversight for the assembly when we explain that they are unqualified. No matter how eager they are, no matter how qualified they may appear, if they are not part of the Lord’s assembly, we have no reason to permit them to participate in decision-making for the congregation or to provide even a modicum of oversight for the assembly.
This principle was exemplified by Israel’s refusal to permit their adversaries to share in building the wall when Nehemiah had returned to the land. “When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, ‘Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.’ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, ‘You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us’” [EZRA 4:1-3].
It is significant that though those who wanted to join in building the wall claimed to worship Israel’s God, they were identified as “adversaries of Judah and Benjamin.” Their claim to worship Israel’s God just as the Jews worshipped the LORD, and their claim to sacrifice to Him, was belied by their response to the refusal to permit them to participate in this vital work. When they were told, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God,” we read that they, “discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia” [EZRA 4:4-5]. They revealed their pagan hearts by how they responded when they were rejected as co-workers. The refusal to allow them to share in the work was an anticipation of Paul’s warning, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols” [2 CORINTHIANS 6:14-16a].
Unsaved individuals will prove to be the source of the overwhelming majority of complaints within the congregation. Lost people who want the patina of faith to grace their lives will almost without exception be the ones who initiate grumbling. Lost people, even lost people who are religious and superficially committed to the Faith, have never humbled themselves to come to Christ, receiving Him as Master over life. Consequently, they find it almost impossible to submit themselves to those whom God appoints to lead, and they cannot love their enemies. Like the mixed multitude that accompanied Israel in the wilderness, their primary focus will always be to get their own needs met.
While it was “well-known men,” men who had been “chosen by the congregation,” who opposed Moses and Aaron in the rebellion led by Korah, the account leaves little doubt that their discontent was motivated by the rabble with them. We read in NUMBERS 16:1-3, “Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, ‘You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?’”
The complaining from the carnal is contagious. I have already noted earlier in the message how the rabble led the people into the serious sin of grumbling. Again, let your mind go back to what is written in NUMBERS 11:1-6. “The people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them.
“Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’”
Complaining was chronic. The people who had been delivered were denoted for their grumbling. However, it is significant that the complaining appears to have began with the rabble. Their needs weren’t met, and so they grumbled. Their grumbling, because it was tolerated and not immediately squelched, induced the people of God to begin grumbling. And grumbling would inevitably lead to judgement.
The people got their meat, but the cost was much higher than they could have imagined. We read, “While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague” [NUMBERS 11:33]. This judgement was so severe that it was memorialised in a Psalm. Asaph, one of the sweet singers of Israel, reviewed the sin perpetuated by the mixed multitude when he wrote,
“Before they had satisfied their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed the strongest of them
and laid low the young men of Israel.”
[PSALM 78:30-31]
Ever after, those who worship the Lord GOD would know as they read this Psalm that following the rabble proved costly for Israel! It meant death for the rebels and sorrow for many. Let the wise take heed and turn from following the crowd. The Word cautions, “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing” [EXODUS 23:2a CSB].
Church leaders must not surrender to the complaints and the demands of the rabble. The necessity of this point must be kept before the church constantly. Pastors not only must speak the truth in love, but the congregation must demand that their pastors stand firm in the Faith, speaking boldly against anything that dishonours God. Deacons and/or elders must not receive gossip, must not receive complaints uncritically. If there is validity to the complaint, then the one registering the complaint as well as the one receiving the complaint must immediately take the biblical steps to bring about unity in the church rather than promoting their own particular bias. If what the pastors are teaching or if the direction they are leading the assembly honours God, then deacons must support those who are guiding the congregation. However, if the teaching is errant, or even if it is tending toward error, it must be confronted. If the pastors are not walking according to the Word, then the assembly must gently remonstrate with them, moving them into paths that will honour the Lord of the church.
A former associate was wont to say to me with a disappointing degree of regularity, “Some people are saying…” or “I’m hearing from some of the people…” Even as he attempted to pour his gossip into my ear, this supposed man of God would refuse to divulge the names of those he said were complaining. He was much, much too pious to indulge in gossip. My position then, and my position now, is if people are unwilling to openly seek resolution, they are not serious about acting in a godly manner. Moreover, at best that man was nothing short of a gossip; at worst, he had an agenda. Quite candidly, it became increasingly apparent to me that my associate was using these supposed complaints as a tool to promote an agenda. When challenged that his nebulous complaints were ungodly and detrimental to congregational health, he protested that he only wanted to see something done. I pointed out to him that as an elder within the congregation, he had an obligation to take immediate steps to settle any problem, always seeking unity as he addressed the issue. It shouldn’t be surprising that this particular individual did not remain with the assembly for long. Of him, and of those associated with the mixed multitude, I fear that the teaching of the Apostle applied. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” [2 CORINTHIANS 2:14].
CLEANSING THE BODY FROM THE MIXED MULTITUDE — The diagnosis is obvious, but the remedy must be applied if we will be delivered from the ruin perpetuated on the Faith and on the congregation of the righteous through inclusion of the mixed multitude among us. The remedy is not to rage against the mixed multitude, nor is it to treat them with disdain; the remedy is to adhere to the teaching of the Word. The remedy is to refuse to allow the mixed multitude to assume power within the assembly. The remedy is to walk in wisdom with the Lord God.
Among the Proverbs is this one which should be memorised by each Christ follower.
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”
[PROVERBS 13:20]
Focus on the first part of that statement: “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise.” Our world is confused, not understanding that wisdom and intelligence are not the same thing. It does not require an advanced university degree to recognize that many intelligent people are fools, and that some whom the world counts as ignorant are actually wise. This understanding is the thrust of Paul’s assertion in the opening words of the First Letter to the Saints in Corinth.
The Apostle has written, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Then, with rapier understanding of the thinking of this world, the Apostle drives home the application that each believer must have. Paul wrote, “Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” [1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-31].
When we think as the world thinks, it is because we have been schooled in the wisdom of the world. And worldly wisdom can never produce life. It grows out of a system that is dead to the spiritual reality of God, and it is thus a dying system. Therefore, the world cannot produce life. For a moment we may appear wise and accomplished, but ultimately all our education, the brilliance of our lives, must lead to death. When we embrace the wisdom of this age, it can only produce death. Thus, the mixed multitude ensures that we shall die as a community of faith.
Worldly wisdom has nothing in common with spiritual wisdom other than sharing a portion of a name. Remember the words that the brother of our Lord has provided on this particular subject. “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” [JAMES 3:13-18].
Worldly wisdom, such as possessed by the assembly surrendered to the mixed multitude, can feel enough to obtain an emotional high, but it can never be satisfied with knowing the peace that comes from walking with God. The mixed multitude can appear quite rational, but it can never be reasonable when called to walk according to the Word. The mixed multitude can create rules and impose those rules on all who come into their assembly, but it can never be content to search out the deep things of God. The mixed multitude can be pious, but it can never be holy. The mixed multitude will always be asking whether the world likes what they are doing, but they cannot be bothered with asking whether their actions are pleasing to the Lord.
Determine you will examine whether you are in the Faith. Paul challenged the Corinthians to test themselves. He urged the Corinthians saints, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test” [2 CORINTHIANS 13:5]! This life we live for the glory of God is not a game. There is no opportunity to drop out. We are in it to win it, and we will keep on keeping on, knowing that Christ is coming again and knowing that we must be ready for His return.
The people of God must always urge one another to pursue the Lord in all things. And that means we must encourage one another to stand firm in the Faith. Those who lead us must be challenged when they teach or when they urge us to turn from pursuing the Lord. We must never allow those who do not love the Master to assume the ascendency in the congregation. “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come” [1 CORINTHIANS 16:22]! Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] God’s Word Translation; New Century Bible; New International Reader’s Version; New International Version
[3] New American Bible
[4] New English Bible
[5] New Jerusalem Bible
[6] New Living Translation
[7] New Revised Standard Version
[8] Revised English Bible
[9] I’m indebted to Joe McKeever for the following emphasised points, published in an article: Joe McKeever, “The mixed multitude in your church—and what to do with them,” March 22, 2018, http://joemckeever.com/wp/the-mixed-multitude-in-your-church-and-what-to-do-with-them/#more-15956, accessed 24 May 2018
