GARDENING IN EGYPT....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Numbers 11:4-6  KJV

⁴ And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

⁵ We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

⁶ But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

The mixed multitude came with Israel out of Egypt.  Though not a lot is known about them, wherever they are mentioned Israel will have a problem.  They can be called unconverted church members.  There was a book written in 1988 Antagonist In The Church by Kenneth Haugk that describes them very well.

The subject of our text warns that very innocent things can become objects of lust.

The actions and attitude of both the mixed multitude and Israel raise three questions.

1.  Were vegetables grown in Egypt unclean?  There is nothing in the Law that describes them as such so the conclusion is that they are not prohibited.
2. Is there anything wrong with natural hunger?  The provision made for Adam and Eve, and since with mankind assure us that hunger is a part of our created nature and is not a result of the fall.
3. What then was Israel’s sin?  It appears to be at least two-fold.

1.       They listened to the mixed multitude.

2.      They ignored God and desired other things.

Having said this, what in particular do these three verses teach us.?

1.  VS 4  The activity of the mixed multitude gives fair warning that, separate from the New birth, you can take sinners out of the world but you can’t take the world out of sinners.  The nature of man which is sinful will find a way to express itself.
2. VSS 4C-5  Bad company corrupts good manners.  One’s companions matter.  The great danger those who leave prison face is falling back into the “old game”.  Your witness will not be effective while dancing and drinking in bars with sinners.
3. VS 6  A failure to appreciate God’s grace brings a distaste for His provision.    Manna is referred to in the Scriptures as Angel’s food.  It is referred to as a table set for them in the wilderness.  Manna was a provision on which their children grew and they were all healthy and strong.  It, when eaten as they were instructed, was both tasteful and adequate for all their needs.

The manna was the same—it had not changed.  They listened to a bad message from the wrong source with a destructive result.

I once preached regularly at the Star of Hope Mission in downtown Houston.  One of the derelicts there had written in a hymnal, “Man shall not live by bread alone, he must have peanut butter.”  This is the essence of rebellion millenniums before.  Israel had said “Man shall not live by God’s word, he must have cucumbers”.

Give us children’s programs (nothing wrong with these), give us contemporary music (maybe nothing wrong with this), give us a relevant message (no sin, no judgment, no repentance, no hell-fire and brimstone, no law) and we will come.

And no more manna!