DCLM Daily Manna 4 June 2026: Cancer of the Mixed Multitude
KEY VERSE: 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? – Numbers 11:4
TEXT: Numbers 11:1-6 (KJV)
1 And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.
2 And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched.
3 And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the Lord burnt among them.
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.
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There is an important truth in the Bulgarian proverb: “If you find yourself taking two steps forward and one step backwards, invariably it’s because you have mixed associations in your life.”
This was the case of the Jews who had the misfortune of travelling with a mixed multitude on a divinely ordered trip. The Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promised Land was anything but smooth. The ungrateful and faithless attitude they exhibited from time to time not only prolonged their journey but also earned them divine wrath. One significant aspect of their misconduct is murmuring. In spite of the divine interventions they had, they complained about the discomfort and fatigue of prolonged travelling in the wilderness. This time, God showed His displeasure for their murmuring by sending an unusual fire that consumed the extremities of their camp.
The source of the disgruntlement is not hidden: the mixed multitude, a class of foreigners who accompanied the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt. They became constant instigators of trouble in the camp of Israel. Not long after, God’s fire of judgment against the murmurers was put out, the mixed multitude initiated a fresh complaint about their dietary preferences. They desired animal-based food and vegetable dainties that they enjoyed in Egypt. They loathed the manna by which they had been sustained for a long time. The mixed multitude lacked the understanding and grace of God’s people, and therefore, could not conform to divine demands.
Today’s church has a fair share of the scourge of the mixed multitude. The modern mixed multitude consists of professing Christians who are merely drawn to the glamour associated with the faith. They do not have the requisite grace or spiritual depth of genuine conversion. Like tares among the wheat, they have a form of godliness but deny its power. As in the case of Israel, the presence of such unconverted people in the church is a drawback. It is also eternally damning to be part of the mixed multitude. How we need to look out for the cancer of mixed multitude and deal with it before it festers on us.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The mixed multitude is a blight in the church.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
1 Chronicles 12-15
DCLM Daily Manna 4 June 2026
