Don't Be A Rabble

Rabble:  a disorderly crowd or mob.

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!” (Num 11:4)

In cross referencing the word “rabble”, I found the following ways the word is used in other verses:

 

• Wicked men (Ps 109:6)
• Worthless and reckless fellows (Judges 9:4)
• Worthless scoundrels (2 Chr 13:7)

Whether wicked or worthless or reckless, those are probably not the kind of people you would want in your group!

To further paint a not so flattering picture, the rabble’s “strong craving” is translated as follows in other versions:  

 

• greedy desires
• burned with desire
• overcome by their craving
• insatiable appetite
• craved other food
• lusted exceedingly

A rabble is usually led by rabble rousers.  A rabble rouser is a person who speaks with the intention of inflaming the emotions of a crowd of people.  So we have a rabble, led by rabble rousers, with strong cravings that are likely shaped by greed, lust and burning desires but all that still only scratches the surface of what is going on!

 As recorded in Numbers 11, God had miraculously provided manna for them to eat.  The manna was gathered, prepared and baked into cakes.  But the rabble wanted meat.  We might be tempted to think it would almost be reasonable to ask for meat as the main course and have manna as the accompanying bread.  But the manna was a food source from God and it provided all the sustenance they needed.  It was the superfood of superfoods but it wasn’t enough for the rabble and they greedily desired meat.

But a greedy desire for meat was only part of the problem; they also wanted to go back to Egypt.  God was delivering them from an untenable situation in Egypt but they were rejecting His deliverance and His provision to sustain them.  All bad in and of themselves, but the real issue was that they were rejecting the Lord Himself (Num 11:20).

The Lord did give them the meat that they had so craved.  It wasn’t that He realized that they were right and He was denying them something they wanted or needed.  In teaching them to not reject Him and His provision, He gave them what they greedily desired but He gave so much of it that it came out their nostrils and became loathsome to them.  (Num 11:20)

Our greedy desires can cause us to lose sight of who God is and what He is doing in our lives.  While we may not have to deal with meat coming out of our nostrils, there still could be some undesirable consequences if we reject the Lord and His plans and provision for us!