TEXT: Numbers 11:4-6
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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John Cassian said, “The spirit of gluttony cannot be altogether exterminated like other faults, or be entirely destroyed like them, but we can only hold down and check by the power of the mind all incentives to it, and all superfluous appetites.”
According to ABC News, Yale researchers found that “a negative reception from a healthcare provider is especially detrimental to obese people because they already contend with a greater number of health problems than average. Besides jeopardizing discussions between patients and healthcare providers, someone who is obese is more likely to avoid the doctor altogether even when they have a problem. However, the knife cuts both ways. Studies reveal that people are less apt to follow doctor’s orders and more likely to switch to a new provider if their physician is overweight.”
This is an uncomfortable subject for many of us, but if you listen and take heed, this particular series can not only change your life spiritually, but it can save your life physically.
Over the past few messages in this series, we have looked at the passage describing how the children of Israel began to receive manna from Heaven. The passage we are looking at today is a follow-up account that takes place some time later. We read that the “mixed multitude” began “a lusting” for meat to eat. The mixed multitude were people who were not Hebrews who had come out of Egypt with the children of Israel. There were some Egyptians among them. There were some from other people groups whom the Egyptians had enslaved who cast their lot with Israel when Israel’s God began raining judgment down on their masters.
It was this mixed multitude that led the murmurings for meat among the children of Israel. God had given them manna, but when they started lusting for meat, “the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? …there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.” It sounds as though the children of Israel are beginning to despise the manna that God had provided for them. There are many lessons we can learn from this passage just as with the previous passage, but today I want to warn you to beware of the “mixed multitude” in your life.
Who are the mixed multitude? The mixed multitude are your eating partners who will tempt and discourage you as you try to change your lifestyle in order to lose weight. These are the people who will say, “Why are you depriving yourself like that?” “You used to eat real food!” “Come with us to this restaurant. You used to eat here all the time.” If these friends are likewise overweight, they may be exhibiting a subconscious negative reaction to your plans to change your lifestyle. If they are not willing to change their eating habits, they will fear being left alone in Overweight Land, and, like crabs in a bucket, they will seek to pull you down. If these friends are not residents of Overweight Land, they may suddenly see you as competition. They may not want you to lose weight because, subconsciously, they hung around you because your lack of fitness made them look good.
So, watch out for the mixed multitude.
If the Lord tarries his coming and we live, next time, we will continue looking at what this passage tells us about God’s plan for man’s eating habits.
PRACTICAL STEP: In “The RAVE Diet and Lifestyle,” Mike Anderson continues sharing why he recommends refraining from eating animal foods. He writes, “The one sure way we know that animal foods harm us is that our bodies start clearing out our arteries the minute we stop eating them. Dr. Nathan Pritikin, who pioneered heart disease reversal with diet, did not experience success in reversing his heart disease until he completely eliminated animal products from his diet. You do not need animal foods or ‘complete proteins’ and you are much better off in all ways when you avoid them.”
Now, we are going to look at the “Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting” from Healthline’s “Intermittent Fasting 101 – The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide”:
Many studies have been done on intermittent fasting, in both animals and humans. These studies have shown that it can have powerful benefits for weight control and the health of your body and brain. It may even help you live longer. Here are the main health benefits of intermittent fasting:
– Weight loss: As mentioned above, intermittent fasting can help you lose weight and belly fat, without having to consciously restrict calories.
– Insulin resistance: Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance, lowering blood sugar by 3-6% and fasting insulin levels by 20-31%. This should protect against type 2 diabetes.
– Inflammation: Some studies show reductions in markers of inflammation, a key driver of many chronic diseases.
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books including the Essence Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and Amazon.com national bestseller, Letters to Young Black Men. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry.
He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity (formerly Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary). He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree.
He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica since 1987. God has blessed their union with seven children.
BCNN1 WP 