March 7, Jeremiah 35
"The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me." - Jeremiah 35:14
A strong patriarch or matriarch in a family can make decisions or establish rules that may guide a family for generations. This was especially true when multiple generations of a family lived together. Some family traditions and methods have the force of law because younger generations of the family honor the "old-timer." So the family reunions are always on set days, and the Thanksgiving dinner menu never varies.
In the days of King Josiah, early in Jeremiah's prophetic career, the LORD told Jeremiah to gather the Rechabites in a room of the temple and offer them wine. The Rechabites did not drink wine because their ancestor Jonadab commanded them to abstain from it. Why did God tell the prophet to do this strange thing? The Rechabites were not really Israelites, but they had lived among the Israelites since the time of Moses. They were relatives of Moses' father-in-law Jethro. The most famous of their ancestors, Jonadab, helped Jehu put an end to the house of Ahab about 250 years before the days of Jeremiah. The Rechabites obeyed their forefather Jonadab's commands. They lived in tents instead of houses. They did not live in cites, and did not plant crops. They were nomadic tent-dwellers, aloof from society and culture, isolated by their austere lifestyle. And they did not drink wine. They had recently moved into Jerusalem for safety when Nebuchadnezzar was advancing across the Judean countryside.
Jeremiah did what God told him to do, and the Rechabites refused as God (and probably Jeremiah) knew they would. Would leaving their tents to seek shelter in the city make them relax their practice of abstinence? No, they refused. The circumstances (living in town, Jeremiah himself offering them wine) did not change their mind about obeying Jonadab's words.
The Rechabites were not a large group. All the clan that Jeremiah could gather fit into a single chamber in the temple. But God used the small group's devotion to their forefather's orders to make a big point to his disobedient people. God sent Jeremiah to contrast the Rechabite's respect for their ancestor's instructions to their own disregard and disobedience to the law the Lord had given them. They were more faithful to the commands of their long-dead forefather than the Israelites were to the words of their living God.
Disaster was coming to Judah because they had disobeyed God's law and would not turn back to him. Nebuchadnezzar would kill and destroy and take survivors away as captives. In contrast, God would protect and preserve the Rechabites so that Jonadab's family line would always have someone to stand before God. God recognizes and rewards faithfulness. If men and women insist on persisting in unfaithfulness and disobedience, God will judge and punish them. He may warn and even plead with his wayward people to turn from their sins. He doesn't want to destroy anyone. But if people won't listen, they will suffer the consequences of their stubborn disobedience.
The example of the Rechabites’ faithfulness didn't work for most of the people of Jeremiah's day. They were bent on destroying themselves. Let’s not be like Israel who disregarded God’s law and refused to turn back. Let's admire the Rechabites and be zealous to obey. Let's persist in faithfulness to the Lord's will. The consequences for doing otherwise are just too terrible.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—March 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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