#1093 Jeremiah 35 Rechabites

 

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Syrians.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14 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. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.”

18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.” Jeremiah 35 ESV

Jeremiah 35 Examples of Obedience - The Rechabites

1-11. Go to the house of the Rechabites - Who are the Rechabites? They are descendants from Moses father in law, Jethro (son of Reuel), a somewhat Nomadic people. Moses spent some forty years with this people when he fled Egypt, and from them he learned the life of a shepherd before God called him to lead His people. 

…17And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock. 18When the daughters returned to their father Reuel, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?” 19“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they replied. “He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”…

…20“So where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.” 21Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”… Exodus 2: 17-22

They were also called Kenites, and many worked with metals like tin and copper.

We will drink no wine - Why? Because Jonadab, their father, had commanded them not to, and this was also a generational command to pass down to their sons. Looking at the commands described in verse 7, he was prescribing to them a nomadic life as sojourners, easily able to pick up and move when necessary.

Who was Jonadab? He was a worshiper of the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, Yahweh, and a son of Rechab.

…14Then Jehu ordered, “Take them alive.” So his men took them alive, then slaughtered them at the well of Beth-eked—forty-two men. He spared none of them. 15When he left there, he found Jehonadab son of Rechab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and asked, “Is your heart as true to mine as my heart is to yours?” “It is!” Jehonadab replied. “If it is,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him into his chariot, 16saying, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD!” So he had him ride in his chariot.…

…22And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them. 23Next, Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rechab entered the temple of Baal, and Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around to see that there are no servants of the LORD here among you— only servants of Baal.” 24And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and warned them, “If anyone allows one of the men I am delivering into your hands to escape, he will forfeit his life for theirs.”… 2 Kings 10: 14-16...22-24

Come let us go to Jerusalem - Because of the presence of the Babylonians in the land they moved their families for safety.

12-17. Has been kept - Now, the sons and daughters of Rechab become an object lesson for Israel, in that they have kept the commands of their father. They have lived in the way that Jonadab has instructed them. It is even more stringent than what God has commanded, but they have taken care to abstain from the appearance of evil or that which leads to vice. God has been a Father to Israel, bringing her out of Egypt, instructing her in the way that she should go, but they refuse to obey. He has sent the prophets, they are the fire alarm that is pulled and everyone knows to evacuate the building, the sirens before the air raid, but these people are either deaf or so foolish that they no longer recognize the sound. 

Turn now everyone of you - The call to repent, and this has gone out for quite some time, with the warning that wrath will follow. If they repented they could dwell in the land, if they did not then they would be in the same boat as those kicked out before them.

36Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! 38Look, your house is left to you desolate.… Matthew 23: 36-38

More on the Kenites, Rechabites - 

…15“Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs. 16Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people. 17Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah.… Judges 1: 15-17

…10where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him. 11Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh. 12When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor,… Judges 4: 10-12

…28This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out. 29Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.” 30“I will not go,” Hobab replied. “Instead, I am going back to my own land and my own people.”… Numbers 10: 28-30

1Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.… Exodus 3: 1-2

…13The Valley Gate was repaired by Hanun and the residents of Zanoah. They rebuilt it, installed its doors, bolts, and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Dung Gate. 14The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem. He rebuilt it and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. Nehemiah 3: 13-14

…21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls. 22 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. 23For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,…

…24and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so— not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer— he will be blessed in what he does. 26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.… James 1: 21-26