Rechabites

Jeremiah 35:1-19

Introduction When you think of famous nations / tribes / peoples

of the Bible, Rechabites probably are not in your top ten May not have been in your top 100

But God had Jeremiah point to this relatively obscure people as an example for Judah So let us look at their example and understand the lesson

God wanted Judah to understand

Background of Rechabites The Rechabites were descendants of Rechab

through a man named Jonadab (Jehonadab) Rechab was a Kenite

The Kenites seem to have been one of the tribes that wandered in the Sinai peninsula

Some joined the children of Israel and entered the land of Canaan

These were circumcised and followed the law of Moses, but were not joined to any of the 12 tribes

Background of Jonadab He is mentioned in 2 Kings 10:15-17

Jehu has just become king and is in the process of destroying Ahab's descendants

Jonadab states that he is on Jehu's side Then they go to Samaria and kill “all who remained to Ahab”

Not clear if Jonadab does the killing with Jehu's approval or if Jehu does the killing with Jonadab's approval Does not really matter

The killing had been authorized by God Jonadab was on Jehu's side because Jehu was doing

God's work of punishing the idolatry of Israel

The command of Jonadab Jer 35:1-11

God has Jeremiah offer wine to the Rechabites while in the temple of God

The Rechabites explain they had certain rules No wine (Heb. Yayin, any product of the grape), no

permanent homes, no farms, no vineyards They were not going to violate those rules

The Rechabites could have reasoned Jeremiah is a prophet, we are in God's temple, Jonadab

was 200+ years dead, times have changed Therefore, it must be okay

But even though they were temporarily in Jerusalem due to a foreign army, they had taken no permanent home, nor would they break their rules

The lesson of the Rechabites Some use the story to teach obedience to parents

But although that is admirable and right, it is not the point Some want to use the Rechabites to teach abstinence

But then would have to teach nomadism (no homes, no farming, no vineyards)

Others look at the Rechabites as a lesson against worldliness Jonadab instituted his rules as a reaction against the evils of

the worldliness of his day If the people of Israel had not settled down and become so used

to the worldly goods, then perhaps they would not have betrayed God

Perhaps a lot of truth there, but it isn't the point God wants to make to Jeremiah

The lesson of the Rechabites Did you ask yourself why God had Jeremiah make

the offer of wine to the Rechabites? God surely knew what their answer was going to be

They had kept the rules of Jonadab faithfully for more than 200 years

They were not going to just suddenly forsake those rules now

So the offer was not a test of the Rechabites, nor was it for God to learn something about them

The lesson was for Jeremiah to learn something from the Rechabites reaction to the offer, and then teach that lesson to Judah

The lesson of the Rechabites Jeremiah 35:12-16

God says the lesson is in the contrast The Rechabites were commanded once, more than 200

years before, not to do certain things And they faithfully obeyed under ALL circumstances

Judah had been given commands by God, they had been constantly reminded of those commands by the prophets

And yet they could not seem to stop disobeying the commands of God

God wants His people to be like the Rechabites – FAITHFUL and OBEDIENT

The lesson of the Rechabites Consider the society in which the Rechabites

remained faithful Amos 2:6-8 Amos 6:1-8 Hosea 4:1-2, 11-13

Evil, wicked, and corrupt would not scratch the surface of Israel's spiritual condition Yet the Rechabites remained faithful People could say, “We can't help sinning. Look at all the

sin with which we are surrounded.” God says, “Look at the Rechabites!”

Lessons for Today We CAN remain faithful

Some people think faithfulness is impossible Yet many of them are faithful to unimportant things

Faithful to a sport's team or school (Waiting for hours in freezing temperatures, wearing the

colors, spending money on tickets and merchandise) Faithful to fashion trends Faithful to TV shows Faithful to their jobs Faithful to their country

None of those things is necessarily wrong But they show we can be faithful, if we want to If we can be faithful in those things, we can remain faithful

to God

Lessons for Today We MUST remain faithful

Rev 2:10 Even in the face of death Even in the face of a wicked society

God won't wait for repentance forever 2 Peter 3:8-10 Jer 35:17

What next? What became of the Rechabites?

Jer 35:18-19 Promised they would always have someone “to stand

before” God “To stand before” means to come to worship (Jer 7:10, Lev

9:6) A promise to always have access to the place of worship Or a promise that at least one would always remain faithful Or a promise that God would always look upon them in

their faithfulness One of the wokers on the wall of Jerusalem is called a

“son of Rechab” (Neh 3:14)

Conclusion For many centuries scholars assumed the

Rechabites had died out In 1839, a bedouin tribe in Yemen were found who

claimed to be Rechabites Later in the 1800s another bedouin tribe near the Dead

Sea was found who made the same claim They dwelt in tents They drink nothing from the grape They neither farm nor plant vineyards Still faithful to the commands of Jonadab almost 3000 years

later Will God find us to be as faithful to Him?