Today’s Rechabites

Introduction

It’s good to see all of you tonight. Welcome to all of our visitors. We have a good number present from various places. Thank you for coming. We’re going to do some quick Bible study and rehearsing of biblical history. Stay with me for the first five to ten minutes. I’ll try to get through this hurriedly. We’re going to go back to the Old Testament era. We’re going to start in 600 BC. 600 BC, what do you think of? What’s going on with God’s people? The situation for Judah is dire. The nation is imploding politically, and the spiritual condition of the people is even worse. There is one royal bright spot in that era. And that is the grandson of the most wicked king of Judah, Manasseh, actually, Manasseh repented in his later years, but the awful precedence had already been set.

But Josiah comes along, the boy king in 2 Chronicles 34, and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. But he only reigned 31 years, and he began at age eight, and actually, he would be allowed to die at an early age so that he would not see the destruction that God would bring upon Judah. It would happen in his descendants’ lifetime, but not his own. And the text talks about that in 2 Chronicles 34, verses 27 and 28. He instituted many reforms. Jeremiah, the prophet who would soon follow him, says that despite these reforms, Judah never returned to him with their whole heart. Rather in deception. And so, despite the leadership, the spiritual leadership and the reforms of Josiah, I was just preaching the sermon on Rehoboam up in Indianapolis area this week, and I talked about Josiah being the one who destroyed the golden calf at Bethel.

That’s also an old testament fact that’s often not remembered. But that golden calf that Jeroboam instituted was there. Now the one in Dan was probably overrun and taken by somebody long before that, but the one in Bethel was still there, and Josiah destroyed it. But Jeremiah says, This people did not return to me with their whole heart. Now that’s the background. 600 B.C., that’s what’s going on in the text of the book of Jeremiah that we’re going to be looking at tonight, and that is Jeremiah chapter 35. I want you to turn over there. This may be a new material for some of us. Jeremiah 35. And then again, some of you may have heard a preacher address this text somewhere because if you’ve been preaching for any length of time at all and you scour looking for ideas to preach on, eventually you run across Jeremiah 35.

1. The Rechabites Will Not Drink Wine

Jeremiah 35. The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, said, Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. Then I took Jazania, the son of Jeremiah, son of Habizaniah, easy for you to say, and his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites. And he brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Haman, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Masiach, the son of Shalom, the doorkeeper.

Then I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups, and I said to them, Drink wine. But they said, We will not drink wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. And you shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one, but in tents, you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn. And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechob, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days. We are wise, our sons and our daughters.

Nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in, and we do not have vineyard or field or seed. We have only dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and have done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But it came about when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against the land, that we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem, before the army of the Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans. So we have dwelt in Jerusalem. This is the first time in their history that they have lived a settled existence because of what is happening in Judah. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction by listening to my words?

Declares the Lord. The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine are observed. So they don’t drink wine to this day. For they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again. Yet you have not listened to me. Also I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying, Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you shall dwell in the land which I have given you and to your forefathers. But you have not inclined your ear to listen to me. Indeed, the sons of Jonadab, the sons of Rechab, have observed the command of their father, which he commanded them, but this people have not listened to me.

Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, I am bringing on Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them. Because I spoke to them, but they did not listen. And I have called them, but they did not answer. Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab, your father, kept all his commands, and done according to all that he commanded you. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. John Adab, the son of Rechab, shall not lack a man to stand before me always. And so, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel also were often instructed to do, they gathered these sons of Rechat, sons of Jadadab, and offered them wine to drink as a demonstration of their loyalty to their father, Jonadab.

2. Who Are These People?

And as an object lesson for the nation of Israel. Well, who are these people? I think this is helpful in Jeremiah chapter 35 to know something about these people that we’re reading about, perhaps, for the very first time. They were descendants of the Kenites. Now that’s interesting because we encounter the Kenites very early in the Bible story. When Abram is told about the land of promise, one of the groups living in the land that he was going to, the land that God would show him, was the Kenites. That’s interesting. And because they live a nomadic lifestyle, not a settled lifestyle, as we read about in Jeremiah 35, the next time we encounter them in Scripture, is in the land of Midian. Jethro was a Kenite. This clan or tribe of people we encounter in Midian.

Again, they’re nomadic, and for some reason they end up in Midian, and that’s where Moses runs into these Kenites. And they are allowed to live among the Israelites. In fact, in number 10, Moses invites his family to come with him. And Hobad, because he knows the territory, the son-in-law, the son of Jethro, his brother-in-law, he said, You will be eyes for us, and we will do you good. In Numbers chapter 10. And so they come along and come to the promised land. The next time we read about the descendants of the Kenites is in the story of Deborah the judge. Remember when Sisera, the commander, flees from the armies of Israel and looks to find solace in the house of Heber the Kenite and his wife Jael.

And Jael, because of her faith, drives that tent peg through his temple. Kenites. There they are. Later, this nomadic tribe would be warned by Saul to get out from among the Amalekites, because he’s going to destroy them. And then we come to 1 Chronicles chapter 2 and verse 55, where we are first introduced to Rechab. He was of a family of scribes. And Jonadab was his son. And so these are the principles that we are reading about in Jeremiah chapter 35. This descendants, the descendants of this long nomadic tribe. And so Johnadab is the one mentioned in Jeremiah 35, and that’s an interesting story. In 2 Kings chapter 10. Because when Jehu is eradicating the house of Ahab for their commitment to Baal, and God has instructed him to destroy Ahab’s house, who does he receive assistance from?

Who does he invite in his chariot to help him in his purging of the house of Ahab, none other than Jonadab, the son of Rechat, as he was very zealous for God. Now that we have a little bit of their history and who they were, what is the point that’s being made? The reason why Jonadab would join Jehu in his obliteration of the house of Ahab is because he was opposed to idolatry. And that’s what Jehu’s mission was really all about. And two and a half centuries later, two and a half centuries later, the influence of Jonadab and his teaching would still affect the Rechabites, again, named after his father, as they would drink no wine. Not because there was anything inherently sinful with the drinking of wine, but wine, as you know, could be allowed to be intoxicating, could be a place of stumbling, and also was associated with idolatrous worship.

And we’re not talking about in that case the wine that was non-intoxicating, but intoxicating drunken brawls were very common with idolatry. And so he had them not drink wine altogether. And so when they set the wine before them, they refused to drink. These pilgrims shunned the settled life for the simplicity of tents and flocks. And I’ll tell you what that produced. That produced a humble, hard working people. The nomadic way of life taught humility and enabled them to endure hardship. Thus, they were not envied nor persecuted generally. Jonadab apparently saw evil in the nomadic life. Remember, there was somebody in Israel’s earlier history who was nomadic. Who was that? Abraham, of course, in Hebrews chapter 11. He went out to a place not knowing where he was going.

The Hebrew writer says, living in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And there is a sense in which while we may live a settled life, I don’t think any of you are living in tents presently, are you, with just flocks and herds to take care of? Most of us have houses or at least rented apartments, maybe nomadic in a sense, but a lot more settled than they were. But in a sense, as Christians, we need to see our lives as nomadic, as sojourners. And Peter talks about that in 1 Peter chapter 1, as he says, to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay or your sojourn on the earth.

3. Commitment to a Mere Man Versus Judah's Commitment to God

And in 1 Peter 2 and verse 11, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust, which wage war against the soul. Now here’s the point. What is the point of all this? Their morality far exceeded that of God’s own people, the nation of Judah. Why? Because they had more motivation to live righteously? They were more advantaged compared to the Israelites. No. They merely listened, heeded, and were faithful to the teaching of Jonadab. Again, for over 200 years. And he was a mere man. And so what I want to do is what Jeremiah is doing in Jeremiah chapter 35, and that is drawing a contrast between the commitment of the Rechabites to the teaching of a mere man, Jonadab, who was influenced by righteous principles, but their commitment to Jonadab versus the commitment of Judah, God’s people, to him.

In essence, God is saying in Jeremiah chapter 35 that the spiritual treachery of Judah is downright shameful. When you consider the example of the Rechabites.

To a man with only human wisdom and ability. And Judah was unfaithful to an infinite, all wise and powerful God. What a contrast. And notice in Deuteronomy chapter 4. At the beginning of the law, we referenced Deuteronomy this morning. In Deuteronomy chapter 4, 5 through 9, this is what God says to his people. He says, See, I have taught you statutes. Well, let’s look back at verse 4. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me that you should do thus in the land where you’re entering to possess it, so keep and do them. Now, this is Moses’ thought. For that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, Sure, this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God whenever we call on him. Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today. Give heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, unless they depart from your heart all the days of your life, but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. That they had not done.

To have these statutes and principles guiding their lives and the wisdom contained therein, and that they’re alive, only the cult of God. God has brought them out of Egyptian bondage, miraculously delivered them, brought them to the land of promise, but clothes with milk and honey, and yet they have forgotten him. As Jeremiah would say, My people have forgotten me. They without number. As he quotes God in Jeremiah 3 and verse 32. And yet these people are committed to the words of Jonadab. They have not forgotten. They are loyal and faithful and are careful to observe all that he has instructed them to do, as Israel should have been, from an even greater source. That is God himself. Furthermore, Jonadab was deceased. And God is living. Psalm 46 and verse 1.

He is a very present help in times of trouble. A stronghold to us, Psalm 46 and verse 1. If you were one of the descendants of Jonadab and you found yourself in trouble, it’s not like you could appeal to Jonathan for help. How is John Adab going to assist them in their trouble? A very live presence for their lives. He wasn’t that. And yet God was wanting to be that for his people. John Adab is not active in the affairs of the Rechabites, but God is living and always poised to come to the aid of his people. And listen, Jonadab was not going to be capable of rewarding them either. You know, you guys have done pretty well. Two and a half centuries later, y’all are still following my teaching.

I’m so proud of you. I’m going to reward you. He can’t do that. But God can reward his people for their obedience to him. And even if they get a little sideways and need to be chastened or chastised and helped, the chastening of the Lord that we read about in Hebrews chapter 12 works the peaceable fruit of righteousness. It yields things to our benefit. For the moment it seems sorrowful, but it yields much produce in our lives spiritually. And so God chastens us because he’s very alive and real for our benefit. Jonadab can’t do that. And the Rekabites did not nearly have the incentives that Judah did. Look at all the promises in Deuteronomy 28. Remember the blessings and the curses. I love reading Deuteronomy 28.

God says, if you’re faithful to me, I’ll do this for you. And he promises them all sorts of material benefit and help and assistance in Deuteronomy chapter 28, verses 1 through 14. They were to read those from Mount Garizon every year to be reminded. They had all of these incentives.

Over and over again. If you’ll just be faithful to me, all of these things that you’ve loved in the land of promise, I’ll make those things continue. They had massive incentives compared to the Rechabites. The Rechabites, okay, they remembered the words of Jonathan. Wonder how they did that. Somebody must have been careful to write these down or to pass them along from generation to generation, just as Israel was supposed to do with the law of Deuteronomy chapter 6. Generation after generation observes the laws of Jonathan. And yet God sends living spokesmen after living spokesman over and over and over again to remind them of the laws they haven’t passed down. God ooing them back to faithfulness through all of these inspired messengers, including Jeremiah. And they continue to reject despite all of these voices of the prophets that have come.

How many times have our kids enjoyed all of these studies where we’ve looked at the life of Jeremiah and his object lessons and Ezekiel laying on his side and all the things that he did among the captives and the miracles of Elijah and Elisha? The contest of the 450 prophets of Baal and Elisha causing the axe head to float, just to name a couple. All of these prophets God sent to try to get his people to listen to him so that he could bless them. The Rechabites refused to compromise while tempted, and Judah was committing harlotry on every high hill and under every green tree. Jonadab’s words are remembered and observed while Judah rejects God’s special envoys his promise. And furthermore, Jonadab’s laws were even stricter than God’s.

God did not say you could have no wine whatsoever. Because not all wine was drunk for intoxicating purposes. We see occasions of wine being used by the nation of Israel. But here there was no wine at all consumed by the descendants of John. Their laws were stricter than God’s. And yet they were observed while God’s were not. And for their remarkable and righteous conduct, for their piety and fidelity to the moral laws of faithful Jonadab, their descendants would be blessed as worshipers of God.

4. Today's Rechabites

What about today’s Rechabites? I’m going to be talking about some people that are not quite as noble as this group of people who were now settled in Jerusalem for the first time and living among this people that are about to be destroyed for their sins. But the real issue that God makes in Jeremiah chapter 35 is not the rightness or the wrongness of what they believed, though the things they did were right and good and helpful. But that’s really not the issue. The issue was their overwhelming commitment to what they believed in, and the words that they listened to beyond a commitment to the real God of heaven. If only the true people of God had been so committed. So present day application is not hard to find.

How many folks committed to error, that is, partial truth, little truth, or no truth at all, are more diligent, zealous, loyal, and persevering than sometimes the true people of God. Anyone knocked on your door lately? A Jehovah’s Witness or a Mormon? We dread that. When they ring our doorbell. I dread it because I’ve never had any success talking to anyone of that religious persuasion. And I saw so I get I go right for the jugular. I go right to the things that matter. The deity of Christ is Joseph Smith the true prophet. I go right to those things when I talk to those people, because you could go on and talk about a thousand biblical subjects, but if we can’t agree on that, we have no basis for discussion.

But I’ll tell you what I’ve always appreciated about those people giving two years of your life to go out on this mission to ride bicycles in Houston in the summer with white shirts and go around to all of these houses and knock on doors. Your commitment to a false religion. Joseph Smith is a false prophet. The book Doctrines and Covenants has false prophecies in it. And yet these people are loyal and dedicated. So are Jehovah’s Witnesses. And sometimes their commitment can put us to shame. Their dedication, not like the Rechabites, but to what is untrue. It’s remarkable. I don’t know that going door to door is necessarily an effective method of evangelism, but you have to marvel and appreciate their commitment. The story was told to me several years ago of a man in Tampa who had been a Mooney.

And some of you have never heard of the Moonies. Reverend Sun Young Moon. Out on the West Coast, of course, that’s where all of that originates. But for some reason, there’s this Mooney in Tampa. And he was taught the truth. After a period of studies, he obeyed the truth. And here was what was reported to me that he said. He said, I never would have believed and embraced your teaching. If you, if I did not see in you an equivalent commitment to what I had given being a moonie. If I had not seen you being as committed or more committed to what you believe, I never would have listened to you. Pretty impressive. Sometimes, even among those who teach and practice error, you will find a greater work ethic.

A more extensive sacrifice, even though what they believe is false. And we can learn something from that. First of all, one of the reasons why these people are so zealous at times, this is part of the devil transforming himself into an angel of light. And he wants people to think of these people as God’s true people. He wants them to think of themselves as God’s true people, though he’s not going to do a whole lot, perhaps, to oppose that which is error and leads people to be lost, because that’s what he’s all about. And so he makes it perhaps easier for them. And doesn’t throw obstacles in the path. And here we are, dedicated to the truth, and I’m telling you, he’s throwing everything he’s got at us.

As we’ve been studying on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. He’s throwing everything in our path to discourage us and to get us to take this message for granted. And that’s what he did to the nation of Judah in days of old. And we’ll see people all the time who are dedicated again to that which is not true, to error. And yet they’re far more enthused, involved, excited in their giving of praise to God. I mean, they’re legitimately invested in the worship of God more than some who claim to be Christians. And that ought to shame us. We can learn a lesson. Without embracing the error that these people believe, we ought to learn a lesson about their dedication. And what about their fervor and intensity in what they believe?

I really think that’s sort of the idea in Luke 16. At the end of the parable, the unrighteous steward, when Jesus says, for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of life. Sometimes people who are unrighteous, who are in the world, who believe error, show a greater shrewdness and dedication and zeal in their belief in regard to what is false. I wonder if God were to directly address us tonight, as he did Judah in Jeremiah 35. If he would use some other group as an object lesson for us. Well, what can this lesson do for us? Let’s get a few practical points from all of this. I don’t want that to be the case, do you?

5. How Can We Be More Dedicated?

That people who believe and practice error are more dedicated and more zealous and more intense about their faith than us. How can we be more dedicated? Because we believe the truth. We need to be more determined and diligent in our pursuit of thinking, character, and conduct in the likeness of Christ. It should produce in us a greater and growing appreciation for what we have. I’ve got to tell you, it’s hard for us if you’re like me, and most of you, not all of you in this group are like me. I grew up with the truth sitting in my lap and being taught to me every time I worship with the Lord’s people. The first preacher I remember is a person who’s been a beloved friend of my family for a long time.

He’s passed away in recent years, but his name is Claude Wilsford. I remember. Claude taught the truth about salvation. And then there was Robert Welch. Ultimately, there was Don Truex and others that I grew up listening to. All of my early years, I heard the truth of God’s plan of salvation over and over again. My mom and dad believed the truth. As I talked last week. They even steered our family away from departures from the biblical pattern. Before I was old enough to make a meal for myself. Hardly old enough to be out of diapers. They made a decision that set me on the course that I’ve been on ever since. My parents exposed me to the truth. How fortunate is that.

Those of you that have come from without realize how precious and amazing it is that somebody shared God’s truth with you, and now you see it. So often it is people that come from without who have a greater appreciation and dedication because they realize how valuable what they have found is like the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in the field. And here we are. It’s always been here. Familiarity breeds content. It’s a peculiar struggle for those of us that I call second generation Christians. Really, there’s no such thing. When you obey the Lord and put on Christ, first generation, you are becoming an obedient believer and follower of Jesus Christ. But I want to tell you, there’s baggage that comes with the fact that it has always been in our laps.

We struggle to appreciate it. And get excited about it. And so often, because we’ve been doing this for so long, we find ourselves going through the motion because we’ve done it week after week after week, our whole lives. This is all I’ve ever known, folks. And with the loss of passion, we find ourselves going through the motions, and ultimately it goes far deeper and greater than that. To a lack of submission in our daily lives. And with the lack of submission in our daily lives comes a lack of subjecting ourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. And all that’s going to go together. If we expect that I’m only going to feel something for the Lord if the preacher can do something eloquent enough and persuasive enough.

And what about joy over what we found? And contentment in our circumstances. We are very blessed people. Blessed materially.

I’ve said this before, I’m going to repeat it. There are very few of us here tonight who are not in the wealthiest 1% of all the people in the world. And yet, because other people have more than we do in the United States of America, they have the bigger car or the better car, the bigger bank account, the bigger house. We don’t feel like we’re rich. Who are we kidding? We are wealthy beyond measure. But that’s not even what I’m talking about. I’m talking about our spiritual wealth. You know, sometimes we see these presentations from guys who preach overseas, like Frank Walton did at my house several months ago and Ashley Gleason did in regard to South Africa. And we’re looking at some of those pictures and going, that’s pretty tough.

Conclusion

No air conditioning. These dirty floor huts. And I bet those sermons are longer. They don’t have a clock on the wall. The sermons are longer, the Bible classes are longer. They’re just glad to be having an assembly and having a preacher. And yet we can start taking all of this for granted and not realize how blessed spiritually we are in so many ways. Well, here’s the point. But God was making through Jeremiah the prophet. You need to listen to me. Are you listening to? Are you really listening? Now, these people thought they were listening. But they really weren’t. Are our thoughts, our lives, and our deeds a reflection of God’s truth. Of the Rechabites, it is said. They shall stand before me always. And that’s really our goal.

To be among those who will stand before him always. Will you be one of those people? Will you rekindle your zeal and enthusiasm for the Lord and for his worship and for his things that matter most in this world and in the world to come? If we can assist you in doing that better, if you need to put on Christ tonight and be baptized into him, we’re here to assist you in any way. Come now as we stand.