Jeremiah 35:1-19.  Yesterday Jeremiah gave a very serious warning to the people of Judah and their leaders.  They had “mocked” God; played “Chicken” with him; made a deal with him and then broke it and assumed they would get away with it.  God informed them, through Jeremiah, that he was serious and that they would suffer consequence for breaking their promise.  God is not powerless, but he does use his power for our benefit, he doesn’t want anyone to go to Hell (2 Peter 3:9) and even became one of us to suffer the punishment we deserved in our place.  It is sad that we think we can play games, break the rules and still win.  It is sadder that God has made so much effort to help us and we show him so little honor.

Today’s reading turns to the story of a group of people called Rechabites.  Their ancestor was a guy named Jonadab.  There are two guys by that name in the Bible.  In 2 Samuel 13 there is a Jonadab who is a nephew of David (not a Rechabite or son of Rechab) and one in 2 Kings 10 where his name is spelled a little differently (Jehonadab).  This one is a son of Rechab and is probably the one referred to in Today’s reading.  The Rechabites seem to have been nomads; wandering the wilderness caring for livestock.  In Jehonadab’s day Israel (the Northern kingdom) was ruled by a king named Ahab.  Ahab was about as bad as a guy can be and his wife was equally evil.  Both encouraged the worship of a false god named Baal.  A general in the army of the Northern Kingdom, Jehu, was chosen by God to become the new king of the Northern Kingdom and to completely destroy the household of Ahab and the worshippers of Baal.  In 2 Kings 10 it appears that he was assisted by Jehonadab (an alternate spelling of Johadab).  Unfortunately Jehu was only half hearted in living for God (2 Kings 10:31).

It is not completely important for our story to know exactly who the Rechabites were, the story in Jeremiah is a symbolic story, or an example, and it explains itself very well.  In verses 1-2 Jeremiah was told to go get the Rechabites who were in the city and bring them to the Temple.   In verse 3 Jeremiah did as he was told and brought the Rechabites into a room in the Temple.  Jeremiah then set bowls of wine in front of these men and told them to drink it.  The leaders of the Rechabites then informed Jeremiah that they had been instructed by their ancestor, Jonadab, not to drink wine, that their sons were not to drink wine, that they were not plant seeds nor a vineyard, that they should not build hoses, and that they should live in tents for the rest of their existence.  Their ancestor told them that if they would obey him that they would live in the land for a long time.  According to verse 8 the leader insisted that they had kept the “commandment” of their ancestor through all their “days”.  Meaning all the generations since Jonadab.  That had been 250 years.  They told Jeremiah no because they intended to remain faithful to their ancestor.

According to the leaders of the Rechabites they were only living in Jerusalem because Nebuchadnezzar had invaded the land.  Some see this as an explanation as to why they were actually breaking the rule of their father by living in hoses in Jerusalem.   It is unknown if they were living in houses is Jerusalem though or had pitched their tents somewhere.  In verse 2 when Jeremaih was told to go to the “house” of the Rechabites, the meaning was probably “family” or “place where the family was”.  Also I think it is important to know that the commandment was not to build houses.  I think the idea was that they were not to settle down; no houses, no gardens, no vineyards.  The leaders of the Rechabites insisted that they had obeyed all that Jonadab had commanded them.  The specific test by Jeremiah though was with respect to wine, and it is that item that will serve as God’s example in this message.

In verses 12-14 Jeremiah is given a message from Yahweh for the men of Judah.   In verse 13 God basically asks the people of Jerusalem and Judah, “Won’t you listen to me?”  Then God tells the people of Judah the story of the Rechabite,  “250 years ago their ancestor asked them not to do certain thing, he said it would make the live in this land longer.  And for the last 250 year they have listened to what he ask them to do that one time.”  He then mentions that he has sent his messengers to them over and over and over again, but they would not listen.

In verse 15 we see that God’s messengers had asked the people to turn away from  the things they were doing that displeased God and to stop chasing after false gods.  The promise from God through his messengers was the same as Jonadab’s promise to his descendants; you will live in the land a long time.

In verses  16 God confirms what the Rechabite leaders had said; they had obeyed their ancestor, but the Israelites had not listened to God.  In verse 17 Yahweh then tells his people that because they have not listened that he is bringing disaster on Judah and Jerusalem.  His explanation of his actions is sounds almost sad to me, “I spoke but they did not listen, I called but they did not answer.”  Verses 18-19 give the flip side of the story.  God tells the Rechabites that he is going to reward them for being faithful to their ancestor.  The reward?  The Rechabites would not lack a man to stand before God.  We see that their faithful and obedient attitude pleased God.  I suppose that God figured if they could obey their human forefather that they would probably honor their Father in Heaven too.

It is interesting to note that the Rechabites were not Jews, yet they received a blessing from God.  In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus is teaching and tells the people that earthly parent listen to their children’s needs and give them good things.  He then asks if evil human parent can get it right don’t they thing god will care for them too.  I think God’s deal with the Rechabites is almost the opposite of this if they got it right with a mere human request how much more likely are they to get it right when God is doing the asking.  I’m also reminded of Romans 1:30; 2:13-15.  In the first verse Paul lists disobedience to parents as something that displeases God (sin), and in the other three verse he tells us that even people who have never heard the Law of Moses can understand right and wrong; they instinctively do and break the Law of Moses; part of God’s  perfect standards.  I wonder if the Rechabites were instinctively doing right, they certainly were being obedient to their parent for generations.  They were a good example and God rewarded them for their obedience to Jonadab (and possibly even to him through their father).  In Romans Paul also says he is not ashamed of the good news about Jesus (the promised one from the Old Testament; the future king and suffering savor).  The good new is of course that Jesus died for our sins and that he promises to bring us safely into his forever kingdom to live forever (1 Corinthians 15).  That good news, according to Paul, is the power of God for salvation both for Jews and non-Jews alike.  The story is powerful because of what God did but it is also powerful because it presents us with a chance; a chance to accept Jesus; the only way back to God (John 14:6).  I like it that God accepted the Rechabites.  I like it that he saw their faithfulness and did not focus on the fact that they were not Jews or a multitude of other faults.  I like it that God repeats himself over and over and over again.  It shows that he really wants us to hear and understand.  He wants us to have as many chances as possible to turn back to him.  God is way cool.

God thank you for not seeing my sinful past and rejecting me because of it.  Thank you for pursuing me, for calling me.  Thank you for continuing to call until I answered.  Help me listen to you today and every day.  Help me not get comfortable and forget to keep honoring you.  Help me to never eve take you for granted.  Thank you for your love, help me love you back each and every day.