©Laura Haverkamp
Chapter 35 (ESV) - The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “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.” 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. 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. Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 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. 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.’ 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, and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 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.”
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “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. 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. 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. The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 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.”
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, 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.”
Question to consider: Why did the LORD have Jeremiah offer the Rechabites wine?
The Rechabites are mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:55, “The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.” They were a nomadic tribe that came into the land of Canaan with the Israelites but chose to live as sojourners in the land to keep their independence. The Kenites were descendants of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses.
According to verse 11 in today’s passage, we find out that this clan was currently living in the city of Jerusalem because of the war that had been going on between the Chaldeans and Judah as well as the Assyrian invasion of Israel which had already occurred. The text does not say why Rechab charged his descendants to abstain from wine, but the point was not so much about abstaining from wine as it was the faithfulness of this clan to their father’s prohibition.
Jeremiah brought them into one of the sacristies outside of the main temple area and offered the wine. Considering they were not Jewish, this must have been a privilege to enter into the chamber and be offered the wine. However, they did not accept it out of respect for their father. It’s worth noting that they feared the LORD so Jeremiah did not give the wine to drink by the command of God.
The LORD knew they would remain faithful and reject the offer from Jeremiah, but He used this to make the point that if the Rechabites could remain faithful to their earthly father, why couldn’t Jerusalem remain faithful to their heavenly father? Their refusal to obey the LORD was not a misstep. It was hard-heartedness, for the LORD had continually sent messengers to preach to them repentance.
This was during the time of Jehoiakim who ruled for eleven years before being killed. Then his brother Jehoiachin ruled for 3 months, and finally Zedekiah ruled until the judgment pronounced in this passage had come to pass. The LORD rewarded the Rechabites with a promise that their clan would survive the siege.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for patiently giving us opportunity after opportunity to repent and turn back to You. Thank You for the righteousness of Christ which clothes us despite our own failure to keep Your Law. May the forgiveness we have received in Christ produce gratitude and a desire for holiness. Amen.