Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 35-37.
The Lord told Jeremiah to go to the Rechabites, bring them to the house of the Lord, and give them wine to drink (Jeremiah 35:2). This was not an endorsement of the consumption of alcohol, but there was a point to this. Notice the response of these men to the offering of wine:
“We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons or 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” (Jeremiah 35:8-10).
These were grown men (evidenced by the fact that they had wives and children). They were free to make their own choices about drinking wine, dwelling in houses, and tending to fields or vineyards. But their continued obedience to the will of the earthly father indicates a deep respect for him, especially since following these instructions would mean living a very different lifestyle than their fellow countrymen.
The example of the Rechabites was given to provide a contrast between their attitude toward their earthly father and the men of Judah’s attitude toward the Lord.
“‘Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have observed the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.’
“Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing on Judah and on 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’” (Jeremiah 35:16-17).
The Rechabites respected their earthly father enough to obey him, even though it required self-control, self-denial, and a willingness to be different from those around them. The men of Judah did not have this same type of respect for the Lord. Therefore, God was bringing punishment upon them.
Let us learn from the example of the Rechabites and apply it to our service to God. We must exercise self-control (2 Peter 1:6), practice self-denial (Luke 9:23), and be willing to be different from the world (Romans 12:2) if we wish to please God. If we respect Him, as the Rechabites respected their father Jonadab, then this should not be a problem for us.
Tomorrow’s reading: Jeremiah 38-40; Psalm 74, 79
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
