The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, “Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into Yahweh’s house, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.”
Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, with his brothers, all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; and I brought them into Yahweh’s house, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold. I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!”
But they said, “We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, or have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land in which you live as nomads.’ 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, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters; and not to build houses for ourselves to dwell in. We have no vineyard, field, or seed; but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, ‘Come! Let’s go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we will dwell at Jerusalem.’ ”
Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying, “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words?” says Yahweh. “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father’s commandment; but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and you have not listened to me. I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Every one of you must return now from his evil way, amend your doings, and don’t go after other gods to serve them, then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers:’ but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me. The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me.” ’
“Therefore Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.’ ”
Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you;’ therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab will not lack a man to stand before me forever.’ ”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 It must be first observed, that the order of…
It must be first observed, that the order of time in which the prophecies were written has not been retained. In history the regular succession of days and years ought to be preserved, but in prophetic writings this is not so necessary, as I have already reminded you. The Prophets, after having been preaching, reduced to a summary what they had spoken; a copy of this was usually affixed to the doors of the Temple, that every one desirous of knowing celestial doctrine might read the copy; and it was afterwards laid up in the archives. From these were formed the books now extant. And what I say may be gathered from certain and known facts. But that we may not now multiply words, this passage shews that the prophecy of Jeremiah inserted here did not follow the last discourse, for he relates what he had been commanded to say and to do in the time of Jehoiakim, that is, fifteen years before the destruction of the city. Hence what I have said is evident, that Jeremiah did not write the book as it exists now, but that his discourses were collected and formed into a volume, without regard to the order of time. The same may be also gathered from the prophecies which we shall hereafter see, from the forty-fifth to the end of the fiftieth chapter.
The power of the kingdom of Judah was not so weakened under King Jehoiakim, but that they were still inflated with pride. As, then, their security kept them from being attentive to the words of the Prophet, it was necessary to set before them a visible sign, in order to make them ashamed. It was, then, God’s purpose to shew how inexcusable was their perverseness. This was the design of this prophecy. And the Prophet was expressly commanded to call together the Rechabites, and to offer wine to them, in order that the obstinacy of the people might appear more disgraceful, as they could not be induced to render obedience to God, while the Rechabites were so obedient to their father, a mortal man, and who had been dead for nearly three centuries. The Rechabites derived their origin from Obad and from Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. There are those indeed who think that Obad and Jethro were the same; but this conjecture seems not to me probable. However this may be, interpreters think that, the Rechabites were the descendants of Obad, who followed Moses and the Israelites. And their opinion seems to be confirmed, because it is said here that they were commanded by Jonadab to live as sojourners in the land. An inheritance was indeed promised them, but as it appears from many parts of Scripture, they were unfaith-fifily dealt with, for they were scattered here and there throughout the tribes. They then did not enjoy an inheritance as it was right and as they deserved. And we see also that they lived among other nations.
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With regard to Jonadab, of whom mention is made, we read in 2 Kings 10:15, that he was a man of great name and influence, for when Jehu began to reign, he had him as his friend, though he was an alien. He must, then, have been in high esteem, and a man of power and wealth among the Israelites. And it is certain that it was the same Jonadab of whom sacred history speaks of there, because he is called the son of Rechab; and yet three hundred years, or nearly so, had elapsed from that time to the reign of Jehoiakim. As to the origin of this family or people, the first was Obad; from him came Rechab, whose son was Jonadab, who lived in the time of King Jehu, and was raised up into his chariot to be, as it were, next to him, when Jehu had not as yet his power firmly established. But they went afterwards to Jerusalem on account of the continual calamities of the land of Israel, for it was exposed to constant plunders, and this we shall hereafter see in the narrative. Then the sons of Rechab did once dwell in the kingdom of Israel; but when various incursions laid waste the land, and final ruin was at hand, having left their tents they went to Jerusalem; for they were not allowed to cultivate either fields or vineyards, as we shall hereafter see. The Rechabites, therefore, dwelt in the city Jerusalem, which protected them from the incursions and violence of enemies; but they still retained their ancient mode of living in abstaining from wine, and in not cultivating either fields or vineyards. They thought it indeed right for them to dwell in buildings, because they could not find a vacant place in the city where they might pitch their tents: but this was done from necessity. In the meantime they obeyed the command of their father Jonadab; and though he had been dead three hundred years, they yet so venerated the memory of their father, that they willingly abstained from wine, and led not only a frugal but an austere life.
The Prophet is now bidden to bring these to the Temple, and to offer them wine to drink I have briefly explained the design of God in this matter, even that he purposed to lay before the Jews the example of the Rechabites, in order to shame them; for that family obeyed their father after he was dead, but the Jews could not be induced to submit to the command of the living God, who was also the only Father of all. The Prophet then was bidden to bring them to the Temple, and to lay before them cups full of wine, that they might drink. He says that they refused to drink, and brought as a reason, that Jenadab their father forbade them to do so. We shall hereafter see how this example was applied; for the whole cannot be explained at the same time.
Let us consider the Prophet’s words, he says that the word came to him in the days of Jehoiakim, that is, after he had found out by the trial of many years how untameable the Jews were, and how great was their ferocity. Much labor then had the Prophet undertaken, and yet they were not so subdued as to submit to the yoke of God. When, therefore, they had now for many years given many proofs of their obduracy, God summoned the Rechabites as witnesses, who, by their example, proved that the Jews were inexcusable for being so rebellious and disobedient to the commands of the Prophet.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19 For the disposition and order of these prophecies, read…
For the disposition and order of these prophecies, read Jer. 27:1.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–19 Jer 35:1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from…
Jer 35:1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
Ver. 1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.] The eighteenth sermon, ordine tamen arbitario non naturali, delivered various years before the former, and here placed, not in its proper order, but as it pleased him that collected them into this book.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15, 17, 19 This is another evidence that the prophecies of this…
This is another evidence that the prophecies of this book are not left us in that order wherein they were delivered, for those which we had in the two or three foregoing chapters being in the time of Zedekiah must needs be ten or eleven years after this.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 12 This chapter is of an earlier date than many…
This chapter is of an earlier date than many of those before; for what is contained in it was said and done in the days of Jehoiakim (Jer 35:1); but then it must be in the latter part of his reign, for it was after the king of Babylon with his army came up into the land (Jer 35:11), which seems to refer to the invasion mentioned Kg2 24:2, which was upon occasion of Jehoiakim's rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. After the judgments of God had broken in upon this rebellious people he continued to deal with them by his prophets to turn them from sin, that his wrath might turn away from the. For this purpose Jeremiah sets before them the example of the Rechabites, a family that kept distinct by themselves and were no more numbered with the families of Israel than they with the nations. They were originally Kenites, as appears Ch1 2:55, These are the Kenites that came out of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab. The Kenites, at least those of them that gained a settlement in the land of Israel, were of the posterity of Hobab, Moses's father-in-law, Jdg 1:16. We find them separated from the Amalekites, Sa1 15:6. See Jdg 4:17. One family of these Kenites had their denomination from Rechab. His son, or a lineal descendant from him, was Jonadab, a man famous in his time for wisdom and piety. he flourished in the days of Jehu, king of Israel, nearly 300 years before this; for there we find him courted by that rising prince, when he affected to appear zealous for God (Kg2 10:15, Kg2 10:16), which he thought nothing more likely to confirm people in the opinion of than to have so good a man as Jonadab ride in the chariot with him. Now here we are told,
I. What the rules of living were which Jonadab, probably by his last will and testament, in writing, and duly executed, charged his children, and his posterity after him throughout all generations, religiously to observe; and we have reason to think that they were such as he himself had all his days observed.
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1. They were comprised in two remarkable precepts: - (1.) He forbade them to drink wine, according to the law of the Nazarites. Wine is indeed given to make glad the heart of man and we are allowed the sober and moderate use of it; but we are so apt to abuse it and get hurt by it, and a good man, who has his heart made continually glad with the light of God's countenance, has so little need of it for that purpose (Psa 4:6, Psa 4:7), that it is a commendable piece of self-denial either not to use it at all or very sparingly and medicinally, as Timothy used it, Ti1 5:23. (2.) He appointed them to dwell in tents, and not to build houses, nor purchase lands, nor rent or occupy either, Jer 35:7. This was an instance of strictness and mortification beyond what the Nazarenes were obliged to. Tents were mean dwellings, so that this would teach them to be humble; they were cold dwellings, so that this would teach them to be hardy and not to indulge the body; they were movable dwellings, so that this would teach them not to think of settling or taking root any where in this world. They must dwell in tents all their days. They must from the beginning thus accustom themselves to endure hardness, and then it would be no difficulty to them, no, not under the decays of old age. Now,
2. Why did Jonadab prescribe these rules of living to his posterity? It was not merely to show his authority, and to exercise a dominion over them, by imposing upon them what he thought fit; but it was to show his wisdom, and the real concern he had for their welfare, by recommending to them what he knew would be beneficial to them, yet not tying them by any oath or vow, or under any penalty, to observe these rules, but only advising them to conform to this discipline as far as they found it for edification, yet to be dispensed with in any case of necessity, as here, Jer 35:11. He prescribed these rules to them, (1.) That they might preserve the ancient character of their family, which, however looked upon by some with contempt, he thought its real reputation. His ancestors had addicted themselves to a pastoral life (Exo 2:16), and he would have his posterity keep to it, and not degenerate from it, as Israel had done, who originally were shepherds and dwelt in tents, Gen 46:34. Note, We ought not to be ashamed of the honest employments of our ancestors, though they were but mean. (2.) That they might comport with their lot and bring their mind to their condition. Moses had put them in hopes that they should be naturalized (Num 10:32); but, it seems they were not; they were still strangers in the land (Jer 35:7), had no inheritance in it, and therefore must live by their employments, which was a good reason why they should accustom themselves to hard fare and hard lodging; for strangers, such as they were, must not expect to live as the landed men, so plentifully and delicately. Note, It is our wisdom and duty to accommodate ourselves to our place and rank, and not aim to live above it. What has been the lot of our fathers why may we not be content that it should be our lot, and live according to it? Mind not high things. (3.) That they might not be envied and disturbed by their neighbours among whom they lived. If they that were strangers should live great, raise estates, and fare sumptuously, the natives would grudge them their abundance, and have a jealous eye upon them, as the Philistines had upon Isaac (Gen 26:14), and would seek occasions to quarrel with them and do them a mischief; therefore he thought it would be their prudence to keep low, for that would be the way to continue long-to live meanly, that they might live many days in the land where they were strangers. Note, Humility and contentment in obscurity are often the best policy and men's surest protection. (4.) That they might be armed against temptations to luxury and sensuality, the prevailing sin of the age and place they lived in. Jonadab saw a general corruption of manners; the drunkards of Ephraim abounded, and he was afraid lest his children should be debauched and ruined by them; and therefore he obliged them to live by themselves, retired in the country; and, that they might not run into any unlawful pleasures, to deny themselves the use even of lawful delights. They must be very sober, and temperate, and abstemious, which would contribute to the health both of mind and body, and to their living many days, and easy ones, and such as they might reflect upon with comfort in the land where they were strangers. Note, The consideration of this, that we are strangers and pilgrims, should oblige us to abstain from all fleshly lusts, to live above the things of sense, and look upon them with a generous and gracious contempt. (5.) That they might be prepared for times of trouble and calamity. Jonadab might, without a spirit of prophecy, foresee the destruction of a people so wretchedly degenerated, and he would have his family provide, that, if they could not in the peace thereof, yet even in the midst of the troubles thereof, they might have peace. Let them therefore have little to lose, and then losing times would be the less dreadful to them: let them sit loose to what they had, and then they might with less pain be stripped of it. Note, Those are in the best frame to meet sufferings who are mortified to the world and life a life of self-denial. (6.) That in general they might learn to live by rule and under discipline. It is good for us all to do so, and to teach our children to do so. Those that have lived long, as Jonadab probably had done when he left this charge to his posterity, can speak by experience of the vanity of the world and the dangerous snares that are in the abundance of its wealth and pleasures, and therefore ought to be regarded when they warn those that come after them to stand upon their guard.
II. How strictly his posterity observed these rules, Jer 35:8-10. They had in their respective generations all of them obeyed the voice of Jonadab their father, had done according to all that he commanded them. They drank no wine, though they dwelt in a country where was plenty of it; their wives and children drank no wine, for those that are temperate themselves should take care that all under their charge should be so too. They built no houses, tilled no ground, but lived upon the products of their cattle. This they did partly in obedience to their ancestor, and out of a veneration they had for his name and authority, and partly from the experience they themselves had of the benefit of living such a mortified life. See the force of tradition, and the influence that antiquity, example, and great names, have upon men, and how that which seems very difficult will by long usage and custom become easy and in a manner natural. Now, 1. As to one of the particulars he had given them in charge, we are here told how in a case of necessity they dispensed with the violation of it (Jer 35:11): When the king of Babylon came into the land with his army, though they had hitherto dwelt in tents, they now quitted their tents, and came and dwelt in Jerusalem, and in such houses as they could furnish themselves with there. Note, The rules of a strict discipline must not be made too strict, but so as to admit of a dispensation when the necessity of a case calls for it, which therefore, in making vows of that nature, it is wisdom to provide expressly for, that the way may be made the more clear, and we may not afterwards be forced to say, It was an error, Ecc 5:6. Commands of that nature are to be understood with such limitations. These Rechabites would have tempted God, and not trusted him, if they had not used proper means for their own safety in a time of common calamity, notwithstanding the law and custom of their family. 2. As to the other particular, we are here told how, notwithstanding the greatest urgency, they religiously adhered to it. Jeremiah took them into the temple (Jer 35:2), into a prophet's chamber, there, rather than into the chamber of the princes, that joined to it, because he had a message from God, which would look more like itself when it was delivered in the chambers of a man of God. There he not only asked the Rechabites whether they would drink any wine, but he set pots full of wine before them, and cups to drink out of, made the temptation as strong as possible, and said, "Drink you wine, you shall have it on free cost. You have broken one of the rules of your order, in coming to live at Jerusalem; why may you not break this too, and when you are in the city do as they there do?" But they peremptorily refused. They all agreed in the refusal. "No, we will drink no wine; for with us it is against the law." The prophet knew very well they would deny it, and, when they did, urged it no further, for he saw they were stedfastly resolved. Note, Those temptations are of no force with men of confirmed sobriety which yet daily overcome such as, notwithstanding their convictions, are of no resolution in the paths of virtue.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–19 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord,....…
The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord,.... Not as following the former prophecies; for they must be delivered seventeen years after this. The prophecies of Jeremiah are not put together in their proper time in which they were delivered. The preceding prophecies were delivered in the "tenth" and "eleventh" years of Zedekiah's reign: but this
in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; in what part of his reign is not certain; but it must be after Nebuchadnezzar had invaded the land, Jer 35:11; very probably in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, after he had been the king of Babylon's servant three years, and rebelled against him, Kg2 24:1;
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saying; as follows:
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 19 By the obedience of the Rechabites, ver. 1-11. God…
By the obedience of the Rechabites, ver. 1-11. God condemns the Jews disobedience, ver. 12-17. The Rechabites are blessed, ver. 18, 19.
The word - This is another evidence that the prophecies of this book are not left us in that order wherein they were delivered; for those which we had in the two or three foregoing chapters being in the time of Zedekiah, must needs be ten or eleven years after this.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19 Jeremiah is commanded to go to the Rechabites, who,…
CHAPTER XXXV
Jeremiah is commanded to go to the Rechabites, who, on the
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approach of the Chaldean army, took refuge in Jerusalem; and to
try their obedience to the command of Jonadab, (or Jehonadab,
Jer 35:2; Jer 10:15; Jer 10:16,)
their great progenitor, who lived in the reign of Jehu, king of
Israel, upwards of two hundred and fifty years before this
time, offers them wine to drink, which they refuse, 1-11.
Hence occasion is taken to upbraid the Jews with their
disobedience to God, their heavenly Father, 12-17;
and a blessing is pronounced on the Rechabites, 18, 19.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXV
Verse 1. The word which came - in the days of Jehoiakim] What strange confusion in the placing of these chapters! Who could have expected to hear of Jehoiakim again, whom we have long ago buried; and we have now arrived in the history at the very last year of the last Jewish king.
This discourse was probably delivered in the fourth or fifth year of Jehoiakim's reign.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 8, 12, 17, 18 Jer 35:1. The word which came unto Jeremiah in…
Jer 35:1. The word which came unto Jeremiah in the days of Jehoiakim, &c. — Here we have another evidence that the prophecies of this book are not placed in that order wherein they were delivered, for all the intermediate prophecies from chap. 26. belong clearly to the reign of Zedekiah; and consequently are posterior to this chapter and the next, which are dated in the reign of Jehoiakim, together with chap. 45., which is closely connected with the latter of these two chapters. This may most probably be referred to the fourth year of Jehoaikim’s reign, when Nebuchadnezzar, having beaten the king of Egypt’s army at Euphrates, (see Jer 46:2,) marched toward Syria and Palestine, to recover those provinces again which the king of Egypt had conquered, in which expedition he laid siege to Jerusalem.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19 The house - The family.
The house - The family.
The Rechabites - The Rechabites were a nomadic tribe not of Jewish but of Kenite race, and connected with the Amalekites Num 24:21; 1Sa 15:6, from whom however they had separated themselves, and made a close alliance with the tribe of Judah Jdg 1:16, on whose southern borders they took up their dwelling 1Sa 27:10. While, however, the main body of the Kenites gradually adopted settled habits, and dwelt in cities 1Sa 30:29, the Rechabites persisted in leading the free desert life, and in this determination they were finally confirmed by the influence and authority of Jonadab, who lived in Jehu’s reign. He was a zealous adherent of Yahweh 2Ki 10:15-17, and possibly a religious reformer; and as the names of the men mentioned in the present narrative are all compounded with Yah, it is plain that the tribe continued their allegiance to Him.
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The object of Jonadab in endeavoring to preserve the nomad habits of his race was probably twofold. He wished first to maintain among them the purer morality and higher feeling of the desert contrasted with the laxity and effeminacy of the city life; and secondly he was anxious for the preservation of their freedom. Their punctilious obedience Jer 35:14 to Jonadab’s precepts is employed by Jeremiah to point a useful lesson for his own people.
The date of the prophecy is the interval between the battle of Carchemish and the appearance of Nebuchadnezzar at Jerusalem, Jer 35:11 at the end of the same year. It is consequently 17 years earlier than the narrative in Jer 34:8 ff
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 19 Joakim, when Nabuchodonosor besieged him again in his 7th…
Joakim, when Nabuchodonosor besieged him again in his 7th year. The Rechabites then pitched their tents in Jerusalem, ver. 11. (Calmet) --- Here we behold a figure of religious orders in the Church, as well as in the Nazarites and disciples of the prophets, Numbers vi., and 4 Kings i. They observed certain rules for acquiring greater perfection, and refrained from many things which were otherwise lawful. Thus various religious orders, both of men and of women, have flourished in the Church, and though they have different names and regulations, yet they are not sects, as heretics would pretend, but all follow the same faith, use the same sacraments, and are a great ornament to the Catholic Church by their profession of the three essential vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, in imitation of the apostles, Matthew xix. 12. --- Joakim. This happened before the preceding prophecies. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On vv1, 12 B. The Counterpart To The Disobedience Of The Israelites:…
B. The Counterpart To The Disobedience Of The Israelites: The Obedience Of The Techabites (chap. 35)
1. The Fact.
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Jer_35:1-11
1The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim 2the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, 3and give them wine to drink. Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house 4of the Rechabites; And I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of 5Shallum, the keeper of the door [or, threshold]. And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots1 full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink 6ye wine. But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons 7for ever: Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents: that ye may live many days in the 8land where ye be strangers. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, 9we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; nor to build houses for us to dwell in: 10neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor field: but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Jer_35:1-5. The word . . . Drink ye wine. As the Rechabites did not live in houses, the house of the Rechabites must be taken in a gentilic sense. The Rechabites were a branch of that tribe of Kenites, which springing from Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses (Num_10:29), migrated with the Israelites from the desert to Canaan, and were therefore closely connected with them politically, a well as religiously (comp. Jdg_1:16; Jdg_4:11; 1Sa_15:6; 1Sa_27:10; 1Sa_30:29). To what an extent this, especially the latter, was the case may be learned from what is said of Jonadab, the ancestor and lawgiver of the Rechabites, in the book of Kings (2Ki_10:15; 2Ki_10:23). The injunctions which, according to Jer_35:6-7, Jonadab laid on his descendants, were doubtless for the purpose of preserving their nomadic state and avoiding the evils of stationary and agricultural life. Jonadab appears to have forbidden the drinking of wine, not merely for the sake of the immediate consequences, which it might easily have, but also that the love of wine might not be the occasion of their becoming settled. The conscientiousness with which the Rechabites after three centuries still followed the commands of their ancestor, is a testimony that they held him in high honor. That he deserved this honor, and that it was shown him by others during his life-time, is seen in the respect with which Jehu treated him, taking him as a witness of his zeal in the service of Jehovah. Comp. Keil on 2Ki_10:12-17.—The לְשָׁכוֹת were rooms in the buildings enclosing the fore-courts, appropriated to various uses (1Ch_28:12 coll. Jer_9:26; Jer_36:10; Jer_36:12; Jer_36:20-21; Ezr_10:6; Neh_10:38). One of these rooms, which must have been a hall corresponding to the number of the persons, was named after “the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God.” It is not known who this Hanan was. From the designation “man of Elohim,” we may infer that he was a prophet (comp. Deu_33:1; Jos_14:8; 1Sa_2:26; 1Sa_9:8; 1Sa_9:10, etc.), and from “sons” (comp. 1Ki_20:35; 2Ki_2:3; 2Ki_2:5; 2Ki_2:7; 2Ki_2:15, etc.), that the room was a place of assemblage used by him and his pupils and adherents. Maaseiah, the threshold-keeper (of which there were three, Jer_52:24; 2Ki_25:18, and who stood in rank immediately after the כֹּהֵן מִשְׁנֶה. (Comp. 2Ki_23:4) is probably identical with the Maaseiah, whose son Zephaniah was a “second priest” (Jer_52:24; Jer_37:8; Jer_29:25, Jer_21:1).—Of the region inhabited by the Rechabites we have no further indication than the brief notice, 1Ch_2:55, from which we learn merely that they dwelt in the tribe of Judah. Jdg_1:16 agrees with this, where it is said of the Kenites, that they settled in the wilderness of Judah, which lies south of Arad (near the wilderness of Kadesh to the south of Hebron, Raumer, Paläst., S. 172). As they were Nomads, they needed land suited to this mode of life. There is no objection to their southern position from the approach of the enemies from the North. For they might justly fear an inundation of the whole land, and therefore sought refuge in Jerusalem betimes, before they were cut off.
Jer_35:11. Army of the Syrians. Aram is Syria in the more restricted sense. Before B. C., 738, when it became an Assyrian province, it played an important part among the foes of the Israelites (2Sa_8:3 sqq., etc.), and afterwards it still appears among their number in the train of Assyria (Isa_9:11), as here in that of Babylon (comp. 2Ki_24:2).
Footnotes:
[1]Jer_35:5.—נָבְיעַ, related to גִבְעָה ,גֶּבִע, hill, designates here a larger round vessel (crater), from which the cups were filled. Comp. Gen_44:2; Gen_44:5; Gen_44:12.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 17, 19 Jaazaniah--the elder and chief of the clan.
Jaazaniah--the elder and chief of the clan.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 14, 19 THE HISTORY OF THE RECHABITES A COUNTERPART OF THAT…
THE HISTORY OF THE RECHABITES A COUNTERPART OF THAT OF ISRAEL, Jer_35:1-11.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19 1. The word which came … in the days…
1. The word which came … in the days of Jehoiakim] This and the following chapter form a remarkable break in the narrative of chs. 32–44. They at once bring us back from the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah to the later part of Jehoiakim’s reign, when the Babylonian army had entered Palestine and compelled many of its inhabitants to take refuge within Jerusalem. Among these were the Rechabites.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19 (1) In the days Jehoiakim.—The prophecy that follows carries…
XXXV.
(1) In the days Jehoiakim.—The prophecy that follows carries us back over a period of about seventeen of years to the earlier period of the prophet’s life and work. Jerusalem was not yet besieged. Jehoiakim had not filled up the measure of his iniquities. The armies of the Chaldæans were, however, in the meantime moving on the outskirts of the kingdom of Judah (Jer_35:11) or were driving the nomad inhabitants, who had hitherto dwelt in tents, to take refuge in the cities. The first capture of the city by Nebuchadnezzar was in B.C. 607.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 The third member of this group of short prophecies.…
The third member of this group of short prophecies. In it, Jeremiah points to the faithful obedience of the Rechabites, as putting to shame the infidelity of Judahites. It belongs obviously to the time before the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps to the summer of B.C. 606. (See Dr. Plumptre"s poem, "The House of the Rechabites," part 2, in "Lazarus and other Poems.")
Vers. 1-11. The Rechabites.
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A curious interest attaches to these singular people, whose relation to the settled life of the Jews may be compared to that of the gipsies in modern Europe. They were nomads in the midst of cities, preserving the habits of the desert among all the scenes of civilization. But they were in some respects strikingly superior to their more civilized neighbours a people whose simplicity and abstemiousness was a living rebuke to the debased luxury of the times. Three leading characteristics of the Rechabites are worthy of special note.
I THEIR NOMADIC HABITS. It is refreshing to meet these quiet, simple people after wearying ourselves with sickening sights of the vice and hyprocrisy of the court and city life of Jerusalem. We are inclined to think too much of external civilization. Making allowance for exaggerations and eccentricities, we may find some much needed lessons in the protest of Mr. Ruskin against the industrial ideal of the age. Inventions, commerce, wealth, these are but means to an end. What is the use of the working of wonderful machinery if the outcome is poor and profitless? Many a man"s business is a Frankenstein which becomes a tyrant to him. By others the science and resources of the age are only used as ministers to selfish pleasures. Thus the men and women may be none the better for all the advance that is made in the material appliances of the most complex civilization. Yet the personal condition of these men and women, and not that of the machinery of life, is the one matter of final importance. The quieter, simpler life of the Rechabites had many points which it would be instructive for us to consider. It was out of all the rush and worry of town life. It was calm and comparatively free from care. With few wants, the Rechabites had few anxieties. Are we so much better off than they in this respect? Then, as a wandering life, it was a reminder of the truth, so often forgotten to our serious harm, that all men who live a life higher than the earthly must be pilgrims and strangers here, and must "seek" a better country, that is, a "heavenly." The man of the world is rooted to the earth; and is there not a danger lest many of us should be so absorbed in the busy pursuits of the world as to neglect greater interests, or so satisfied with earthly possessions as to forget that this is not our rest?
II THEIR ABSTEMIOUSNESS. These Rechabites were the prototypes of the modern teetotalers. They were no ascetics. They made no pretence to the peculiar holiness of the "self-imposed worship" of "dealing hardly with the body". (Col_2:23) On the contrary, they were probably a cheerful and unpretentious people, finding more human happiness in a simple abstemious life than the citizens of Jerusalem could ever discover in the unwholesome luxuries of a corrupt civilization. They teach a lesson which our age greatly needs. We may differ as to the necessity or desirability of total abstinence from wine and such things. But all of us should feel the terrible danger that comes from the enervating influence of luxury. In the present day we see little of "plain living and high thinking." Life is both eager and materialistic. It would be well if we could deny ourselves more, that there should be less grossness about our habits, dragging us down from the calm heights of spirituality.
III THEIR CHANGELESSNESS. The Rechabites are like the Arabs of the desert who were contemporaries of the Pharaohs, and who live now just as they lived in the days of Abraham. Where shall we find such staunch conservatives? Now, of course, we Western Christians believe in a principle of progress, and rightly set ourselves to realize it. But in the pursuit we may lose something that the Rechabites retained. Mere change is not progress, and a restless love of change endangers the fruitfulness of measures which take time to ripen. On the other hand, there is a true loyalty to the past, a just fidelity to our forefathers. At all events, it is grand to see a people independent of passing fashions, bold to resist the spirit of the age when they think that wrong for them, and firm in their own convictions and determinations. Such conduct is bracing to witness; unhappily it is not common.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR Vers. 1-6. Termination by Divine command.
I SO FAR AS IT WENT IT WAS REAL. The scene and the circumstances of authority and religious sanction given to the invitation were calculated to influence the mind. The "pots full of wine" were also an appeal to the eye. God has tried his servants often, but with no intention of making them fall. He tried Job, Abraham, David, etc. He often does this by his providence, the withholding of his grace, etc.
II IT WAS DONE WITH THE CERTAINTY THAT THE TEMPTATION WOULD BE RESISTED. The same wisdom that devised the incident knew what would be its issue. We are assured of God that he tempteth no man, (Jam_1:13) and that he will not suffer men to be tempted beyond their ability to resist. (1Co_10:13) Yet God is continually testing and trying his people, that they may discover their own weaknesses and apply to him for succour.
III A GREAT END WAS TO BE SERVED. The scene is dramatic and carefully arranged, that it may be publicly impressive. The lesson to be learnt on this occasion is not that of temperance, but simply of filial obedience in one of its most singular and emphatic illustrations. To Israel the lesson was a comparative one. They were put to shame by the steadfastness of men who had no such exalted Person to obey in the matter of their peculiar customs, but who yet had unswervingly adhered to it. Israel, with all the reasons for a similar fidelity, had been weak and fickle, and finally apostate. Men are tried, not only for their own sakes, but for the sake of others. The patience of the saints is a potent reason for our patience and obedience. Christ himself is the Example and Inspiration for all mankind. He was faithful when he was tempted by. circumstances infinitely more trying than any that can assail us; and his power is at our disposal when we ask for it. M.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 1-11. The power of a fathers command.
The Rechabite habit is, of course, brought forward here to contrast obedience to an earthly and arbitrary demand with the disobedience of Israel to heavenly and essentially righteous laws. But it is worth while to look into this Rechabite habit altogether, in its origin, its causes, its results, its power.
I THE ORIGIN OF THIS HABIT. The only information we have here is that the habit originated in a command of Jonadab. But, of course, Jonadab must have had some reason seeming weighty to him; and on looking at 2Ki 10 we can make a shrewd guess as to the ends he had in view. He sees the sanguinary and extirpating zeal of Jehu against the scions of Ahab and the worshippers of Baal, and is it not fair to presume that he wished to guard his kinsfolk and posterity against falling into idolatry such as would involve a like terrible fate? Then it occurs to him that he can best do this by separating his people from the dwellers in Israel This can best be done by urging on them to live a wandering and pastoral life; and still again, the tent life is to be secured by separating the Rechabites from the Israelites in their pleasures. The Rechabite has his plain rule of conduct: "I drink no wine." "Very well," says the indulgent, idolatrous Israelite, "I care not for your company." Idolatry was always connected with debauchery, sensuality, and indulgence of animal passions, and to all these things wine might come to be a minister. Unquestionably Jonadab was a shrewd man, and something of what he aimed at he seems to have gained.
II THE TEST OF THIS HABIT. No doubt the habit had often been tested, and presumably the same answer would ever be given: "Our father has commanded us to drink no wine." Was it a sufficient reason, one may ask? To which it may be replied that, generally speaking, a father"s command would not be enough. We must always ask What is the thing commanded? Here the question is simply one of positive precept. No one could say that drinking wine was a moral duty, or that the Rechabites injured any one by refusing to drink it. And, indeed, they might have enlarged on the advantages that had come to them through their strict compliance with Jonadab"s command, But, in doing so, they entered on debatable ground, and might have been forced into argument. They did the best thing in their position they fell back on a simple, unreasoning assertion of ancestral custom. Notice, too, the circumstances in which this habit was tested. They are divinely prepared circumstances. It is not a band of revellers in the house of feasting who ask them to drink wine. God commands it to be put before them in the house of the Lord, and in the chamber of a man of God. God wishes his people to see for themselves the power of a paternal request; for never before surely had the reasons seemed so great for departing from the rule.
III THE DISADVANTAGES OF THIS HABIT. The habit did secure what Jonadab meant it to secure. The Rechabites had been kept apart from Israel. But now notice that an advantage gained from some purely external practice is very likely to have some accompanying disadvantage. The Rechabites become tent dwellers, and then, on the approach of the Chaldeans, having no continuing city, no place of defence, they flee to Jerusalem. After all, the principle of Rechabitism, the principle of separation and isolation, has its limits. If we would fairly claim the advantages of human society in times of peril, we must not play the hermit and ascetic at other times. To be in the world and yet not of it, that is both the problem and the possibility. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 16 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak…
Jer_35:1-19
Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
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The Rechabites
Did the Lord make a proposal to total abstainers to drink wine? Did he send for them to a kind of wine festival? Is this the meaning of the Lords Prayer, Load us not into temptation? Is not the Lord always thus leading men into temptation?--not in the patent and vulgar sense in which that term is generally understood, but in a sense which signifies drill, the application of discipline, the testing of principles and purposes and character? Is not all life a temptation? The Lord tries every man. There need be no hesitation in offering the prayer, Lead us not into temptation. People have tried to soften the words. They have said instead of lead leave us not in temptation; but these are the annotations of inexperience and folly, or superficiality. We are not men until we have been thus moulded, tried, qualified. We can do little for one another in that pit of temptation. We must be left with God. There is one Refiner; He sits over the furnace, and when the fire has done enough He quenches the cruel, flame. Think it no strange thin that temptation hath befallen you; yea, think it not strange that God Himself has given you opportunities by which you may be burned. He never gives such an opportunity without giving something else. Alas, how often we see the opportunity and not the sustaining grace! The drinking of wine in this case was to be done in the house of the Lord. Now light begins to dawn. Mark the limitations of our temptation. The Lord is never absent from His house. Let God tempt me, and He will also save me; let Him invite me into His own house, that there, under a roof beautiful as heaven, He may work His will upon me, and afterwards I shall stand up, higher in nature, broader in manhood, truer in the metal of the Spirit. Observe the details of this mysterious operation. The men who were taken were proved men (verse 3). When the Lord calls for giants to fight His battle and show the strength of His grace, they are chosen men. All these men were conspicuous witnesses for the truth: they were identified with the faith of Israel; they were the trustees of the morality of society. It is so in all ages. There are certain men whom we may denominate our stewards, trustees, representatives; as for ourselves, we say, it is not safe to trust us; we are weaker than a bruised reed; we cannot stand great public ordeals; we were not meant to be illustrations of moral fortitude: spare us from the agony of such trial! There are other men in society whom God Himself can trust. What did the sons of Rechab say? Herein is a strange thing, that children should obey the voice of a dead father. Yet this is a most pleasing contention; this is an argument softened by pathos. The men stood up, and did not speak in their own name; they said, We be the sons of a certain man, who gave a certain law, and by that law we will live, and ever will live. The trial took place in the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah. The father of Maaseiah was Shallum, who was the husband of Huldah the prophetess, who had taken an active part in the reformation wrought in the reign of Josiah. So all these were so many guarantees of probity, and strength, and success. There will be no evil wrought in that chamber I Not only are the Rechabites there, but their fathers are with them in spirit. Though our fathers, physical and spiritual, be dead, yet they may live with us in the spirit, and may go with us and sustain us in all the trials and difficulties of life. We will drink no wine. Note the definiteness of the answer. No inquiry is made about the kind of wine. Men are saved by their definiteness. A strong, proud, decisive answer is the true reply to all temptation. An oath that strikes as with a fist of iron, a denial that is like a long, sharp two-edged sword,--these must be our policies and watchwords in the time of danger. The reason is given (verse 6). It is a filial argument. Good advice is not always thrown away; and men should remember that though exhortation may be rejected for a long time, yet there are periods when it may recur to the memory and come upon the whole life like a blessing sent from God. The argument is a fortiori. The Lord has shown how the sons of Jonadab can refuse wine: now He will take this example and apply it to the whole host of Judah, and He will say, See what one section of your country can do; if they can do this, why cannot you be equally loyal and true? why cannot you be equally obedient to the spirit of righteousness? for three hundred years this bond has been kept in this family; never once has it been violated: if one family can do this, why not a thousand families? if one section of the country, why not the whole nation? This was Gods method of applying truth to those who needed it. Thus we teach one another. One boy can be obedient; why not all boys? One soul can be faithful; why not all souls? God in His providence says: See what others can do, and as they toil and climb and succeed in reaching the highest point, so do ye follow them: the grace that made them succeed will not fail you in the hour of your trial and difficulty. (J. Parker, D. D.)
We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us.
The Rechabites
St. Austin says of the Syrophenician woman, who was both hardly spoken of by our Saviour at first, and anon commended highly before her face; she that took not her reproach in scorn, would not wax arrogant upon her commendation; so these Rechabites who lived with good content in a life full of neglect, may the better endure to have their good deeds scanned, without fear of begetting ostentation. And therefore I will branch out my text into four parts, in every of which they will justly deserve our praise, and in some our imitation. First, when the prophet Jeremiah did try them with this temptation, whether they would feast it and-drink wine, they make him a resolute denial, a prophet could., draw them to no inconvenient act. Some are good men of themselves, but easily drawn aside by allurements; such are not the Rechabites. He that will sin to please another, makes his friend either to be a God that shall rule him, or a devil that shall tempt him. Three things, says Aristotle, do preserve the life of friendship.
1. To answer love with like affection.
2. Some similitude and likeness of condition.
3. But above either, neither to sin ourselves, nor for our sakes to lay the charge of sin upon our familiars.
No, he is too prodigal of his kindness, that giveth his friend both his heart and his conscience. I may not forget how Agesilaus son behaved himself in this point toward his own father: the cause was corrupt wherein his father did solicit; the son answers him with this modesty: Your education taught me from a child to keep the laws, and my youth is so inured to your former discipline, that I cannot skill the latter. Here let rhetoricians declaim Whether this were duty or disobedience. But let us examine the case by philosophy. I am sure that no man s reason is so nearly conjoined to my soul as my own appetite, although my appetite be merely sensitive. And must I oftentimes resist my own appetite, and enthral it as a civil rebel: and have I not power much more to oppose any mans reason that Persuades me unto evil, his reason being but a stranger unto me, and not of the secret council of my soul! Yes, out of question. How it pities me to hear some men say, that they could live as soberly, as chastely, as saintlike as the best, if it were not for company! Fie upon such weakness: says St. Austin, If thy mother speak thee fair, if the wife of thy bosom tempt thy heart, beware of Eve, and think of Adam. The serpent was a wise creature (Gen_3:1-24), and Eve could not but take his word in good manners. Fond mother of mankind, so ready to believe the devil, that her posterity ever since nave Dean slow to believe God. Never can there be a better season for nolumus, for every Christian to be a Rechabite, than when any man reacheth out a cup of intemperance unto us, to say boldly, We will not drink it. Now I proceed to the second part of my text, which hath a strong connection with the former; for why did they resist these enticements, and disavow the prophet (verse 8)? Their obedience is the second part of their encomium, they will obey the voice of Jonadab their father. The name of father was that wherewith God was pleased to mollify our stony hearts, and bring them into the subjection of the fifth commandment. Surely as a parricide, that killed his father, was to have no burial upon the earth, but sewed in an ox hide and east headlong into the sea; so he that despiseth his father deserves not to hold any place of dignity above others, but to be a slave to all men. For what are we but coin that hath our fathers image stamped upon it? and we receive our current value from them to be called sons of men. And yet the more commendable was the obedience of the Rechabites, that their father Jonadab being dead, his law was in as good force as if he had been living. Concerning this virtue of obedience, let us extend our discourse a little further, and yet tread upon our own ground. Obedience is used in a large sense, for a condition, or modus, annexed unto all virtues. As the magistrate may execute justice dutifully under his prince, the soldier may perform a valiant exploit dutifully under his captain; but strictly, and according to the pattern of the Rechabites, says Aquinas. It is one peculiar and entire virtue, whereby we oblige ourselves, for authoritys sake, to do things indifferent to be done, or omitted; for sometimes that which is evil may be hurtful prohibito to the party forbidden: as the laws forbid a man to murder himself: sometimes a thing is evil prohibenti, so treasons, adulteries, and thefts are interdicted: but sometimes the thing is no way in itself pernicious to any, but only propounded to make trial of our duty and allegiance, as when Adam was forbid to eat the apple; and this is true obedience, not to obey for the necessity of the thing commanded, but out of conscience and subjection to just authority. Such obedience, and nothing else, is that which hath made the little commonwealth of bees so famous: for are they not at appointment who should dispose the work at home, and who should gather honey in the fields? they flinch not from their task, and no creature under the sun hath so brave an instinct of sagacity. Let us gather up this second part of my text into one closure: we commend the Rechabites for their obedience, and by their example we owe duty to our parents, natural and civil, those that begot us, those that govern us. We owe duty to the dead, after our rulers have left us in the way of a good life, and changed their own for a better. We owe duty to our rulers in all things honest and lawful; in obeying rites and ceremonies indifferent, in laws civil and ecclesiastical. But where God controls, or wherein our liberty cannot be enthralled, we are bound ad patiendum, and happy if we suffer for righteousness sake. Now that the obedience of the Rechabites was lawful and religious, and a thing wherein they might profitably dispense with freedom and liberty, the third part of my text, that is their temperance, will make it manifest, for in this they obeyed Jonadab. To spare somewhat which God hath given us for our sustenance, is to restore a part of the plenty back again; if we lay hands upon all that is set before us, it is suspicious that we expected more, and accused nature of frugality. And though the vine did boast in Jothams parable, that it cheered up the heart of God and man, though it be so useful a creature for our preservation, that no Carthusian or Caelestine monk of the strictest order did put this into their vow to drink no wine, yet the Rechabites are contented to be more sober than any, and lap the water of the brook, like Gideons soldiers. Which moderation of diet did enable them to avoid luxury and swinish drunkenness, into which sin whosoever falls makes himself subject to a fourfold punishment. First, The heat of too liberal a proportion kindles the lust of the flesh. Lot, who was not consumed in Sodom with the fire of brimstone, drunkenness set him on fire with incestuous lust in Zoar. What St. Paul hath coupled (2Co_6:1-18.), let us not divide; lastings go first, then follows pureness and chastity. Secondly, How many brawls and unmanly combats have we seen? Thirdly, Superfluity of drink is the draught of foolishness. Such a misery, in my opinion, that I would think men had rather lose their right arm than the government of their reason, if they knew the royalty thereof. Lastly, Whereas sobriety is the sustentation of that which decays in man, drunkenness is the utter decay of the body. The Rechabites had encouragement to take this vow upon them for three reasons:
1. As being but strangers to the true commonwealth of Israel.
2. To make the better preparation for the captivity of Babylon.
3. To draw their affections to the content of a little, and the contempt of the world.
Now I follow my own method to handle the second consideration of this vow, that these circumstances were not only well foreseen, but that the conditions of the thing vowed are just and lawful. Not to tumble over all the distinctions of the schoolmen, which are as multiplicious in this cause as in any; of vows, some are singular, which concern one man and no more, as when David vowed to build an house unto the Lord, this was not a vow of many associated in that pious work, but of David only. Some are public when there is a unity of consent in divers persons to obtest the same thing before the presence of God. And such was this vow in my text, it concerned the whole family of the Rechabites. That this vow was of some moment in the practice of piety, appears by Gods benediction upon them. For as it was said of Socrates goodness, that it stood the common wealth of Athens in more stead than all their warlike prowess by sea and land, so that religious life of the Rechabites was the best wall and fortress to keep Judah in peace and safety. And almost who doth not follow Christ rather to be a gainer by Him than a loser. Behold, we have left all and followed Thee; that was the perfection of the apostles, that was the state of the Rechabites; not simply all, everything that belonged to the maintenance of a man, and so to live upon beggary, they have learned to ask nothing but a gourd to cover their head, a few flocks of sheep to employ their hands, the spring water to quench their thirst. They that must have no more, have cut off superfluous desires, that they can never ask more. And so piety and a godly life were chiefly aimed at in the vow of the Rechabites. The end and last part of all is this: That forasmuch as God was well pleased with these abstemious people that would drink no wine, therefore promise unto the Lord, and do the deed; for that is my final conclusion, that a vow justly conceived is to be solemnly performed. When we have breathed out a resolved protestation before God, it is like the hour we spake it in, past and gone, and can never be recalled. Says David, I have poured out my soul in prayer, as if upon his supplication it were no longer his, but God s for ever. Surely if our soul be gone from us in our prayers, then much more in our vows they are flown up to Heaven, like Lazarus to the bosom of Abraham, they cannot, they should not return to earth again. He that changed his sex in the fable is not so great a wonder, as he that changeth any covenant which is drawn between God and his conscience. He that hath consecrated himself to God, doth, as it were, carry heaven upon his shoulders. Support your burdens in Gods name, lest if you shrink the wrath of God press you down to the nethermost pit. I will give a brief answer to one question. Is Christ so austere that He doth reclaim against all dispensation? no, says Aquinas, you are loose again, if the thing in vow be sinful, nay if it be unuseful, nay if it cross the accomplishment of a greater good. This is good allowance, and well spoken. The careful pilot sets his adventure to a certain haven, and would turn neither to the right hand nor to the left, if the winds were as constant as the loadstone, but they blow contrary to his expectation. Suppose a Rechabite protesting to drink no wine, had lived after the institution of our Saviours Supper, when He consecrated the fruit of the grape, and said, Drink ye all of this, would it pass for an answer at the Holy Communion to say, We will drink no wine? No more than if he had sworn before not to eat a paschal lamb, or any sour herbs, quite against the institution of the passover. There is enough in this chapter to stride over this doubt if you mark it. Jonadab indented with God, that he and his seed should live in tabernacles for ever; and in tabernacles they did live for three hundred years. Then comes the king of Babylon with an army into the country to invade the land. It was dangerous now to live in tabernacles; there was no high priest, I assure you, to absolve them; no money given to the publicans of the Church for a dispensation: but they said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and Syrians, and let us dwell at Jerusalem. The vow was unprofitable, tabernacles dangerous, and so the bond is cancelled. Yet, do not take all the liberty due unto you, if I may advise you: there are two things which you may choose to untie the knot of a vow. The peremptory rejecting of a bad vow, and that is lawful, and the changing thereof into some other vow, and that is more expedient, that God may have some service done unto Him, by way of a vow. (Bishop Hacket.)
Obedience to parental authority
The first and principal commandment of the moral law, Honour thy father and thy mother, begins with obedience to parents; but must of course be interpreted in a wider sense so as to apply to all who have a right to obedience--the persons to be honoured in that famous and excellent summary of the Catechism are the King, and all in authority under him, my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors and masters, and last of all my betters; the falling into disuse of such an instructive word is a fact of very great significance and needs no comment. But duty to parents comes clearly first, which an old writer has called the band and firmament of Commonwealths; for society is near its dissolution when this obligation is loosened or weakened in any way. The stability of an empire like that of China is an illustration in point, and I was struck some time ago by hearing a missionary of long experience select this one virtue of reverence for parents as that which has for so many centuries preserved the cohesion of that people. Affection may indeed be missing, but obedience and respect for authority are, I believe, universal. So it has come to pass that a nation that we despise outdoes us in the discharge of one of the most elementary moral duties; not that Confucius is a better teacher than Moses, or made any advance upon him, but that we are somehow drifting from a commandment of God, and seem powerless to enforce it. To arrest the widespread mischief we must go back to first principles, and seek to re-establish authority in the family, in the elementary schools, in places of higher education, and perhaps in the university itself. Authority must be taught to be a trust delegated by God to some for the good of the whole body, and the applications of the Christian precept: All of you be subject one to another, in its several relations, must be laid down fearlessly and with distinctness by teachers and preachers as the safeguard of society. To revert to filial reverence. It was once, I believe, a characteristic of Englishmen, for even as late as the last century sons would address their fathers by the reverential title of sir. The virtue is not exotic, it can stand our rude climate, and it must not be thought for a moment to be a poor sickly plant, that has no root in strong and masculine natures. On the contrary, take a specimen of it from the most robust of our own countrymen. To most of us is known the compunction of Dr. Johnson which has formed the subject of an historical picture. He has related of himself, how when a young man he refused to stand at his fathers stall to sell books; it was, he says, through pride he disobeyed, a trivial circumstance to a less sensitive man, but it was a burden to him for fifty years, until on the very day he went to the very spot where his fathers stall used formerly to be, and on a day of business stood in Uttoxeter market, bareheaded, for an hour exposed to the gibes of the passers-by, and the inclemency of the weather. This was a penance by which I trust I have propitiated heaven for the only instance I believe of contumacy to my father. Upon which Mr. Leslie Stephen, by no means a sentimental writer, remarks: The anecdote cannot be read without emotion, and if it illustrates a touch of superstition in Johnsons mind, it reveals too that sacred depth of tenderness which ennobled his character. To both parents we are debtors. Mothers are to be esteemed as highly as fathers, and dutiful obedience rendered to them. Take care you despise them not in their old age or in lonely widowhood. Value them all the more if they are alone. Do not think that you have outgrown their wisdom, for in his mature years Solomon could stamp his own maxims with the authority of his mothers mint, and give them currency as the words which his mother had taught him. The wishes of parents are also to be attended to, for wise fathers dealing with grown-up children will not burden them with commands, but will leave them to act upon what their sons know they would wish done. In a book that furnished my vacation reading I lighted upon a passage in the undergraduate life of Dr. Corrie that will interest some of us. When he first came up, his father, knowing his sons great love for horses, and fearing the scenes of temptation into which this taste might lead him, expressed a strong desire that he would not go to Newmarket. This injunction was faithfully respected. Though he was fully aware that his father would never ask him whether his wish had been observed, his loyalty would not permit him to trifle with the confidence thus placed in him. A characteristic anecdote of a man who was known as the soul of honour, who if he lacked sons of his own, was looked up to and reverenced by hundreds of pupils and others, who felt their own principles of duty strengthened by his unswerving fidelity to old traditions. Obedience to a fathers law is the whole idea of the incarnation. Not to please Himself at all, but to surrender Himself wholly to the Divine will, runs through all Christs life. When He cometh into the world He saith, I am come to do Thy will, O God, and when He is about to leave the world in that great fight of conflicting emotions the thought of submission alone rules His prayer, Not My will, but Thine be done. Not only as a son, but as a citizen, as a member of the Jewish synagogue and nation, He is obedient to the law, to every ordinance of man, for His Fathers sake. Conscious of His Divinity, of His real relation to God at twelve years old, He goes meekly home to be subject to earthly parents and to learn His trade. When the time of His manifestation has come, He allows John to baptize Him, to fulfil an ordinance of God, and by His obedience He approves Johns commission in the eyes of the people. Though, as Son of God, He is free from the temple tax, yet He works a miracle to pay the due, that He might give no offence to the rulers who sat in Moses seat. He even acknowledges that the civil power of the Roman Governor is of God. Under the terms of the new covenant we are no mere slaves but sons, and can claim the spirit of adoption, the will to wish all things in conformity with Gods will, and the power to perform the same. I have heard myself from the lips of those whose whole life has been most wilful and contrary such a confession as this, I love now as much to do things for God as at one time I did everything against God, for the love of Christ converts and subdues a stubborn temper, which to its harm would kick against the pricks into a service where there is no heavy burden, no galling yoke, but all is perfect freedom. (C. E. Searle, D. D.)
The obedient Rechabites
I. The authority of the family. The power of human descent and family tradition in moulding a career is well illustrated in the case of the Rechabites.
1. It controlled the natural tastes. Its members must renounce pleasure, comfort, and fixed habitation; their inheritance was the loss of those very things which sons expect, and parents delight to bequeath. But with the loss came a better gain,--health of body, purity of morals, loyalty of conscience. They had that best possession,--noble character.
2. The authority of the family also controlled their external alliances; those entering it by marriage must accept its obligations. A man may leave father and mother to cleave unto his wife, but may not leave truth and virtue.
3. In the same way the family tradition proved superior to surrounding influences. They were as faithful in the city as in the country, as loyal among strangers as where well known. So from lonely farmhouses among the hills, young men and young women have gone to seek an easier fortune in the great city, or in the lawless West, and been delivered from evil by the abiding influence of their sanctified homes.
4. The faithfulness of the Rechabites displays the normal influence of the family in transmitting a tendency to virtue, and confirming that inherited disposition by congenial surroundings and careful training. This is what God means the family to be,--His surest and mightiest agency for spreading righteousness on the earth.
II. This higher authority of God. If human descent and family tradition exert authority over the individual, the Divine Creator and Governor holds a far higher claim upon him. Whatever depravity sin may breed into the race, virtue is always its normal life, holiness its ideal. The Scriptures describe man as directly connected with God in his origin. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. When the clay was shaped, He breathed into his nostrils thy breath of life, and man became a living soul. The characteristics of our Divine origin are as discernible as the marks of our human descent. Our intellect is made after the likeness of the Divine mind, else the universe would be to us an insoluble mystery. In our tastes we can trace kinship with Him who has adorned the earth with beauty. Pure human affection gives us our worthiest conception of the Divine love. Misfortune cannot turn it, ingratitude cannot chill it, death itself cannot overcome it, The Heavenly Father uses this earthly tie to symbolise His own regard; the Saviour describes His fostering care and close union with the Church by naming it His bride. Our moral nature is plainly Divine in origin. Conscience is the voice of God in man. He who obeys it is lifted to the plane of Divine action, is made a co-worker with God. Over this lordly realm, crowned its regent by the Creator Himself, is the Personal Soul, the Self, the I. Self-consciousness is its throne, self-determination its sceptre. By this solemn conviction I am, I will, man separates himself from all the universe around him; through this he balances his soul against the whole world and weighs it down; with it he faces eternity. He is his own, something for which the Infinite asks, and he may give. It is here that mans Divine origin finds its explanation; for the glad choice of God, all the dignity of human nature was given; to this end converge the constant teachings of the revealing universe, the open instructions of the inspired Word, the solemn persuasions of the Holy Spirit. Lessons--
1. The responsibility of parents. One writer on heredity declares that the dispositions of Bacon and Goethe were formed by the simple addition of the dispositions of their ancestors. We know that passionate temper, fretfulness, and despondency may be inherited. Let a parent beware how he sins.
2. The responsibility resting upon the child of godly parents. When one who has had a virtuous ancestry seeks out vice and courts godlessness, he has not long to wait before every red drop in his veins will turn against him and curse him traitor. There is something back of his own will,--an authority he knows not how to resist and cannot defy.
3. The ultimate responsibility of each soul to God. When Samuel J. Mills was struggling against the convictions of the Spirit, he exclaimed, I wish I had never been born! His mother replied, But you are born, my son, and can never escape your accountability to God. The glad choice of the holy God is the highest exercise of the created will. (C. M. Southgate.)
The obedience of the Rechabites
I. Wherein it resembles christian obedience.
1. It was total. They did not consult their preferences or their affinities. They did not proceed upon any law of natural selection. They did not show punctilious fidelity with reference to one commandment, and great laxity concerning another. This is one essential characteristic of Christian obedience. It is total. If we can make choice of such commands as we feel like obeying and disregard the rest, what are we but masters instead of subjects, dictating terms instead of receiving orders?
2. It was constant. It kept an unbroken path. It bore the stress of storms and tests. And herein it was marked by another essential characteristic of Christian obedience--a beautiful constancy. Enlistment in the Lords army is for life, and there is no discharge in that war.
II. Wherein this Rechabite obedience was unlike Christian obedience.
1. The Rechabites obeyed Jonadab: Christians obey God. This is a substantive difference. And we must not confound things that radically differ. The source of a command has a great deal to do with the value of obedience to it. The lower relation must give way to the higher when the two conflict.
2. Jonadabs commands, so far as we know, were for temporal and material ends, in the interests of a rugged manhood and a sturdy independence. Gods commands are for spiritual ends, for good of soul, and they stand vitally connected with those higher interests that relate not only to the life that now is, but to that which is to come. Rechabite obedience, therefore, conserves temporal good; Christian obedience conserves eternal good.
3. Rechabite obedience was not necessary to salvation; Christian obedience is indispensable.
III. Wherein it shames Christian disobedience.
1. These Rechabites are obedient to their father Jonadab, a mere man who had been dead nearly three hundred years, while Judah is in open and flagrant disobedience to the Most High God.
2. Jonadab commanded but once, and he had instant and constant heed, generation upon generation, for centuries. But I, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel--I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking. I have also sent unto you, &c.
3. Obedience to Jonadab was at a cost, and it brought at the best only power to endure and the spirit of independence. It left the Rechabites poor and homeless. Obedience to God was also at a cost, but it gave His people assured possessions, peace of conscience, protection from their enemies, and all the exceeding riches of an eternal inheritance in Gods kingdom of grace and glory. Yet the Rechabites obeyed Jonadab with a beautiful constancy, while Judah hearkened not to the voice of the Lord.
Practical suggestions--
1. The very essence of Christian fidelity is obedience.
2. A true obedience has two infallible signs. It will have no reservations, and it will never cry Halt!
3. See the shame and guilt of disobedience under the Gospel.
4. In respect to one particular in this Rechabite obedience, namely, abstinence from wine--three things are clear.
(1) Abstinence from wine is not here made obligatory.
(2) Abstinence from wine is not wrong.
(3) Abstinence from wine for the sake of the stumblers is lifted by the New Testament to the sublime height of a duty, and made imperative (Rom_14:21).
Wine-drinking is a sin for that man who drinks with offence (Rom_14:20). Wine-drinking is a sin for that man who by it puts a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in a brother s way (Rom_14:15). When wine-drinking wounds a weak conscience it is as in against Christ (1Co_8:12). (H. Johnson, D. D.)
The obedience of the Rechabites
Jonadab saw that his people were but a handful among a more powerful people, and likely soon to be swallowed up by their neighbours, and he hit upon a happy method of preserving their independent existence. He enjoined them not to drink wine; this was to save them from luxury and intemperance, which would prey upon them from within, and make them ripe for destruction; and he also commanded them not to till the ground, nor to have any houses, nor to dwell in cities; this was in order that they might have no riches to tempt others to make war upon them; and thus, to use his own words, they might live many days in the land wherein they were strangers. Luxury and wealth are the bane of nations, and by keeping his tribe a simple, pastoral people, pure in their habits, and destitute of property, he accomplished his wishes for them.
I. The obedience of the Rechabites contrasted with the disobedience of Israel to God. An ancestor of that family, who had been dead nearly three hundred years, had issued his commands, and they were still obeyed; but the living God had spoken repeatedly to Israel, by His prophets, yet they would not hear. The commands of Jonadab, too, were very arbitrary. There could be no sin in cultivating the fields, or in living in houses, whatever moral worth there may have been in the precept to drink no wine: but still, because Jonadab commanded it they obeyed. The complaint of God has still an application. It is a fact, that among sinners, any and every law, precept, or tradition, of mere human authority, is better obeyed than the laws of God Himself. See, in a few instances, how this has been verified. Mahomet arose, a sensualist, an adulterer, a breaker of treaties, and a robber, and issued his commands, which for centuries have been religiously obeyed. At the cry of the muezzin, and the hour of prayer, every follower of his, whether in the desert, on board the ship, in the city, or the field, suspends his labour, his pleasures, and even his griefs, and casts himself upon his knees in prayer. But the blessed Jesus, pure, peaceful, and glorious, speaks, and even those who acknowledge Him as Lord over all, and own the goodness of His commands, can listen to such words as, This do in remembrance of Me, and obey them not. The founder of some monkish order, again, has enjoined upon all his fraternity certain rules and austerities, and he is obeyed. Day after day, and year after year, the same tedious round of ceremonies is gone through with, as though salvation depended upon it, and the deluded ones will rise at the midnight hour to inflict stripes upon themselves or to offer prayer. But Christ may enjoin the reasonable duty of praying to our Father in spirit and in truth, and multitudes can suffer days and years to pass, and pray not. The commander of the order of Jesuits can place his inferior priests in any country of the world, and whether the mandate be to act as father confessor in some palace, or to Penetrate to China or Paraguay, there is no more resistance for apparent regard for the sacrifices to be made than in the machinery which is moved by mechanic power. Christ commands His disciples to go preach the Gospel to every creature, but only here and there one goes forth. The heathen priest bids the worshippers of idols to cast their children rote the fire or the water, and it is done. Jesus says, Suffer little children to come to Me, and has appointed a sacrament in which they may be received, but men will admit the duty, and yet neglect the baptism of their children. The Rechabites of modern times, and Sons of Temperance, may institute a vow of temperance, and it is kept; or command one of their number to minister to the sick, and it is done; or provide well for their poor; but Christ says, that no drunkard shall enter heaven, and enjoins charity to the sick and the destitute, while many heed Him not.
II. The rewards of obedience. Modern travellers, moreover, state that the Rechabites are still in existence. Mr. Wolf, the famous Jewish missionary, asserts this as his belief. And another traveller who visited a tract to the south of Judea, which has been unexplored for centuries, met there a native who claimed to be a Rechabite, and when an Arabic Bible was shown to him, turned to this chapter and read from it the description of his People, and said that it was still true of them, and that they still kept the precepts of Jonadab, their father. Over three thousand years have passed away since that family of the Kenites came with Israel into Canaan, and for two thousand years no traces of them were preserved; but now, after so long a lapse of time, recent discoveries have brought them to light, retaining their name, and glorying in their independence. Though surrounded by Mohammedan Arabs, they conform to the law of Moses yet maintaining that they are not Israelites; and are much hated by the Mussulman. This account was given by a traveller so late as 1832, and is confirmed by English residents at Mocha, and from other sources. No doubt every promise of Gods Word is as abundantly fulfilled. We may not always be able to trace out the literal accomplishment of every one as strikingly as in this case, but we never could prove one promise in all the Bible false; and the more light we have the more abundantly do we see that all have been yea and amen. Let us rest upon Gods Word. Exceeding great and precious promises are given to us in the sacred book. They are like good notes from a prompt paymaster, falling due at different times. We may sometimes question their worth, or may even forget in the multitude of cares that we have such securities treasured up, but the time of their payment will come, and we shall find all redeemed. (W. H. Lewis, D. D.)
The Rechabites
Their record was an honourable one, and reached far back into the early days of Hebrew history. When Israel was passing through the wilderness of Sinai, the tribe of the Kenites showed them kindness; and this laid the foundation of perpetual friendliness between the two peoples. They seem to have adopted the religious convictions of Israel, and to have accompanied them into the Land of Promise. Retaining their integrity as s pastoral people, the Kenites maintained these friendly relations with Israel during the intervening centuries; and it was of this tribe that the Rechabites, for such was the name of this strange tent-loving people, had sprung (Jdg_4:17-24; 1Sa_15:6; 1Ch_2:55). About the time of Elijah, and perhaps largely influenced by him, the sheikh or leader of one branch of the Kenites was Jonadab the son of Rechab. He was dismayed at the abounding corruption of the time, and especially of the northern kingdom, then under the fatal spell of Jezebels and Ahabs influence; and resembled some rank jungle in whose steamy air, heavy with fever and poison, noisome creatures swarm, and foul pestilences breed. In his endeavour to save his people from such a fate, this noble man, who afterwards become Jehus confederate in extirpating idolatry, bound his people under a solemn pledge to drink no wine for ever; neither to build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyards, but to dwell in tents.
I. Jeremiahs test of the Rechabites. So soon as their arrival was noised abroad, and had come to the ears of Jeremiah, he was seized by a Divine impulse to derive from them a striking object-lesson for his own people. With an inventiveness which only passionate love could have suggested, the prophet caught at every incident, and used every method to awaken his people to realise their true position in the sight of God. Probably a little group of Jews, arrested by the prophet s association with these strange-looking men, followed them in to watch the proceedings. They were curious witnesses of the prophets action, as he caused bowls of wine to be set before the tribesmen, and cups to be offered them, that they might dip them in and drink. They also heard the blunt unqualified refusal of these quaint old-fashioned Puritans, We will drink no wine, followed by an explanation of the solemn obligation laid on them centuries before. The moral was obvious, Hero were men loyal to the wish of their ancestor, though he was little more than a name to them, and refusing the offered sweets in which so many freely indulged. How great a contrast to the people of Jerusalem, who persistently disregarded the words of the living God perpetually remonstrating against their sins! The prohibitions of Jonadab were largely arbitrary and external; whilst those of Jehovah were corroborated by the convictions of conscience, and consonant with the deepest foundations of religion and morality. The voice of Jonadab was a cry coming faintly from far down the ages; whilst Jehovah was ever speaking with each new dawn, and in the voice of each fresh messenger whom He rose early to send. Such devotion to principle; such persistent culture of simplicity, frugality, and abstinence; such literal adherence to the will of the father of their house--not only carried within them the assurance of perpetuity to the people who practised them, but must receive the signature and countersign of the Almighty. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before Me for ever. This phrase had a very profound significance. It suggested, of course, obviously, that the tribe should not cease to exist. The phrase is often used in Scripture of priestly service. And may we not infer that where we meet that devotion to principle, and that detachment from the world, which characterised these men, there will always be a strong religious tone, a knowledge of God, a power in prayer and intercession, which are the essential characteristics of the priests?
II. This elements of a strongly religious life. Oh, to stand always before Him, on whose face the glory of God shines as the sun in his strength! But if this is to be something more than a vague wish, an idle dream, three things should be remembered, suggested by the words of the Rechabites.
1. There must be close adhesion to great principles. Many superficial reasons might have suggested to the Rechabites compliance with the prophet s tempting suggestion. The wine was before them; there was no sin against God in taking it; the people around had no scruples about it; and the prophet himself invited them. In contrast to this, it is the general tendency amongst men to ask what is the practice of the majority; what is done by those in their rank and station; and what will be expected of them. We drift with the current. We allow our lives to be settled by our companions or our whims, our fancies or our tastes. We make a grave mistake in supposing that the main purpose of our life is something different from that which reveals itself in details. What we are in the details of our life, that we are really and essentially. The truest photographs are taken when we are unprepared for the operation. And, indeed, when we consider the characters of the early disciples of Jesus, or those of saints, martyrs, and confessors, must we not admit that they were as scrupulous in seeking the will of God about the trifles of their life, as the Rechabites were in consulting the will and pleasure of the dead Jonadab? The thought of God was as present with the one as of Jonadab with the other. And was not this the secret of their strong and noble lives? What a revolution would come to us all if it became the one fixed aim and ambition of our lives to do always those things that are pleasing in His sight!
2. Abstinence from the spirit of the age. It was an immense gain in every way for the Rechabites to abstain from wine. Wine was closely associated with the luxury, corruption, and abominable revelries of the time (Isa_28:1-8). Their abstinence was not only a protest against the evils which wore honeycombing their age, but was a sure safeguard against participation in them. In these days the same principles apply. Surely, then, we shall do well to say with the Rechabites, whoever may ask us to drink, We will drink no wine. But wine may stand for the spirit of the age, its restlessness, its constant thirst for novelty, for amusement, for fascination; its feverish demand for the fresh play, the exciting novel, the rush of the season, the magnificent pageant. It is easier to abstain from alcohol than from this insidious spirit of our time, which is poured so freely into the air, as from the vial of some demon sorceress.
3. We must hold lightly to the things around. The Rechabites dwelt in tents. They drove their vast flocks from place to place, and were content with the simple life of the wandering shepherd. It was thus that the great patriarchs had lived before them (Heb_11:9; Heb_11:13). It is difficult to say what worldliness consists in. What would be worldly to some people is an ordinary part of lifes circumstances to others. But all of us are sensible of ties that hold us to the earth. We may discover what they are by considering what we cling to; what we find it hard to let go; what we are always striving to augment; what we pride ourselves in. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The Rechabites
I. Their principles are tried. Three features mark this trial.
1. They were offered wine. After s family record of three hundred years abstinence, the evil thing is set before them, free of cost. As they fortunately had no experience of its power by reason of former habits of intemperance, they could look upon the enemy without fear or danger.
2. Wine was offered them by a good man. Jeremiah was the generous host. Surely Gods prophet would not offer them an evil thing, or tempt them to do wrong! A great many well-meaning people place the tempting cup before their guests, and their guests are not the sturdy sons of Jonadab, and much evil is wrought.
3. Wine was offered in the Lords house. They were in the chamber of good men, on holy ground, and in strict privacy. Under such circumstances, might they not suspend their stringent rules of life? They had broken one vow in coming into Jerusalem, might they not yield another point, and adopt one of the ways of city people? Life is full of opportunities for testing principles and character.
II. Their principles are triumphant.
1. It was prompt and definite. They reasoned not with flesh and blood, nor did they offer any compromise.
2. It was complete. Their pledge was a comprehensive one, involving dwelling in tents, and living a very unworldly life (verses 6-10). Total abstinence, was not enough. Their fathers commandment, was broad. Sobriety is not salvation.
3. It was general. We, our wives, our sons, our daughters (verse 8). The domestic peace had not been broken by faithlessness and sin. A blessed unity in principle and in practice.
4. It was constant. Three hundred years had passed since they received these injunctions, and they still regarded them as binding and sacred.
III. Their actuating motive.
1. It was filial love. For Jonadab our father commanded us (verse 6) was the only defence they cared to offer for their singular conduct. A pious ancestry is an invaluable blessing; but the filial spirit must turn that boon to practical account.
2. Men live after death. He being dead, yet speaketh. Time cannot impair the power of a good life.
IV. The exemplary meaning of their conduct. They were not tried for their own sake, but for the good of others.
1. Conduct makes personal influence. No man liveth unto himself. The end of our trials may concern others more than ourselves. The Jews were to be instructed by the behaviour of the Rechabites.
2. The sobriety of one condemns the drunkenness of the other. If one life can be good, other lives can too.
3. It was a contrast of privilege. In obedience to an earthly father, who had been dead three centuries, the sons of Jonadab had kept their pledges. The Jews had received Divine commands, all the prophets had spoken to them, and yet they disobeyed (verses 14, 16).
4. It justified Divine judgment. Therefore . . . I will bring upon Judah, &c. (verse 17). The abstinence of Rechab condemns inebriate Judah.
5. National intemperance is a swift destroyer.
6. Personal drunkenness makes up the national sin. The units make the million.
V. The rechabites reward.
1. Divine approval Jeremiah assured them of Gods benediction.
2. Divine preservation. Jonadab promised his sons long life, many days in the land where ye be strangers (verse 7), and that promise God ratified. Medical and statistical science have come to Jonadabs view.
3. Divine honour. Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before Me for ever (verse 19). Standing before God has reference to a priestly relationship and service. (R. W. Keighley.)
A reason for total abstinence
The late Frances E. Willard once asked the greatest of inventors, Thomas A. Edison, if he were a total abstainer; and when he told her that he was, she said, May I inquire if it was home influence that made you so? and he replied, No; I think it was because I always felt that I had a better use for my head. Who can measure the loss to the world if that wonderful instrument of thought that has given us so much of light and leading in the practical mechanism of life had become sodden with drink, instead of electric with original ideas!
Obedience to human authority
1. Premise that complications are apt to arise, unless we remember--
(1) That the authority of any particular superior is limited to its own sphere.
(2) That all human authority is subordinate to Gods, so that in submitting to human authority we are submitting to Gods, in resisting we are resisting Gods (Rom_13:1-2; Eph_6:5-7; Col_3:20; 1Pe_2:13).
(3) That authority, even within its own limits, is to be used with discretion, not pressed beyond reason, or vexatiously.
2. What right had Jonadab to enjoin upon his descendants the observances specified? His injunctions were those of a founder and legislator.
3. To proceed, then, we have--
(1) Obedience to the laws of our country, a branch of which is obedience to magistrates. This to be rendered for conscience sake, and therefore even in cases in which (as the payment of taxes) evasion might be possible (Rom_13:1-7; Tit_3:1; 1Pe_2:13-15).
(2) Obedience to the rules of the Church, a branch of which is obedience to ecclesiastical superiors (Heb_13:17; 1Th_5:12-13; 1Ti_5:17). And by the rules of the Church are to be understood the rules of that branch of the Church in which God has cast our lot.
(3) Obedience to authority in the family. To masters. To husbands. To parents. (C. A. Heurtley, D. D.)
I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto Me.--
The aggravated nature of disobedience
I. Look at the authority of God--the right He has to be obeyed and hearkened to. I have spoken unto you, saith God. We must lay a stress upon that I. We must contrast it with the name of Jonadab. It is as much as to say, What is Jonadab compared with Me? What is his authority compared with Mine?
II. We must lay a stress also upon the manner in which the Lord hath given His directions to us. I have spoken unto you, saith He--how? rising early and speaking. Oh! wonderful expression! spoken, indeed, in accommodation to mans language; but how affecting! how significant! Jonadab, perhaps, laid down his rules but once, and was readily obeyed. But again and again hath the Great Jehovah sent abroad His invitations, and renewed His offers, and repeated His commands.
III. The nature of the Lords directions. Look over Jonadabs injunctions, and assuredly you will pronounce them harsh and strict in the extreme. He laid an embargo on the very gifts of providence, and bade his family abstain from them. Now contrast with this the gentle, gracious precepts of the Gospel of Christ Jesus--surely His yoke is easy and His burthen is light! But before He gives His precepts He sends His invitations (Mat_11:28). Pardon and grace are first proposed before duties are required. (A. Roberts, M. A.)
The reasonableness of hearkening to Gods voice and submitting ourselves to Him
1. As we are His creatures (Mal_1:6; Heb_12:9).
2. As He is our benefactor (Isa_1:2-3; Rom_12:1).
3. As He has engaged Himself to support and deliver such (Rom_8:28, &c.).
4. As He forbids only what is hurtful, and commands only what is good (Rom_7:12; Deu_10:12-13).
5. The wisest and best of men have acted thus (Heb_12:1).
6. It is its own reward (Psa_19:11).
7. The reward He sets before us is infinitely great (2Co_4:17-18).
8. Disobedience exposes to His wrath (Rom_1:18; Rom_2:8-9). (H. Foster.)
Disobedience to God condemned
I. Let us consider this complaint. There is at this day--
1. The same regard for the commands of men.
2. The same disregard for the commands of God. But let us consider the complaint more minutely--
II. With its attendant aggravations.
1. The authority from which the different commands proceeded.
2. The commands themselves.
3. The manner in which they were enforced. Address--
(1) Those who regard man, and not God.
(2) Those who regard God, and not man.
(3) Those who feel a united regard for both. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
Return ye now every man from his evil way.--
Sinners admonished to return to God
I. What the exhortation presupposes.
1. That there has been a departure from God.
2. This departure is universal (Rom_3:10; Rom_3:19-23).
3. This departure is flagrantly wicked. Evil way. Evil in its nature, in its influence, in its consequences.
II. To what reforms the exhortation points.
1. Deep conviction of the evil and dangerous nature of a wicked career.
2. Contrition of heart, and confession of sin to God.
3. The renunciation of every evil way.
4. Supreme love and loyalty to God.
III. Compliance with this request is urgent.
1. Life is short and uncertain.
2. Sin is hardening and deceitful.
3. You will escape the greatest evils and realise the most exalted pleasures.
4. The longer you delay the less probability there is that you will ever return.
5. The present is the only time in which we are authorised to tell you you can be saved.
IV. The happy result of returning to God.
1. The Israelites entered Canaan--a faint type of heaven to which believers are called.
2. Ye shall dwell there in fulness of joy, and at Gods right hand. Your sun shall no more go down. (Helps for the Pulpit.)
Amending ones ways a great work
Sir Thomas Burnet, the third son of Bishop Burner, led at one time a dissipated life. At last he took a serious turn, and one evening his father observing him to be very thoughtful, asked what he was meditating. A greater work, replied he, than your lordships History of the Reformation. Ay, said the bishop, what is that? The reformation of myself, said the young man. He fulfilled his promise, and he afterwards became one of the best lawyers of his time; and in 1741 one of the judges in the Court of Common Pleas.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Jeremiah 35
CHAPTER IV
THE RECHABITES
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Jeremiah 35
"Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before Me forever."- Jer_35:19
THIS incident is dated "in the days of Jehoiakim." We learn from Jer_35:11 that it happened at a time when the open country of Judah was threatened by the advance of Nebuchadnezzar with a Chaldean and Syrian army. If Nebuchadnezzar marched into the south of Palestine immediately after the battle of Carchemish, the incident may have happened, as some suggest, in the eventful fourth year of Jehoiakim; or if he did not appear in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem till after he had taken over the royal authority at Babylon, Jeremiahs interview with the Rechabites may have followed pretty closely upon the destruction of Baruchs roll. But we need not press the words "Nebuchadnezzar came up into the land"; they may only mean that Judah was invaded by an army acting under his orders. The mention of Chaldeans and Assyrians suggests that this invasion is the same as that mentioned in 2Ki_24:1-2, where we are told that Jehoiakim served Nebuchadnezzar three years and then rebelled against him, whereupon Jehovah sent against him bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it. If this is the invasion referred to in our chapter it falls towards the end of Jehoiakims reign, and sufficient time had elapsed to allow the kings anger against Jeremiah to cool, so that the prophet could venture out of his hiding place.
The marauding bands of Chaldeans and their allies had driven the country people in crowds into Jerusalem, and among them the nomad clan of the Rechabites. According to 1Ch_2:55, the Rechabites traced their descent to a certain Hemath, and were a branch of the Kenites, an Edomite tribe dwelling for the most part in the south of Palestine. These Kenites had maintained an ancient and intimate alliance with Judah, and in time the allies virtually became a single people, so that after the Return from the Captivity all distinction of race between Kenites and Jews was forgotten, and the Kenites were reckoned among the families of Israel. In this fusion of their tribe with Judah, the Rechabite clan would be included. It is clear from all the references both to Kenites and to Rechabites that they had adopted the religion of Israel and worshipped Jehovah. We know nothing else of the early history of the Rechabites. The statement in Chronicles that the father of the house of Rechab was Hemath perhaps points to their having been at one time settled at some place called Hemath near Jabez in Judah. Possibly too Rechab, which means "rider," is not a personal name, but a designation of the clan as horsemen of the desert.
These Rechabites were conspicuous among the Jewish farmers and townsfolk by their rigid adherence to the habits of nomad life; and it was this peculiarity that attracted the notice of Jeremiah, and made them a suitable object lesson to the recreant Jews. The traditional customs of the clan had been formulated into positive commands by Jonadab, the son of Rechab, i.e., the Rechabite. This must be the same Jonadab who cooperated with Jehu in overthrowing the house of Omri and suppressing the worship of Baal. Jehus reforms concluded the long struggle of Elijah and Elisha against the house of Omri and its half-heathen religion. Hence we may infer that Jonadab and his Rechabites had come under the influence of these great prophets, and that their social and religious condition was one result of Elijahs work. Jeremiah stood in the true line of succession from the northern prophets in his attitude towards religion and politics; so that there would be bonds of sympathy between him and these nomad refugees.
The laws or customs of Jonadab, like the Ten Commandments, were chiefly negative: "Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons forever: neither shall ye build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyards, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land wherein ye are strangers."
Various parallels have been found to the customs of the Rechabites. The Hebrew Nazarites abstained from wine and strong drink, from grapes and grape juice and everything made of the vine, "from the kernels even to the husk." {Num_6:2} Mohammed forbade his followers to drink any sort of wine or strong drink. But the closest parallel is one often quoted from Diodorus Siculus, (19:94) who, writing about B.C. 8, tells us that the Nabatean Arabs were prohibited under the penalty of death from sowing corn or planting fruit trees, using wine, or building houses. Such abstinence is not primarily ascetic; it expresses the universal contempt of the wandering hunter and herdsman for tillers of the ground, who are tied to one small spot of earth, and for burghers, who further imprison themselves in narrow houses and behind city walls. The nomad has a not altogether unfounded instinct that such acceptance of material restraints emasculates both soul and body. A remarkable parallel to the laws of Jonadab ben Rechab is found in the injunctions of the dying highlander, Ranald of the Mist, to his heir: "Son of the Mist, be free as thy forefathers. Own no lord-receive no law-take no hire-give no stipend-build no hut-enclose no pasture-sow no grain." The Rechabite faith in the higher moral value of their primitive habits had survived their alliance with Israel, and Jonadab did his best to protect his clan from the taint of city life and settled civilisation. Abstinence from wine was not enjoined chiefly, if at all, to guard against intoxication, but because the fascinations of the grape might tempt the clan to plant vineyards, or, at any rate, would make them dangerously dependent upon vine dressers and wine merchants.
Till this recent invasion, the Rechabites had faithfully observed their ancestral laws, but the stress of circumstances had now driven them into a fortified city, possibly even into houses, though it is more probable that they were encamped in some open space within the walls. Jeremiah was commanded to go and bring them into the Temple, that is, into one of the rooms in the Temple buildings, and offer them wine. The narrative proceeds in the first person, "I took Jaazaniah," so that the chapter will have been composed by the prophet himself. In somewhat legal fashion he tells us how he took "Jaazaniah ben Jeremiah, ben Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and all the clan of the Rechabites." All three names are compounded of the Divine name Iah, Jehovah, and serve to emphasise the devotion of the clan to the God of Israel. It is a curious coincidence that the somewhat rare name Jeremiah should occur twice in this connection. The room to which the prophet took his friends is described as the chamber of the disciples of the man of God Hanan ben Igdaliah, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of the keeper of the threshold, Maaseiah ben Shallum. Such minute details probably indicate that this chapter was committed to writing while these buildings were still standing and still had the same occupants as at the time of this incident, but to us the topography is unintelligible. The "man of God" or prophet Hanan was evidently in sympathy with Jeremiah, and had a following of disciples who formed a sort of school of the prophets, and were a sufficiently permanent body to have a chamber assigned to them in the Temple buildings. The keepers of the threshold were Temple officials of high standing. The "princes" may have been the princes of Judah, who might very well have a chamber in the Temple courts; but the term is general, and may simply refer to other Temple officials. Hanans disciples seem to have been in good company.
These exact specifications of person and place are probably designed to give a certain legal solemnity and importance to the incident, and seem to warrant us in rejecting Reuss suggestion that our narrative is simply an elaborate prophetic figure.
After these details Jeremiah next tells us how he set before his guests bowls of wine and cups, and invited them to drink. Probably Jaazaniah and his clansmen were aware that the scene was intended to have symbolic religious significance. They would not suppose that the prophet had invited them all, in this solemn fashion, merely to take a cup of wine; and they would welcome an opportunity of showing their loyalty to their own peculiar customs. They said: "We will drink no wine: for our father Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons forever." They further recounted Jonadabs other commands and their own scrupulous obedience in every point, except that now they had been compelled to seek refuge in a walled city. Then the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah; he was commanded to make yet another appeal to the Jews, by contrasting their disobedience with the fidelity of the Rechabites. The Divine King and Father of Israel had been untiring in His instruction and admonitions: "I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking." He had addressed them in familiar fashion through their fellow countrymen: "I have sent also unto you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them." Yet they had not hearkened unto the God of Israel or His prophets. The Rechabites had received no special revelation; they had not been appealed to by numerous prophets. Their Torah had been simply given them by their father Jonadab; nevertheless the commands of Jonadab had been regarded and those of Jehovah had been treated with contempt.
Obedience and disobedience would bring forth their natural fruit. "I will bring upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered." But because the Rechabites obeyed the commandment of their father Jonadab, "Therefore thus saith Jehovah Sabaoth, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before Me forever."
Jehovahs approval of the obedience of the Rechabites is quite independent of the specific commands which they obeyed. It does not bind us to abstain from wine any more than from building houses and sowing seed. Jeremiah himself, for instance, would have had no more hesitation in drinking wine than in sowing his field at Anathoth. The tribal customs of the Rechabites had no authority whatever over him. Nor is it exactly his object to set forth their merit of obedience and its certain and great reward. These truths are rather touched upon incidentally. What Jeremiah seeks to emphasise is the gross, extreme, unique wickedness of Israels disobedience. Jehovah had not looked for any special virtue in His people. His Torah was not made up of counsels of perfection. He had only expected the loyalty that Moab paid to Chemosh, and Tyre and Sidon to Baal. He would have been satisfied if Israel had observed His laws as faithfully as the nomads of the desert kept up their ancestral habits. Jehovah had spoken through Jeremiah long ago and said: "Pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be any such thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit." {Jer_2:11} Centuries later Christ found Himself constrained to upbraid the cities of Israel, "wherein most of His mighty works were done" "Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you." {Mat_11:21-22} And again and again in the history of the Church the Holy Spirit has been grieved because those who profess and call themselves Christians, and claim to prophesy and do many mighty works in the name of Christ, are less loyal to the gospel than the heathen to their own superstitions.
Buddhists and Mohammedans have been held up as modern examples to rebuke the Church, though as a rule with scant justification. Perhaps material for a more relevant contrast may be found nearer home. Christian societies have been charged with conducting their affairs by methods to which a respectable business firm would not stoop; they are said to be less scrupulous in their dealings and less chivalrous in their honour than the devotees of pleasure; at their gatherings they are sometimes supposed to lack the mutual courtesy of members of a Legislature or a Chamber of Commerce. The history of councils and synods and Church meetings gives colour to such charges, which could never have been made if Christians had been as jealous for the Name of Christ as a merchant is for his credit or a soldier for his honour.
And yet these contrasts do not argue any real moral and religious superiority of the Rechabites over the Jews or of unbelievers over professing Christians. It was comparatively easy to abstain from wine and to wander over wide pasture lands instead of living cooped up in cities-far easier than to attain to the great ideals of Deuteronomy and the prophets. It is always easier to conform to the code of business and society than to live according to the Spirit of Christ. The fatal sin of Judah was not that it fell so far short of the ideals, but that it repudiated them. So long as we lament our own failures and still cling to the Name and Faith of Christ, we are not shut out from mercy; our supreme sin is to crucify Christ afresh, by denying the power of His gospel, while we retain its empty form.
The reward promised to the Rechabites for their obedience was that "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before Me forever"; to stand before Jehovah is often used to describe the exercise of priestly or prophetic ministry. It has been suggested that the Rechabites were hereby promoted to the status of the true Israel, "a kingdom of priests"; but this phrase may merely mean that their clan should continue in existence. Loyal observance of national law, the subordination of individual caprice and selfishness to the interests of the community, make up a large part of that righteousness that establisheth a nation.
Here, as elsewhere, students of prophecy have been anxious to discover some literal fulfilment; and have searched curiously for any trace of the continued existence of the Rechabites. The notice in Chronicles implies that they formed part of the Jewish community of the Restoration. Apparently Alexandrian Jews were acquainted with Rechabites at a still later date. Psalms 71 is ascribed by the Septuagint to "the sons of Jonadab." Eusebius mentions "priests of the sons of Rechab," and Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish traveller of the twelfth century, states that he met with them in Arabia. More recent travellers have thought that they discovered the descendants of Rechab amongst the nomads in Arabia or the Peninsula of Sinai that still practised the old ancestral customs.
But the fidelity of Jehovah to his promises does not depend upon our unearthing obscure tribes in distant deserts. The gifts of God are without repentance, but they have their inexorable conditions; no nation can flourish for centuries on the virtues of its ancestors. The Rechabites may have vanished in the ordinary stream of history, and yet we can hold that Jeremiahs prediction has been fulfilled and is still being fulfilled. No scriptural prophecy is limited in its application to an individual or a race, and every nation possessed by the spirit of true patriotism shall "stand before Jehovah forever."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.—1. Chronology of the Chapter. Seventeen…
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.—1. Chronology of the Chapter. Seventeen years earlier than the preceding narrative of the manumission of the slaves; about the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign. From Jer_35:11 we find that these Rechabites were driven from the desert-scenes they inhabited into Jerusalem for shelter, consequent upon the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar. These conquests began with the victory at Charchemish; and at the end of the same year as that decisive battle against Egypt, he invaded Judea, in order to quell Jehoiakim’s revolt (comp. 2Ki_24:1-2). Cf. Notes on chaps. 7 and 20.
2. National Affairs. The defeat of the Egyptians at Charchemish had produced on all surrounding nations a sense of insecurity. These Rechabites, apprehensive of peril, took refuge within Jerusalem, pitching their black tents on the open spaces inside the city’s walls,—a remarkable and admonitory sight!
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3. Personal Allusions. Jer_35:2. See infra on “Rechabites.” Jer_35:3. “Jaazaniah:” unknown except from this reference. “Son of Jeremiah:” not the prophet Jeremiah; it was a frequent name. “Habaziniah:” apparently, from the form of this allusion to him, the chief of the Rechabites at this time. Jer_35:4. “Hanan:” being called here “a man of God,” leads some to connect him with Hanani (2Ch_16:7; 2Ch_19:2). “Igdaliah:” the Hebrew form, Yigdalyahu, is more commonly contracted into Gedaliah. Jer_35:6. “Jonadab, son of Rechab,” belonged to the Kenites (1Ch_2:55), the Arabian tribe which entered Canaan with the Israelites. He was an Arab chief, and created a semi-Jewish religious sect, which we here find in existence nearly three hundred years after.
4. Manners and Customs. Jer_35:6-7. “Drink no wine.” &c. See infra on “Rechabites.”
5. Literary Criticism. Jer_35:2. “The house of the Rechabites:” not the dwelling house, for they had none, they lived in tents; but “house” in the sense of family.
TOPICAL SURVEY OF CHAPTER 35
THE RECHABITES’ VOW OF ABSTINENCE
“Give them wine to drink” (Jer_35:2); “We will drink no wine” (Jer_35:6).
For nearly three centuries these descendants of Jehonadab had abstained from intoxicants. God sent Jeremiah with a test of fidelity to their vow; not a command to violate it. They avowed their unfaltering purpose to stand faithful to their habit and pledge of abstinence.
Habitual abstinence from intoxicants may be urged therefore as—
I. Founded on precedent. Reverence for their ancestor kept them loyal for so long a period. Such an example has its influence; awakening respect for him who sets it; urging the duty of imitation upon others.
II. Approved by utility. Had drinking wine been permitted, it would have entailed the culture of the vine, and that would require settled residence. But Jonadab wished to maintain among his followers the purer morality and manlier habits of the desert, as contrasted with the laxity and effeminacy of city life. Abstinence would keep them independent of decoys to luxury, and out of the reach of city allurements and influences.
III. Desirable for safety. Character is safer if abstinence is practised. Simplicity of life is less open to contamination if the company of wine-drinkers is shunned. Mental perceptions and moral obligations are less likely to be obscured and obliterated in abstainers, as this chapter emphatically proves.
See Addenda: ABSTINENCE.
THE RECHABITES’ CONSTANCY
“Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us” (Jer_35:6). “We have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us” (Jer_35:10).
I. Obedience to man and disobedience to God contrasted (Jer_35:12-15).
1. For three hundred years (cf. 2Ki_10:15) the sons of Rechab implicitly obeyed the injunction of their father Jonadab.
(1.) Obedience to this injunction required great self-denial, singularity of conduct, and many privations.
(2.) Notwithstanding these requirements, the sons of Rechab are the most illustrious examples of filial obedience the world has ever known.
2. The Jewish nation, called the children of God, have never continued for one hundred consecutive years obedient to their Father in heaven.
(1.) Not because God had not given them plain and earnest injunctions (Jer_35:15).
(2.) Not because they could not obey (Jer_35:16, loc. cit.)
3. This contrast is a sad one, and is true in our day.
II. God sets His seal of approval on filial obedience (Jer_35:16-19).
1. The surest and mightiest agency we have for the establishment of righteousness on the earth is filial obedience to that which is good.
2. The reflexive power of filial obedience is a mighty force in the establishment of true character.
III. The peculiar injunction of Jonadab in respect to total abstinence from intoxicants is worthy the careful study of parents and statesmen, as well as that of the Church of Christ (Jer_35:6).
1. Can anything short of total abstinence ensure our youth and nation from drunkenness and all its fearful consequences?
2. Can there be any valid argument offered against this form of self-denial?
3. Would not the domestic, social, and national benefits accruing from total abstinence amply repay every Christian parent and patriot for its practice?
—REV. D. C. HUGHES.
See Addenda: PERMANENCE OF THE RECHABITES.
Jer_35:18-19. OBEDIENCE TO TRADITIONS OF ANCESTORS
Rechabites originally Kenites (Jdg_1:16; 1Ch_2:55). Attached to Moses by a near and dear connection (Exo_2:21); and, agreeing with Israelites in worship of Jehovah, the Kenites followed them to Canaan, where they dwelt peacefully. God cared for their safety (1Sa_15:6); and hundreds of years after we find them still a distinct people, held up by God as example to Jews for their attachment to customs of ancestors, and honoured by Him with gracious and remarkable promise of perpetual endurance of their family.
Told little of Jonadab, though in honour of him the Kenites changed their name to Rechabites (comp. this chapter with 2 Kings 10.) Evidently a man of high character and popularity, for Jehu paid him extraordinary respect and attention; and we may guess, from the manner in which Jehu commends his own zeal, that he had been remarkable, in those evil and irreligious times, for fidelity to God, notwithstanding the threats and enticements of Ahab and Jezebel, and the bad example of Israelitish nation. Great influence over his clan; for two hundred years after his death we find them here observing his injunctions. God contrasts this with Jews’ indifference to ordinances of Divine authority. We cannot fix on any clan of the Kenites in whom this promise has been fulfilled; yet doubtless, though having forgotten their own ancestry, they are divinely preserved among the wandering tribes of those wildernesses where Rechabites dwelt. From this example may be inferred—
I. How well-pleasing in God’s sight is obedience to parental authority, respectful attention to the discipline and traditions of former times, when these are recommended to us by the example and authority of good and honourable ancestors. (1.) Where the institutions of society are preserved, the permanence of the society is greatly secured. (2.) God here gives promise of perpetuity. (3.) The specific reason given (Jer_35:18), because they adhered to the rules of their ancestors. Yet these rules were not divinely imperative; they related to things strictly indifferent, abstain from wine and live in tents. Hence, God regards with no common approbation adherence to customs and traditions of forefathers (Pro_21:24).
There are, however, limitations to this rule—
1. The precept or custom, if it be not good in itself, must at least be a matter of indifference. What at first was evil cannot become good by lapse of time. No precedent can make lawful what God has forbidden.
2. If this ordinance, though in itself harmless, should produce any breach of God’s laws; if it should, in time, become so applied as to become mischievous, the commandment of God must not be made of none effect by our tradition. Where two authors are at variance, God must be heard, not man (Mat_15:5-6; Mar_7:11-13). The custom, in order to be binding, must be lawful.
3. It must proceed from competent and authoritative persons. Jonadab was probably a chieftain, but his regulations had continued for two hundred years; this origin and antiquity gave force to his rules. But the rules of human wisdom, and those absolutely and universally binding, given by God Himself, must be distinguished. Must not “teach as doctrines the commandments of men.” Thus the Rechabites did not violate God’s moral code, as though inferior in importance to the laws of their society; and, though a breach of those laws in their community could be punished with expulsion, they did not count others accursed who enjoyed moderately indulgences they forbade. Jeremiah drank wine before them yet they treated him with respect and deference.
4. There may be cases of necessity for the repeal or suspension of such human and ceremonial customs or laws. Thus here they fled to houses for protection from Assyrian invaders (Jer_35:11). So our Saviour “profaned” the ceremonial rules about the Sabbath (Mat_12:7). But for no ends must God’s laws be violated, however good we deem them. The Ruler of heaven and earth has no need of our insolent and impious interference.
II. With these restrictions, obedience to existing laws and institutions is pleasing to God, and here received a very marked approbation. Hence—
1. The falsehood of their opinion who think that laws merely human have no sanction except in the punishments they inflict.
2. A caution in times of change, when novelties are sought with frantic eagerness. Taught reverence for ancient precedent.
Fondness for change is displeasing to God; for—(1.) It is a symptom and stimulus to a lightness of mind unfriendly both to happiness and piety. (2.) New customs, or systematic departure from ancient habits, arise almost always from vanity, or something worse. (3.) Where a rule is harmless, it is almost always advantageous; increases our habits of obedience, and therefore not without inherent grace.
Hence it is necessary to obey, not only for wrath but also for conscience’ sake; the wisest of men exhorts us not to meddle with those who are given to change. Jeremiah commands us not to exchange old ways for new ones; and a Divine blessing rests on those who reverence ancestral institutions.
III. If human regulations are observed, though burdensome, can we reflect without shame on our continued disobedience to Divine commands? (Jer_35:13-14.) Deep contrition and alarm shall awake within us. We need God’s forgiveness for former provocations; and that He may not call on us in vain hereafter, we need hearts subdued by the searching graces of His Holy Spirit, through the merits and mediation of our Saviour.—Condensed and arranged from Bishop Reginald Heber, A.D. 1838.
See Addenda: OBEDIENCE TO ANCESTORS.
THE REWARDS OF OBEDIENCE
“The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me” (Jer_35:14).
The historical circumstances first demand attention.
The family of the Rechabites were descendants of Jethro, father-in-law of Moses; came into Canaan with the Israelites, and settled in southern part of Judea; were worshippers of the true God, but did not conform to Jewish rites. It has ever been deemed a great difficulty in political economy to maintain “an empire within an empire;” but this little tribe solved the problem; for it preserved an independent existence among the Israelites for nearly one thousand years, and, though neither acknowledging their worship nor their laws, was suffered to remain undisturbed by ambition or religious persecution.
They accomplished this result thus:—About five hundred years after their settlement in Canaan, lived that Jonadab, a very distinguished man among his people; is said to have assisted Jehu in rooting out idolatry from Israel. He saw that his people were but a handful among a more powerful people, and likely soon to be swallowed up by their neighbours, and he hit upon a happy method of preserving their independent existence. 1. He enjoined them “not to drink wine;” this was to save them from luxury and intemperance, which would prey upon them from within, and make them ripe for destruction. 2. Also commanded them “not to till the ground, nor to have any houses, nor to dwell in cities;” this was in order that they might have no riches to tempt others to make war upon them; and thus, to use his own words, “they might live many days in the land wherein they were strangers.” Luxury and wealth are the bane of nations, and by keeping his tribe a simple, pastoral people, pure in their habits, and destitute of property, he accomplished his wishes for them.
I. Notice the obedience of the Rechabites, contrasted with the disobedience of Israel to God. An ancestor of that family, dead nearly three hundred years, had issued his commands, and they were still obeyed; but the living God had spoken repeatedly to Israel, by His prophets, yet they would not hear. The commands of Jonadab, too, were very arbitrary. There could be no sin in cultivating the fields, or in living in houses, whatever moral worth there may have been in the precept to drink no wine; but still, because Jonadab commanded it, they obeyed. Compelled by necessity to disobey him on this occasion; for when the Chaldeans invaded the land, they were obliged to go and dwell in Jerusalem for protection. And here occurred the trial of their obedience by Jeremiah. He called the family together, and set wine before them, inviting them to drink, not tempting them to break their pledge, but knowing that they would keep it, and meaning thereby to reprove the Israelites. They refused the wine, and pleaded the command of Jonadab as their excuse. How pointed was then the rebuke of the prophet! Jonadab was obeyed. But the Israelites—who had reasonable, not arbitrary, laws from God, not from a frail mortal; from the living God, who had loaded them with benefits, and could still reward them; not from a dead ancestor who had done little for them, and could do nothing more—had rebelled against their Maker, and would not hearken unto Him.
The complaint of God has still an application.
It is a fact, that among sinners, any and every law, precept, or tradition, of mere human authority, is better obeyed than the laws of God Himself. No matter who speaks, if he has gained credit among his fellowmen; no matter how absurd the law or usage, if it has been sanctioned by custom or a good name, there is obedience such as God cannot win. “I am come in My Father’s name,” said our Lord, “and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”
See, in a few instances, how this has been verified. Mahomet arose, a sensualist, an adulterer, a breaker of treaties, and a robber, and issued his commands, which for centuries have been religiously obeyed. At the cry of the muezzin, and the hour of prayer, every follower of his, whether in the desert, on board the ship, in the city, or the field, suspends his labour, his pleasures, and even his griefs, and casts himself upon his knees in prayer. No scoffing looks of those of another creed can make him forego this, no distance from home leads him to forget it; but whether he be in gay Paris or his own Stamboul, he omits not his ablutions or devotions. But the blessed Jesus, pure, peaceful, and glorious, speaks, and even those who acknowledge Him as Lord over all, and own the goodness of His commands, can listen to such words as, “This do in remembrance of Me,” and obey them not.
The founder of some monkish order, again, has enjoined upon all his fraternity certain rules and austerities, and he is obeyed. Day after day, and year after year, the same tedious round of ceremonies is gone through with, as though salvation depended upon it, and the deluded ones will rise at the midnight hour to inflict stripes upon themselves or to offer prayer. But Christ may enjoin the reasonable duty of praying to our Father in spirit and in truth, and multitudes can suffer days and years to pass, and pray not.
The commander of the order of Jesuits can place his inferior priests in any country of the world, and whether the mandate be to act as father-confessor in some palace, or to penetrate to China or Paraguay, there is no more resistance nor apparent regard for the sacrifices to be made than in the machinery which is moved by mechanic power. Christ commands His disciples to “go preach the Gospel to every creature,” but only here and there one goes forth. The Rechabites of modern times, and Sons of Temperance, may institute a vow of temperance, and it is kept; or command one of their number to minister to the sick, and it is done; or provide well for their poor; but Christ says that “no drunkard shall enter heaven,” and enjoins charity to the sick and the destitute, while many heed Him not.
Caution:—1. Because religion is less powerful than something else to enforce obedience, we are not to think less of its truth. Said an infidel, “Temperance societies are better than Christianity, because they can produce reforms which your boasted religion has failed to achieve.” But temperance societies were originated by Christians, and have achieved the good they have done through Christian influence.
2. The lack of power to compel obedience does not prove the lack of right to claim it. Heathenism is not better than Christianity, because it can speak and be so literally obeyed; nor Popery than Protestantism, because the commands of pope or priest are received with a more implicit deference; nor Mahometanism better than our faith, because its followers so strictly heed the false prophet’s precepts. When God speaks there is always a reason why His commands are disobeyed—Men speak and are obeyed, because they do not command an utter renunciation of sin, they only enjoin some external duty or moral obedience which may leave the heart to sin in other matters as it pleases; while God demands holiness in everything, and, therefore, fails of receiving obedience. What a proof have we hence of the necessity of a new heart! What a motive to pray for such a change!
II. The rewards of obedience. That family of Rechabites remained an independent community for about one thousand years, that is, during all the time that the Israelites continued in their land. God promised, as reward for their filial piety, temperance, and contempt of luxury, “that Jonadab, the son of Rechab, should not want a man to stand before him for ever.”
Modern travellers, moreover, state that the Rechabites are still in existence. Mr. Wolf, the famous Jewish missionary, asserts this as his belief. “And another traveller who visited a tract to the south of Judea, which has been unexplored for centuries, met there a native who claimed to be a Rechabite, and when an Arabic Bible was shown to him, turned to this chapter and read from it the description of his people, and said that it was still true of them, and that they still kept the precepts of Jonadab their father. Over three thousand years have passed away since that family of the Kenites came with Israel into Canaan, and for two thousand years no traces of them were preserved; but now, after so long a lapse of time, recent discoveries have brought them to light, retaining their name, and glorying in their independence. Though surrounded by Mahometan Arabs, they conform to the law of Moses, yet maintaining that they are not Israelites; and are much hated by the Mussulman.” This account was given by a traveller so late as 1832, and is confirmed by English residents at Mocha, and from other sources.
Note.—We have here one of the most extraordinary accomplishments of prophecy on record. A little handful of people, not larger than one of our Indian tribes, has kept upon the same spot for about one hundred generations, while all the neighbouring nations have undergone change and dissolution.
No doubt every promise of God’s Word is as abundantly fulfilled. We may not always be able to trace out their literal accomplishment as strikingly as in this case, but we never could prove one promise in all the Bible false; and the more light we have the more abundantly do we see that all have been “yea and amen.” Let us rest upon God’s Word. Exceeding great and precious promises are given to us in the sacred book. They are like good notes from a prompt paymaster, falling due at different times.
And all the precious promises of eternity shall yet be realised by God’s people: about “the golden city,” and “the harpers with their harps,” and “the innumerable company of saints and angels,” and “the glory of God filling the temple.” The unchangeable faithfulness of God to His declarations is a most delightful theme to a Christian. It is the rock on which he rests. God has promised; he believes.
Happy the man who has these precious promises for his own, and can use them and rely upon them!—Rev. W. H. Lewis, D.D., Brooklyn, 1871.
OUTLINES ON VERSES OF CHAPTER 35
Jer_35:4. Theme: “A MAN OF GOD.”
Between a man of God in the Old Testament and a Christian in the New, no difference; convertible terms: alike in all that relates to moral character and religious faith. Called “a man of God” because he is God’s workmanship: He made him what he is. “By the grace of God I am what I am.”
He is the noblest of God’s works; the highest type of man.
I. He is the holiest of men.
1. Every holy thing under heaven he admires: holy Bible, holy Sabbath, Sanctuary, Supper, &c.
2. Every holy duty he loves: prayer, praise, &c.
3. His love of holy men is noticeable: the “holy brethren” of whatever Church.
II. He is the wisest of men.
1. His wisdom is seen in the provision he makes for his everlasting future.
2. He is prepared for all the contingencies of time: for storms, he has anchorage; for temptations, “the whole armour of God,” &c.
III. He is the best of men.
1. He has been “created after the image of Him who created him.” And he is the best who is most Godlike.
2. He is best adapted to promote the glory of God.
IV. He is the richest of men.
1. His wealth is of the highest kind: spiritual riches.
2. His wealth he can never lose: durable riches.
V. He is the most honoured of men.
1. To him belongs the honour of sonship.
2. Of priesthood.
3. Of daily converse with God.
4. Of being clothed with the garments of salvation.
VI. He has the fairest prospects of all men.
1. Of an “abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2. Of a deathless, felicitous existence.
3. Of association with the purest, noblest, highest of beings.
4. Of “an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled,” &c.
Who would not wish to be “a man of God”?—Rev. D. Pledge, “Walks with the Prophet Jeremiah.”
Note.—Trapp observes that this “man of God” was a priest and prophet, or teacher of the people. So in the New Testament others are called God’s children, His servants, and His people; but ministers only are called “God’s men” (1Ti_6:11; 2Ti_3:17).
Jer_35:15. Theme: GOD’S EARNESTNESS IN DEALING WITH SINNERS. “Rising up early,” &c.
See Homily on chap. Jer_7:13.
Jer_35:15. Theme: SINNERS ADMONISHED TO RETURN TO GOD. “Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings; and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers.”
The Israelites were a rebellious people; but He “sent His servants the prophets, rising up early,” &c. God desires not the death of a sinner. To save men from present and eternal ruin, He appointed Christ as the Mediator. He has sent His servants to proclaim this mercy, and to invite sinners to return to the enjoyment of His favour. And what is the design of the Gospel ministry now? It is “to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God,” &c. (Act_26:18).
I. What the exhortation presupposes.
1. That there has been a departure from God. “Return ye.”
2. This departure is universal. “Every man.” “For all have sinned,” &c. (Rom_3:10; Rom_3:19-23).
3. This departure is flagrantly wicked. “Evil way.” (a) Evil in its nature; (b) evil in its influence; (c) evil in its consequences.
II. To what reforms the exhortation points. “Return ye,” &c.
1. Deep conviction of the evil and dangerous nature of a wicked career.
2. Contrition of heart, and confession of sin to God.
3. The renunciation of every evil way.
4. Supreme love and loyalty to God.
III. Compliance with this request
is urgent. “Return ye now,” because—
1. Life is short and uncertain.
2. Sin is hardening and deceitful.
3. You will escape the greatest evils and realise the most exalted pleasures.
4. The longer you delay the less probability there is that you will ever return.
5. The present is the only time in which we are authorised to tell you you can be saved.
IV. The happy result of returning to God. “Ye shall dwell in the land.”
1. The land. The Israelites entered Canaan. But Canaan a faint type of heaven to which believers are called.
2. It will be the residence of God’s people. “Ye shall dwell” there in fulness of joy, and at God’s right hand. Your “sun shall no more go down.”
—Helps for the Pulpit.
Jer_35:15. Theme: SINNERS SUMMONED TO SELF-IMPROVEMENT. “Amend your doings.”
See Homily on chap. Jer_7:3.
Jer_35:16. Theme: TRUE OBEDIENCE SHOWN IN THE CONTRASTED CONDUCT of Israel and the Rechabites. “But this people hath not hearkened unto Me.”
The Rechabites’ obedience to their ancestor’s command is in itself praise-worthy and exemplary. It is perfectly accordant with the Fourth Commandment.
Were the Rechabites equally conscientious in their observance of the DIVINE commands? Would not a custom contrary to the Divine command have been retained with equal tenacity on the authority of their chief?
Still—
I. The Rechabites put Israel to shame, in so far as they obey the command of their earthly ancestor, while the latter does not obey the Lord’s command.
II. The obedience of the Rechabites to the command of their earthly ancestor is, however, no pledge of their obedience to the commands of God.
III. Obedience to God’s commands is guaranteed only among the spiritual Israel, i.e., among those who by the Holy Spirit have become members of a higher order of nature, in which the will of God is written in the hearts of all, and has consequently become the innermost principle of life.
Or thus—
I. In respect to legal obedience, the
Jews are surpassed by the Rechabites. Note the difference between Israel and the Rechabites in this respect.
II. The obedience of the Rechabites to their ancestor does not guarantee obedience to God. Note the equality of Israel and the Rechabites in this respect.
III. Only spiritual Israel bears in itself the guarantee of obedience to God. Note the higher status of the spiritual Israel over the Rechabites.—Comp. Naegelsbach in Lange.
Jer_35:19. Theme: PERMANENCE OF THE RECHABITES. “Of so great a price in the sight of God is the virtue of filial duty and obedience, that it seldom fails of its reward even in this world. The law which enjoined it had a promise of long life attached to it (Exo_20:12); and it is distinguished by the Apostle as ‘the first commandment with promise’ (Eph_6:2).
“And by this history of the Rechabites we may learn that the surest way to entail a blessing on our children, and to perpetuate our names and families in a numerous and virtuous issue, is to reverence and obey our own parents.”—Wogan.
See Addenda: PERMANENCE OF THE RECHABITES.
ADDENDA TO CHAP. 35: ILLUSTRATIONS AND SUGGESTIVE EXTRACTS
OBEDIENCE TO ANCESTORS. Μὴ καλὸν κρίνειν εναντία τοῖς θεοῖς, πατρι καὶ διδασκάλῳ.—Aris. Rhe. “It is not good for a man to dissent from the gods, from his father, and from his teacher.”
We read of a king of Poland who carried the picture of his father in a plate of gold about his neck; and when he was entering upon any great business he would kiss the picture and say, “God grant I may observe my father’s charge, and do nothing unworthy of him.”—Trapp.
Absalom’s pillar (2Sa_18:18) is still standing, according to Sandys; and the Turks, whenever they pass, throw a stone at it, in token of their horror at his unnatural conduct against his father.
ABSTINENCE.
“Against diseases here the strongest fence
Is the defensive virtue Abstinence.”
—R. Herrick.
“Though I look old, yet I am young and lusty;
For in my youth I never did apply
Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood.”
—Shakespeare.
“Thou sparkling bowl! thou sparkling bowl!
Though lips of bards thy brim may press,
And eyes of beauty o’er thee roll,
And songs and dance thy power confess—
I will not touch thee; for there clings
A scorpion to thy side that stings.”
—J. Pierpoint.
Diodorus tells us that the Nabathæans, for the preservation of their wandering habits and therefore of their liberty, forbade any one “either to sow corn, or plant fruit-trees, or drink wine, or build a house.”
PERMANENCE OF THE RECHABITES. Information on this remarkable fact may be obtained from Dr. Wolff’s “Journal of his Travels in Yemen and Mesopotamia,” pp. 388, 389; and “Travels,” ii. pp. 298–300; and Pusey on “Daniel,” p. 268. In Kitto’s Daily Bible Illustrations, Evening Series, “Isaiah and the Prophets,” will be found most helpful information on the “Modern Rechabites.”
Dr. Wolff’s account is this:—At Jalovha, in Mesopotamia, a Rechabite was pointed out to him. “I saw one standing before me dressed and wild like an Arab, the bridle of his horse holding in his hand. I showed him the Bible in Hebrew and Arabic: he read both languages, and was rejoiced to see the Bible; he was not acquainted with the New Testament. After having proclaimed to him the tidings of salvation, and made him a present of the Hebrew and Arabic Bibles and Testaments, I asked him—
“ ‘Whose descendant are you?’
“Mousa (that was his name), with a loud voice, ‘Come, I show to you;’ and then he began to read Jer_35:5-11.
“Wolff. ‘Where do you reside?’
“Mousa (recurring to Gen_10:27).
‘At Hadoram, now called Samar by the Arab; at Usal, now called Sanaa by the Arabs; and (Gen_10:30) at Mesha, now called Mecca, in the deserts around those places. We drink no wine and plant no vineyard, and sow no seed, and live in tents, as Jonadab our father commanded us. Hobab was our father too. Come to us: you will find still 60,000 in number; and you see thus prophecy has been fulfilled. ‘Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before Me for ever.’ ”
“And saying this, Mousa mounted his horse, and fled away, and left behind him a host of evidence of Sacred Writ.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Jer 35:18-19
Jer 35:18-19
The Rechabites are introduced into the Word of God to reprove bad men in the Church, by contrasting them with good men out of the Church.
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I. The popular criticism upon the Church is true: "Better men are out of it than some men in it."
II. The contrast between apostates in the Church and good men out of it is an exception to the general fact.
III. The concessions which Christians make to cynical critics of the Church need often to be qualified by loyalty to the brotherhood.
IV. The virtues of good men, who are not Churchmen, are due largely to the salutary influence of the Church upon them.
V. While God blesses goodness and the truth wherever He finds them, He still depends for them chiefly from the Church which He has created for all time.
VI. These principles suggest that heaven is full of surprises for those who reach it.
A. Phelps, The Old Testament a Living Book, p. 201.
References: Jer 35:18, Jer 35:19.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xi., p. 84.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v16
Jeremiah
THE RECHABITES
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Jer 35:16.
The Rechabites had lived a nomad life, dwelling in tents, not practising agriculture, abstaining from intoxicants. They were therein obeying the command of their ancestor, Jonadab. They had been driven by the Babylonian invasion to take refuge in Jerusalem, and, no doubt, were a nine days’ wonder there, with their strange ways. Jeremiah seized on their loyalty to their dead ancestor’s command as an object-lesson, by which he put a still sharper edge on his rebukes. The Rechabites gave their ancestral law an obedience which shamed Judah’s disobedience to Jehovah. God asks from us only what we are willing to give to one another, and God is often refused what men have but to ask and it is given. The virtues which we exercise to each other rebuke us, because we so often refuse to exercise them towards God.
I. Men’s love to men condemns their lovelessness towards God.
These Rechabites witnessed to the power of loyal love to their ancestor. Think of the wealth of love which we have all poured out on husbands, wives, parents, children, and of the few drops that we have diverted to flow towards God. What a full flood fills the one channel; what a shrunken stream the other!
Think of the infinitely stronger reasons for loving God than for loving our dearest.
II. Men’s faith in men condemns their distrust of God.
However you define faith, you find it abundantly exercised by us on the low plane of earthly relations. Is it belief in testimony? You men of business regulate your course by reports of markets on the other side of the world, and in a hundred ways extend your credence to common report, with but little, and often with no examination of the evidence. ‘If we believe the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.’ And how do we treat it? We are ready to accept and to act on men’s testimony; we are slow to believe God’s, and still slower to act on it, and to let it mould our lives.
Is faith the realising of the unseen? We exercise it in reference to the earthly unseen; we are slow to do so in reference to the heavenly things which are invisible.
Is faith the act of trust? Life is impossible without it. Not only is commerce a great system of credit, but no relations of life could last for a day without mutual confidence. We depend on one another, like a row of slightly built houses that help to hold each other up. These earthly exercises of trust should make it easier for us to rise to trusting God as much as we do each other. They ought to reveal to us the heavenly things. For indeed our human trust in one another should be a sample and shadow of our wise trust in the adequate Object of trust.
III. Men’s obedience to human authority condemns their rebellion against God.
Jonadab’s commandment evoked implicit obedience from his descendants for generations. Side by side in man’s strange nature, with his self-will and love of independence, lies an equally strong tendency to obey and follow any masterful voice that speaks loudly and with an assumption of authority. The opinions of a clique, the dogmas of a sect, the habits of a set, the sayings of a favourite author, the fashions of our class-all these rule men with a sway far more absolute than is exercised on them by the known will of God. The same man is a slave to usurped authority and a rebel against rightful and divine dominion.
Whether we consider the law of God in its claims or its contents, or its ultimate object, it is worthy of entire obedience. And what does it receive?
God asks from us only what we willingly give to men. Even the qualities and acts, such as love, trust, obedience, which as exercised towards men give dignity and beauty and strength, rise up in judgment to condemn us. There is a sense in which Augustine’s often-denounced saying that they are ‘splendid vices’ is true, for they are turned in the wrong direction, and very often their being directed so completely towards men and women is the reason why they are not directed towards God, who alone deserves and alone can satisfy and reward them. Then they become sins and condemn us.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Jeremiah's Nineteenth Prophecy (Reign of Jehoiakim). The Obedience of…
Jeremiah's Nineteenth Prophecy (Reign of Jehoiakim). The Obedience of the Rechabites
This and Jeremiah 36 form a break in the narrative, bringing us back from the tenth year of Zedekiah to the insecurity which followed upon Nebuchadnezzars victory of Carchemish (fourth year of Jehoiakim), when predatory bands of Chaldeans and others had compelled many of the inhabitants of Palestine to take refuge within Jerusalem. Among these were the Rechabites, a nomadic tribe of Kenite descent. The prophet contrasts their obedience to the precepts of their leader Jonadab (who lived about two centuries and a half before this time, 2Ki_10:15;) with the disobedience of Judah. Each shall receive its meet recompense.
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1-11. The Rechabites'rule of life.
2. The Rechabites were descended from Hobab, brother-in-law of Moses, of the Kenite tribe. They migrated with the Israelites from the wilderness to Palestine: cp. Num_10:29-32; Jdg_1:16.;
5. Pots] RV 'bowls.'
6. Commanded us, etc.] perhaps owing to the excess which he saw to be fostered by city life. For Jonadab see 2Ki_10:15.
12-17. Application of the lesson to the Jews.
18, 19. The Rechabites'reward.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 The Faithful Rechabites and the Unfaithful Jews
CHAPTER 35
The Faithful Rechabites and the Unfaithful Jews
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1. The command concerning the Rechabites (Jer 35:1-11)
2. The lesson for the Jews (Jer 35:12-19)
The Rechabites were Kenites and were numbered with the children of Israel 1Ch 2:55. During the reign of Jehoiakim the incident of this chapter happened. The critics may rave against the “unchronological” construction of Jeremiah jumping from one period into another, but there we see the guiding hand of the Spirit in the arrangement of these events. It is perfectly in order that this should come next to the chapter which relates the broken covenant. A careful reading and study of this chapter will bring out the lesson of their faithfulness to their father’s command, and the unfaithfulness of the Jews to God’s command.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 12 The Fact
The Fact
v. 1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, about in the summer of the year 606 B. C. saying,
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v. 2. Go unto the house of the Rechabites, a family descending from the tribe of the Kenites, with some prominent members, 2Ki 10:15-23, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, the small cells built on the outside of the walls, used chiefly for storage purposes, 1Ki 6:5, and give them wine to drink, offering them this intoxicant to put them to a test. Rechab, the father of Jonadab and the ancestor of the tribe, had given his children the command to abstain from wine in order to keep them in the simplicity of their forefathers and to protect them from moral decay.
v. 3. Then I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, all the members of the family that could be found,
v. 4. and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, that is, a prophet who occupied this cell, which was by the chamber of the princes, where the rulers of the people assembled at that time for the sessions of the great council, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, probably the same man that occupied the position of second priest in the nation, Jer 29:25; Jer 21:1, the keeper of the door, the chief officer of the Temple-guard or of that section which was entrusted with watching the Temple-gates;
v. 5. and I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine. This invitation was included in the plan of the Lord, for their passing the test successfully was to be made the theme of a discourse to the people.
v. 6. But they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons, forever, not merely a wise temperance, but a total abstinence being required of them;
v. 7. neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any, in following any agricultural or horticultural pursuit, on account of which they might become settled in any one place; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents, leading a more or less nomadic life, like their forefathers before them, that ye, in obedience to their ancestor’s command, may live many days in the land where ye be strangers; for, although living in the midst of Israel and Judah and having accepted the true God, the Rechabites maintained their own nationality.
v. 8. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he hath charged us, thereby setting a splendid example of obedience, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters,
v. 9. nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed;
v. 10. but we have dwelt in tents and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab, our father, commanded us.
v. 11. But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up into the land, his invading army threatening the ancient dwelling-places of the Kenites first, that we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Syrians, for marauding bands of Syrian tribes took every opportunity to plunder exposed parts of Palestine, 2Ki 24:2. So we dwell at Jerusalem, making use of the city as a temporary refuge, until they might return to their home-land. The Rechabites thus offered a fine example of willing obedience to the command of their tribal head.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 8, 12, 15, 17, 18 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in…
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days ... of Judah, saying, "Go
The idiom "The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh" is used to introduce a special message from God. See how you translated a similar phrase in Jeremiah 1:4. AT: "Yahweh gave a message to Jeremiah in the days ... of Judah. He said, 'Go" or "In the days ... of Judah, Yahweh spoke this message to Jeremiah: 'Go" (See: Idiom)
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to Jeremiah
It is not clear why Jeremiah is referring to himself by name here. You may translate using first person, as the UDB does. (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
Rekabites
This is a people group. (See: How to Translate Names)
my house
the temple
translationWords
word
Jeremiah
Yahweh
Jehoiakim
Josiah
king
kingdom of Judah
clan
wine
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, 14, 17, 19 35:1–36:32 These two chapters look back two decades to…
35:1–36:32 These two chapters look back two decades to the time when Jehoiakim was on the throne.
35:1-19 The Recabites’ obedience to their ancestor contrasted sharply with the Israelites’ rebellion against the Lord their God.
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35:1 This incident took place during Jehoiakim’s reign, when the Babylonian army first attacked Jerusalem (605 BC; see 35:11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.