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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
This is the word that
came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king
of Judah:
“Go to the Rekabite family and invite them to come to one of
the side rooms of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink.”
So I went to get
Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his
sons—the whole family of the Rekabites. I brought them
into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah
the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that
of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper. Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the
Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?’ declares the Lord. ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab ordered his descendants not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me. Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not paid attention or listened to me. The descendants of Jehonadab son of Rekab have carried out the command their forefather gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.’”
“Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’”
Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jehonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’ Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab will never fail to have a descendant to serve Me.’”
Jeremiah 35
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Obedience.
It’s perhaps the most frustrating hurdle every believer must
climb in life.
Going back to our earliest years, we can recall how we knew
what we were supposed to do but often times did something else. We disobeyed
our parents more times than we can ever count and that translated over to our
relationship with God once we understood who He was and what He expected of us
in life.
Perhaps the Apostle Paul captured the aggravation that comes
with falling short of God’s will to always comply with His will and word best
when he wrote the following:
I do not understand
what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do
what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no
longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good
itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the
desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good
I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I
do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living
in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good,
evil is right there with me. Romans 7:15-21
The Old Testament Israelites would surely understand what
Paul had to say. They had blatantly defied God through their actions,
worshiping false gods and idols, even though He had strictly commanded against
it. In fact, God had shown in the past that He would send judgment on those who
disregarded and disrespected Him. The ancestors of the Israelites during
Jeremiah’s time had paid the price for their sinful actions and this was well
known knowledge. Still, the mistakes of the past were repeated.
Obedience was still an issue but as we see in the 35th
chapter of Jeremiah, it wasn’t a problem for at least one group of people, the
Rekabite family, who the Lord singled out as an example of what steadfast
obedience looks like. Look again at this passage:
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during
the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “Go to the Rekabite family and invite them to come to one of
the side rooms of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink.”
So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of
Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the whole family of the
Rekabites. I brought them
into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah
the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that
of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper. Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the
Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?’ declares the Lord. ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab ordered his descendants not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me. Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not paid attention or listened to me. The descendants of Jehonadab son of Rekab have carried out the command their forefather gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.’”
“Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’”
Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jehonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’ Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab will never fail to have a descendant to serve Me.’” Jeremiah 35
When the Israelites inhabited the Promised Land, an
Israelite tribe called the Kenites entered with them. Within the Kenite tribe
was a sect led by Rekab who as a result were referred to as the Rekabites. As
we read in Chapter 35, the Rekabites were alive and well during Jeremiah’s day
but were under the leadership of Rekab’s son, Jehonadab, who upheld the
standards established by his father for the sect. These standards included not
drinking wine nor building houses, sowing seeds,
or planting vineyards. They were not to settle but rather be nomadic, traveling
from place to place and living in tents. Those were the Rekabite principles but
would they stick to them if put to the test.
God’s word shows us they did for after
Jeremiah invited them into one of the side rooms of the house of the Lord to
have some wine, the Rekabites rejected the offer citing their traditions established
by their founded Rekab and reinforced by Jehonadab. They fully obeyed their
forefathers and refused to compromise their principles. And God used them as an
example of what steadfast obedience looks like.
For what comes next is a complete
scolding of the Israelites, comparing their lack of compliance to the perfect
compliance of the Rekabites. God had tried to tell His people over and over and
over again that He was unhappy with their actions, commanding that they repent
and turn away from their wickedness. That’s what an obedient person would do
but the Israelites were far from that. They refused to listen to God and stop
worshiping false gods and idols instead continuing to do what they wanted to do.
God’s desire was not their desire, that’s for sure.
And so God was left with no other
choice than to discipline His people. They refused to listen to Him and answer
His call to change and so every disaster He pronounced on them would come to
be.
On the other hand, we find that the
Rekabites were rewarded by God for their faithful, steadfast obedience. They
would always have a descendant as a servant of the Lord.
To recap, we see two stark contrasts in
Jeremiah 35:
On one hand, we see a steadfastly
obedient people in the Rekabites who refused to concede their principles.
On the other hand, we see an obstinately
disobedient people in the Judean Israelites who refused to listen to and comply
with God’s commands.
The steadfastly obedient people were
blessed by God while the obstinately disobedient people were punished.
Which one of these two groups would you fit best with?
It’s the question God is posing to all of us today.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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