Summary:
From the family of the Rechabites, we learn:

1. Why people break God’s commandments even though they know the consequences - we choose the temporal pleasure now over the consequences in the future.
2. Drinking wine isn’t a sin, but getting drunk is. It is difficult to discern the line between drunkenness and sobriety.
3. Remember we are sojourners in this world. Live our lives like our stay on earth here is temporary.

We recognise some families because they have a unique way of acting. It’s not just because they resemble one another in appearance, but some characteristics are passed down in the family because of certain rules that have been passed down that cause the children to act in a certain way. Some families preserve such traditions for a very long time. Some of these traditions make a family more noble. Others make them infamous or makes them despised by the rest of the world. For example the Chinese have the family of the Yangs that produced many generals. There must have been certain traditions and house rules to have caused the characteristics to be passed down.

This sermon will study the family of the Rechabites and the lesson they had for us and the people in the time they were living in.

Background of the Rechabites

Jer 35:1-19
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of 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, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door. Then 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, you nor your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, 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.” Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction to obey My words?” says the Lord. “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father’s commandment. But although I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, you did not obey Me. I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me. Surely the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.” ’ “Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the doom 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.’ ” And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘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 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.” ’ ”

The Rechabite family were an example to the people in the time they lived in. Let us examine their background.

1 Chron 2:55
And the families of the scribes who dwelt at Jabez were the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Suchathites. These were the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

The Rechabites belonged to the group of Kenites. In 1 Chron 2, this genealogy stems from the tribe of Judah. But the Kenites weren’t actually from the tribe of Israel; they probably dwelt close to the tribe of Judah, that’s why they were listed here.

Judges 1:16
Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

The Kenites were from the father-in-law of Moses. They were invited by Moses to dwell together with them in the promised land (Num 10). Moses’ father-in-law wasn’t an Israelites, but a Midianite.

Jer 35:19
As a result of the family members of the Rechabites, God said, “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.”

To not lack a man to stand before God has this implication: one is serving before God. We see this from Deut 10:8 which says the Levites have to stand before the Lord to minister to Him. Even in the book of Jeremiah, God said to Jeremiah if he were to do certain things, he would be able to stand before Him.

The Rechabites were not part of Israel before, but because of what they did, they were able to serve God forever. How were they able to gain such an honour? In the Old Testament, if one wasn’t Abraham’s descendant, they would not be able to serve God but the Rechabites were able to do so.

Let us learn from them.

The main point of Jer 35 is to tell us to keep God’s commands. When they were told to go into the temple and bowls of wine were placed before them, they declined. They served as an object lesson to the people then. God used the Rechabites and their adherence to their family rules to contrast to the people of God/Judah who didn’t heed God’s commands. Since the time Jonadab commanded them to drink no wine, build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, dwell in tents all their days, about 250 years had passed. From one single source, Jonadab, the family kept this rule. In contrast, the people of Judah had many sources - prophets sent by God to tell them to repent and turn back - did not listen. So the Lord said He would pronounce doom on them. The Rechabites teach us God’s word is absolute and we must obey it. God is merciful and kind but if we don’t obey them, there are consequences; He will pronounce doom.

Why do people break God’s commandments even when they know the consequences?

Why do people break God’s commandments? We have listened to many stories of people who were punished for breaking God’s commandments. The people of Israel observed this too. Good kings were blessed; evil kings punished.

The northern kingdom of Israel had already been destroyed at the time Jeremiah talked to them. Yet they still didn’t want to repent.

Why are people still so readily drawn to break God’s commandments even though they know the consequences?

We can see it in Jeremiah. In Jer 34, Jeremiah speaks to King Zedekiah (the final king before Jerusalem’s destruction). King Jehoiakim mentioned in 35 was the third last king. Meaning chronologically, chapter 35 came before 34. But when Jeremiah put all these together, 34 served as a warning and 35 was a clear punishment meted on the people. 34 shows the people of Judah breaking the commandment. 35 shows people who could keep commandments well.

In 34, one thing brought against Zedekiah and the princes of those times was that they broke what they had decided to do. They actually proclaimed that they would release all the Hebrew slaves. This was a good and right thing according to Exo 21 where they were not supposed to keep Hebrew slaves for more than 7 years. Zedekiah and the princes broke what they had intended to do. This shows us why people would want to break God’s commandments. “If I release these slaves, I wouldn’t have extra help. I’ll lose some comforts. I’m going to lose these benefits!”

This is the scary thing. Actually, we know what’s right and wrong according to the Bible. But when the situation arises and we see a temporal benefit, we choose it over the long term consequence of breaking God’s commandments. We choose, for example, to give up Sabbath keeping to spend time with our friends. We give it up because of the pleasure we derive at the moment. “As long as I enjoy now, who cares about the consequences of eternity?” This is one reason people break God’s commandments readily today. When we weigh the costs and benefits, we don’t think as much about eternity. But the fact is: destruction and doom awaits those who break God’s commandments. It’ll take time, but it’ll definitely be down the road, and will come.

As people of God, we must heed God’s commandments. They are absolute. Not for negotiation, not for us to change or water down. And definitely when we do our cost benefit analysis and decide what to do, let’s really consider what’s eternal punishment and destruction, as compared to the present passing pleasures of sin.

This is the first thing we can learn from the Rechabites.

House rules: wine, living as sojourners

The second thing: Jonadab came up with the house rules. Who is this man? Let’s find out more so we can understand better why he wanted to set up such family rules.

2 Kings 10:15-17
Now when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab, coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. Then he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” So they had him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.

Note: Jehonadab = Jonadab

The first time we were introduced to Jonadab was when he met Jehu, the soon-to-be new king of Israel. We may see a lot of bloody killing in this chapter. Ahab’s sons were all slaughtered. The worshippers of Baal were also tricked to gather in a place only to be slaughtered. Then the worship of Baal stopped. What Jehu was doing and what Jonadab witnessed was zeal towards God, as prophesied by Elijah. Remember when Elijah was weak and wanted to seek death? He ran to the mountain of the Lord and spoke to him through a still, small voice. God told him to anoint 3 people. One was Elisha. Second was Jehu to be the king of Israel to slaughter the entire line of Ahab. When Elijah was taken up to heaven, Elisha appointed someone to w Jehu was faithful in keeping God’s command. When he met Jonadab, he asked, “Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart? If it is…come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.”

Of course although Jehu was faithful to slaughter Ahab and Baal prophets, he wasn’t completely faithful to God. He didn’t completely turn back to the right worship. He still continued in the sins of jeroboam where he allowed people to worship the golden calves.

But Jonadab probably wasn’t like that. He was completely faithful. Let’s not think he’d partially faithful because of Jehu’s partial faithfulness. Jonadab’s faithfulness is seen when he wanted to see the command of God being performed through Jehu. He laid down the family rules also because of his faithfulness towards God.

Some people say Jonadab laid the rules of being a sojourner because the Kenites were coppersmiths that travelled often. So it didn’t make sense to plant vineyards, build houses, etc. And because there are special ways to smelt the copper, he disallowed drinking wine lest they reveal the family secrets in drunkenness.

But from a spiritual sense, he laid these rules more likely because of his faithfulness and how he wanted his children to be faithful as well.

Jer 35:6
But they said, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever.

Not drinking wasn’t a requirement for all Jews. If a person decides to be a Nazarite from birth or for a period of time, then they would abstain. There’s a spiritual reason we don’t drink. Because when we drink, we lose control. There could be violence or we could do things we can never take back. To be clear, the Bible doesn’t say one should not drink. But there are a lot of verses that show how drink is very tempting “the swirling of the wine”. There’s also advice for kings not to drink too much lest they forget God’s commands.

Psa 104:14-15
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man, That he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man’s heart.

The psalmist thanks and praises God here. The few things he thanks God for is that God makes wine that makes glad the heart of man.

It’s wrong to say drinking wine is wrong. But getting drunk is a sin. It becomes difficult to discern the line between drunkenness and sobriety.

Jonadab hence commanded his family not to drink wine. It can be addictive and you don’t know when you cross the line. This is something for us to think about too. In the New Testament, Ephesians tells us not to be drunk with wine. Wine, like the spirit of God, can control us. Don’t be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit so we can be led by the spirit. This was likely why Jonadab laid down this house rule.

The rule to live in tents was for the family members to really live as sojourners in the land. This isn’t a requirement for the people of Israel. But it was something the people would experience every year when they kept the feast of the booths. To remember the deliverance from Egypt and to dwell in tents after that. Jonadab wanted his family to experience this their whole lives. This is very similar to what Abraham experienced.

Heb 11:9-10
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

The whole notion of living a life as a sojourner, not planting yourself in one specific place on earth, has a very spiritual component. The things of the earth are temporary. “I’m waiting for a future house God has prepared that lasts for eternity.” Peter also encourages us to live our lives like our stay on earth here is temporary.

1 Pet 2:11-12
Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

We are sojourners and pilgrims. As such we cannot give in to our lists, because we’re waiting for the future kingdom that cannot be shaken, prepared by God.

The rules Jonadab made were good rules with good spiritual reasons behind them. They weren’t necessary for all Israelites, but it helped his family spiritually to lead a life of temporariness, to not be under control or anything, especially wine.

However we must note family rules are different from God’s commandments. God’s commandments are absolute and must be obeyed regardless of the circumstance. If God says we must have our bodies immersed in living water so that our sins can be forgiven, we must do so. In spite of the fact the water may be very cold in certain countries, we have to do it because it’s the commandment of God that doesn’t change regardless of the circumstances. But family rules are a little different that aren’t absolute. Sometimes we need to change according to the times.

Jer 35:11
But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, 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.”

This is slightly different from what Jonadab wanted the Rechabites to do. They were supposed to be wandering, not staying in a building. They were now staying in the city of Jerusalem. Why did they give up their nomadic lifestyle to dwell within the city walls? Because of their fear of the Chaldean and Syrian army. There was a slight change because times changed.

House rules aren’t God’s commandments. If we start to create house rules and equate it to God’s commandments, that’s what Jesus warned about in Matthew 15:8-9 where He rebuked the people for drawing near to Him with their mouths and lips but had hearts far from Him; how they taught as doctrines the commandments of men. It’s problematic when we make family rules equal to God’s commandments. That’s something we should take caution. It’s good to have family rules. It’s what allowed the Rechabites to receive the blessing of God. The family rules was to help the family be closer to God and to lead a more temporal life.

Do we set family rules for our own family too? Perhaps we have already received certain traditions from our elders. For example, praying together whenever we meet. Or having Bible Reading together as a family. These are good and allow us to draw closer to God. If we can set family rules that allow us to remember this world is only temporary, such that we realise heaven is indeed our only home, and endeavour to keep this together, that’s the best, so that we may all be able to meet each other in heaven in the future.