The Story of the Rechabites
Study Scripture: Jeremiah 35: 5 – 11
Background Scripture: Jeremiah 35: 5 – 11
Lesson 7 October 18, 2025
Key Verse
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.
Jeremiah 35:14
INTRODUCTION
Jeremiah is now in our Study dealing with his people in a time when there were severe threats to the national life.
This fact immediately raises the question as to what God requires of any nation who might want to live.
This is critically important for us today for we need to be aware of the qualities in the people of the nation and their leaders that will have God permit them to survive. This should be important to us for we are led to believe we want our nation and its members to survive and to live.
Let us not ignore the first critically important teaching made by God and His prophet in this Chapter.
The historical context is a powerful revelation of what God wishes from His people as the prophet time and time again notes the failure of Judah to meet the requirement of God for the survival of the national life.
The context is laid out in chapter 34 and it is summarized for us by one writer as follows:
“Chapter 34 goes back to the time of the second invasion of Nebuchadnezzar, after Jehoiachin (otherwise known as Coniah) had been taken captive to Babylon. And Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was made a vassal king under Nebuchadnezzar. The Chaldean (Babylonian) army is approaching the city of Jerusalem once again, and Jeremiah is sent to the king with a message—yet another prediction of defeat at the hands of Babylon. Apparently Zedekiah was frightened at the approach of the Babylonian army, so he began seeking ways to placate God, so that God would feel more kindly toward him and perhaps spare him.
This is a common phenomenon I have often observed this in people, and have been guilty of it myself. When trouble strikes, people will often start going to church for the first time in years, thinking that is what God wants.
Or they will start tithing, or paying their debts, or doing something else they hope will somehow make God feel a little more favourable toward them, as the king sought to do.
He issued a royal edict that all the household slaves of Judah should be released from bondage.
If you look back at the fifteenth Chapter of Deuteronomy, you find that the law required that slaves—Jewish people who had hired themselves out as servants and slaves—were to work for six years and the seventh year they were to be freed. No Jew could be in servitude more than six years. They could resume the contract if they wished, but they had freedom to choose. No Jew could hold a brother as a permanent slave.
Over the years the law had fallen into disuse, and the people had gotten used to having those permanent slaves in their households. The king evidently felt this upset God, so he issued the edict that the slaves be released.
In chapter 32, which was written at the same time, we learn that Egypt sent an army up against Jerusalem to meet the Babylonian army. When the Chaldeans heard that Pharaoh of Egypt was coming up against them, they left the siege of Jerusalem and went out to meet the Egyptians. And when King Zedekiah saw that the Babylonians army had withdrawn, he immediately rescinded his orders to release the slaves. So God sent Jeremiah to him with a new message which we pick up at chapter 34, Verse 15”.
In verses 15-17 of that chapter Jeremiah brought to King Zedekiah the rebuke of God for breaking the covenant which he had made with God in the house (the Temple) that was called by the name of God.
He had proclaimed liberty as God’s law had called for and he had freed the slaves as the law had commanded. The Babylonian threat was real and so he had now remembered the law of liberty.
But then soon he turned around and rescinded the edict he had issued when he thought the Babylonian threat was not real (since the Babylonians had left the siege of Jerusalem to fight the Egyptians). In doing so God said he had profaned the name of the Lord. So Jeremiah proclaimed the dreadful words:
“Behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine”. says the LORD.
“I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth”. Jeremiah 34:15-17.
The word used translated “profane” means “wound”, “pierce” or “deface”.
This king Zedekiah had not respected the human rights of the servants and the slaves treating these people as less than a person.
He had blasphemed God, violated the rights of the people.
God would take this into account.
One writer calls his nation to repentance:
“As we think of our own national history, we can see what a heavy charge must be levelled against us. How have we treated the American Indians, the original inhabitants of the land, or the Africans we brought forcible into our midst, or the Chinese and Japanese, the Mexicans, the Puerto Ricans, and other nationalities that have come among us?
We have despised them, treated them as less than human.
The God of the nations says, “That is a profanation of my name. you have profaned my name when you have done a thing like that”.
It is always healthy for me to remember that God’s view of my spirituality, his judgment of whether I am a spiritual-minded person or not is based not upon how I treat my friends and those I like, but how I treat the waiter at the table, or the clerk in the store, or the yardman, or the newspaper boy.
That is the mark of spirituality. In other words, God requires of a people that they respect the rights of all humanity. And when there is a violation of that, God takes it into account”.
So what better way was there for the all-wise God to contrast the defiant and rebellious ways of the people of God who should be called by His name, with the ways of those who were not completely regarded as kosher, for they were not the real blood descendants of Jacob or Israel.
In chapter 35 therefore the prophet Jeremiah was then sent by God to highlight the contrasting behaviour and way of thinking of the Rechabites. These people are described for us as
“a tribe of people who were somewhat related to Israel by marriage. They were the descendants of the Kenites, the tribe of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses.
Some three hundred years before Jeremiah’s time, one of their numbers, Rechab, was an associate of Jehu, king of Israel. Rechab’s son was Jonadab, and this account tells us Jonadab grew tired of life in the city and longed for a simpler way of life..
Jonadab evidently felt so strongly about it he commanded his sons to drink no wine, to build no houses, and to have no vineyards field or seed. They were to live in tents as nomads all their lives.
The sons heeded their father’s commands and for almost three hundred years the tribe traditionally had followed these admonitions.
When Nebuchadnezzar came up against Judah, the Rechabites took refuge in the city of Jerusalem and Jeremiah now is sent to them by God’.
The prophet begins our Study by dealing in our Study with some people who were different in their outlook and behaviour. It would be useful to your spiritual life to compare yourself to them.
Let us not be careless and misunderstand what is happening.
Certainly these people were commended for keeping their father’s command. The power of keeping tradition was indeed great. Keeping traditions and being in its grip can be very dangerous to your spiritual life. Traditions can blind you to the truths of God
But the real lesson being taught by God is God’s rebuke of the nation of Judah because they would not obey God who had been speaking persistently through the prophets to correct the evils in the life of this nation. They had paid no attention whatsoever to God.
Their minds had been held into the grip of their ‘pagan” traditions, and that grip was so powerful they could not respond to the revelation of the living God.
So what would be the form of the judgment they would face?
First though, the merciful God would show them how they should be all the time instead of making an about face when in fear of Babylonian destruction, and then reversing their attempt to please God by not following the law when the fear of their enemies seemed to recede.
Can trying to fool God and trying to hypocritically bribe Him makes sense!
In dealing with their iniquity Jeremiah on God’s command brings the nation, its people, and its leaders before witnesses who were people of God.
Thus we are told bluntly how we should behave when facing situations of righteousness versus unrighteousness for the prophet behaved in a way appropriate when fulfilling the command of God.
We therefore should note can earn much from these verses and so we will quotes these:
“The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
Go into 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.
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,
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 Shallum, the keeper of the door”.
Clearly there are 3 lessons.
The first derives from Jonadab the father of the Rechabites who established rules for his descendants. His rules were established to separate his descendants from the wicked Israelite society. He wanted to preserve his generations.
What a lesson for fathers!
We like to focus on the third lesson. We tell fathers they should think about the motivating principles behind their lives. It might be good to imitate the father of the Rechabites.
But sometimes it might not be so good.
We like to focus on the third lesson we can see here. But be warned that sometimes Jonadab’s rules work and sometimes it backfires.
It is always better to follow the methods of God while paying attention to what some saints of God tried.
Read carefully Ezekiel chapter 18.
Always lean on the directions of the Holy Spirit for then you will be under the everlasting arms.
Given the reproof to the iniquity of the king and princes of Judah, the second lesson is felt by some to be the main teaching. One writer points to the
“the exceptional quality to the obedience of the Rechabite descendants to their ancestor Jonadab.
This is emphasized in the text when God promises they will be rewarded by never failing to have a man to stand before him.
Notice he does not promise that their obedience to Jonadab’s rules will preserve the whole family from sliding into the sins of surrounding culture: only that Jonadab will always have at least one survivor serving God.
One application of this lesson would be the value of honouring and obeying our own parents.”
Let us learn however that if we think faithfully obeying man-made rules are great, then we should realize it is even greater to obey God, be more eager to obey all that God has commanded us to do, and to listen to God’s instructions, and receive into our hearts what God requires from His people.
THE TEXT
Verse 5 & 6.
To fully understand the story of the Rechabites, let us go over the context.
The Rechabites were a nomadic tribe belonging to the Kenites of Hemath (1 Ch 2:55), of the family of Jethro, or Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law.
They came into Canaan with the Israelites, but preserved their independence, and chose to live a life without setting fixed roots down like homes, and such, they lived in tents.
It was also said that a branch of them were associated with Judah and extending to Amalek; there was another section at Kadesh, in Naphtali. They were perhaps even said to have been proselytes of the gate, Jonadab, son of Rechab, whose charge not to drink wine which they strictly obeyed; they were also zealous in serving God.
Jeremiah in verses 1 to 4 had told us that the Lord God Almighty gave Jeremiah instructions telling him to go to the house of the Rechabites and to get them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God. This could be interpreted that he was considered to be a prophet of God.
One of the main purposes of this event related to us is that God is trying to awaken the Jews to a sense of their sin and to bring them to repentance and reformation. This was all done with the aim to shame them out of their disobedience if they had any sense of honour left in them, given their contrasting situation to the Rechabites.
It was also to let them know that if they would not repent, and obey, then their reward for disobedience would be God’s wrath.
Jeremiah sets before the people of Israel the obedience of the family of the Rechabites to the commands which were left to them by Jonadab their ancestor. Judah would now see they persevered in that obedience and would not be tempted to leave from it. This is stressed in the Study of the Lesson today.
This verse starts with the reader being told that Jeremiah brought before the Rechabites pots full of wine and cups to drink. Clearly the intention was for them to drink. They would have to make a choice now that the Babylonians were ‘at the gates’.
However, we have been told of the particular command that was left to the descendants of Rechab. That is, found in verse 6, and it is that his descendants should not drink any wine. In verse 7, the command had been given that they should also not build any house, plant crops, but live in tents.
These rules that Jonadab most likely lived by himself were given to his children, in what would probably have been his last will and testament. The expectation was that this edict would be followed for all generations after him and received and followed to every last point.
He forbade them to drink wine according to the law of the Nazarites.
Even though there are some valid uses to consuming some alcohol, his rules given to them were instructions to only rely on God for the enjoyment that alcohol may give, but even more so, still to rely on God.
Secondly, he gave instructions to dwell in tents. They were not to settle down and build houses, purchase any land, or rent or occupy either. Not even Nazarenes had this edict placed on them.
The aim was to teach them to be humble, strong and not to indulge in the luxuries of the body.
Also their ancestor’s rules was intended to teach them not to have any roots in this world as they were to think of themselves as sojourners, and their home lies somewhere else, as all Christians should also believe.
The ability to endure hardship and face certain difficulties should be the mark of any Christian, despite their age. For the young and old, these rules applied too.
What was the aim of Jonadab’s reasoning for these rules of living? He was thought to be a wise man, and as such we will not say that this was to show his authority and to exercise a dominion over his descendants. But we know he was associated with Jehu, the Israelite king and a military commander anointed by God to overthrow the wicked house of Ahab and eradicate Baal worship. One commentator states about Jehu:
“He is remembered for his ruthless and violent actions, including the assassination of king Joram, the murder of Queen Jezebel, and the massacre of Ahab’s family, relatives and Baal worshippers.
Despite fulfilling his divine mandate with zeal, Jehu ultimately failed to fully follow God’s law and continued to permit the worship of golden calves, leading to divine displeasure and the decline of his dynasty”.
This son of Rechab who was a zealous supporter of Jehu lived in troubled times and lived around violent men who only obeyed God partially. He appears determined to avoid the corruption brought by being close to power and living as the royal houses and the ruling classes of Israel did. He wanted him and his descendants to stay away from the people of the society as long as they could. He felt strongly this was the best course of action.
Think about how you would react to living in a violent, God hating, commandment breaking society!
It is thus likely that the rules were developed to show his wisdom, and the real concern he had for their welfare. The rules were designed to recommend to his descendants 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. So he strongly advised them to conform to this discipline as far as they found it for edification, and yet to be dispensed within any case of necessity, as at times it was.
These ideals would preserve the character of their family, and even though some would look upon them with contempt, it would serve the purpose of establishing an unshakeable reputation if followed, and it did.
We can contrast this to Israel’s behaviour. We see throughout history their wavering from the laws of God regarding how to live.
In contrast to Israel and Judah, they learned the lesson to be content with what they had, and not to aim to live above it, as a means of pursuing life.
Verse 8 – 10. Jeremiah was well aware of these people and how they lived their lives. God was also watching them throughout their lives.
Their situation was similar to that of Job’s situation. God knew who he was and allowed the devil to test him, but God knew Job’s heart. Likewise, God knew the heart of these people that they would honour their father’s decree, and thereby honour God through the obedience they have showed to their father.
When Jeremiah suggested that they should drink, it was not a command from God, but an invitation to do so. They would have followed Jeremiah order if he had indicated that it was a decree from the Lord God that they consume alcohol, but God would not do such a thing to them.
Jeremiah extended an invitation to drink, but they interpreted it as such and told Jeremiah they would not do any such thing.
The sons of Jonadab passed the test and refused the wine.
The public nature of the ceremony, the presence of their entire clan, the prominence of the prophet, and the proximity of the Temple all added pressure to drink the wine.
At this point, once in their past, the tribe had left their nomadic life to enter the city, but that was due to war with another nation, and a real possibility existed that they could be wiped out if shelter of the city was not sought.
But still, that exception was not regarded as the supporting excuse to make another exception. They did not and were faithful.
The point is that they were obedient to the teachings of their spiritual father Jonadab. Jeremiah wasn’t using this situation to make a point about drinking; this was about obedience.
God honoured the Rechabites for their steadfast refusal to drink alcohol, and they were not criticized for this obedience.
Jonadab told his descendants not to drink wine as part of a larger pattern of sacrifice and self-denial that also included not building houses or planting fields or vineyards.
Verse 11. Particularly he had given them a charge. It would appear they had been told how in some cases of necessity, they would be allowed some flexibility. But yet they still tried to honour what their father had suggested.
In the present situation the king of Babylon came into the land with his army. They were still living in tents at this point as long as they were able as per the command and instructions given to them.
One must therefore consider if strict discipline from a particular rule should be an absolute in such a way that wisdom might not rule the day.
As such, Jonadab’s command had wisdom in it, as it was given with an expressed purpose. This situation arising threatened their existence and hence wisdom was used to modify the command for survival. If the rule were strictly followed by the Rechabites then those who followed the command strictly 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.
Wisdom, or Godly wisdom should always apply to a Christian’s life; a child of God’s life.
The drinking of wine wasn’t a situation of great urgency, but it was a test of how they would respond to a temptation to see if they religiously adhered to what was taught. They were in the Temple, a prophet’s chamber, where witnesses could be present, but those with the highest esteem of others.
Pots of wine were given, so that the temptation was as strong as possible.
The idea of the waste of such a beverage could play a role in the temptation.
Even though they had to use the city as refuge, that was one thing. But to break the rule in this way without their lives in peril, they peremptorily refused. They all agreed in the refusal. The prophet knew that they would deny it, and, when they did, urged it no further, for he saw their resolve.
This was done so that Israel would understand how to respond to situations when God gives a command. If the Rechabites could understand and hold to a command given long ago, why couldn’t Israel hold to the words of God, given in their lifetime by God’s prophets?
CONCLUSION
In verses 12-16 God revealed clearly why He had made Jeremiah make this unusual offer to the Rechabites to drink wine.
Obedience and faithfulness are prized by God. We have their example and God’s promise that there would always be a man of theirs to stand before the Lord.
God kept His promise. The Rechabites remained faithful to God even when they were taken into captivity in Babylon.
But we read in 1 Chronicles 2:55 that they were among those that returned to the land when the 70 years of captivity had been ended as God had promised.
Professing believers must know that they have to follow God particularly if they are to be considered as genuine successors of these faithful Rechabites.
The power of our many traditions that have little basis in Scripture is amazingly strong. We like to live by precedent and are afraid to move if none had been established.
It takes courage to stand for what is right and what is against wrong. One writer warns that we often “seek ways to compromise and make it appear that we are doing the right thing which they are not. That is because man likes tradition above anything else.
The church is gripped by it as well…….
This chapter of Jeremiah reveals– that God requires of a nation, or of a church, a continual review of the methods of the past in the flashing light of the revelation of god today.
If we are not going back over and over, reviewing what has been done in the past, and asking ourselves, “Is this in line with what we understand now be the truth, to be reality as God has revealed it”, we are certain to sink more and more into the ooze and mire of tradition, to be lost in its swamp”.
So as we look at the Rechabites we see a tribe faithful to God and even when they were taken into exile along with the wicked people and rulers of the nation, they held onto the faith. They stood ready to return to the Promised Land and to follow the instructions of God to rebuild Jerusalem and to worship Him in Zion.
So what does God require of us?
He has given us His commandments, His Testimonies, His Words, and His prophets and His Apostles. He has given us models of the people of faith.
Do not reject His words and His invitations. If you do there will be a sad end to you. Bondage lies ahead.
But let us rest on the mercies of God and be as faithful to Him as the Rechabites were as recorded in 1 Chronicles 2:55.
God will bring us out of bondage.
That is His firm unbreakable promise.
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