THE STORY OF THE RECHABITES
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
JEREMIAH 35 : 5-15
Key Verse
“The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab have been followed, which he commanded his sons: not to drink wine.
And they did not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not listened to Me.”
Jeremiah 35: 14
INTRODUCTION
We might think that we cannot be obedience and faithful for a very long time in following rules put in place by our parents. It is good when we understand why our parents and others have set up rules which are aimed to make us stay close to God. One group of people in Israel called the Rechabites proved that we can be obedient and faithful for a long time. Their great, great, great grandfather had lived 300 years before the event we are reading about in chapter 35. His name was Rechab and he had lived in a very violent time in the nation of Israel. God had the entire family of the wicked Ahab and Jezebel and their pagan and idolatrous supporters wiped out. They had been extremely wicked and hated God. After they had been put to death by King Jehu, his associate Rechab decided he did not want to live among the people of Israel in a close way and he had his son and their descendants take a vow not to drink wine, and lead a life of drunkenness, and not to live in the palatial houses people loved to have, and not to plant certain kinds of crops but to live in tents as nomads.
They obeyed the father of the tribe and his son Jonadab for nearly 300. The prophet Jeremiah tested them. He took them to the Temple and surrounded them with followers of God. He then told them they could drink wine. But they refused and reminded the prophet they wanted to obey their ancestors and the rules for godly living they had established. They would not drink wine. The prophet recognized their firmness in their wise decision. They passed the test and were recognized as obedient and faithful and God loving.
Jeremiah compared their behaviour with that of disobedient Israel and Judah, and told them of the promise of God that because of their obedience to Jonadab He would make sure that least one of their tribe would remain faithful to God. That was a great promise and God kept it. After the Babylonian army had captured the nation of Judah and taken everybody into exile God had kept His promise the exile in Babylon would last for 70 years and God kept the tribe and family alive and they went back to Jerusalem after the 70 year exile to help rebuilt the Temple, the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah.
Jeremiah compared their obedience and faithfulness to the rules set by their family head with the continuing disobedience and unfaithfulness of the king, the rulers, and the people in Judah. God had sent prophets to teach the people in Judah about what God wanted of them, but the people of Judah constantly ignored the warning of the prophets. They rejected God. As a result they would lose their land, their city, their Temple, and their lives. The Rechabites teach us we should embrace a life of obedience and faithfulness to rules which please God. That will bring great rewards. We therefore should love we have the teachings in the Word of God to guide us. We have the teachings of the prophets like Jeremiah to help us. And we have the great examples of people like the Rechabites. So let us do whatever we can to please God. Let us obey anything good our parents teach us as we follow the ways of God.