Jeremiah 35

Jeremiah 35:1-11

A variety of methods is tried to awaken the Jesus to a feast of their sin, and to bring them to repentance and reformation. (1.) He sets before them the unbroken performance of the family of the Rechabites in their obedience to the command of Jerusalem their neighbor, ver. 1-11. (2.) With this he aggravates their disobedience to God, and contempt of his preop. ver. 12-15. (3.) He foresels the judgement of God upon the Jesus for their impious disobedience, ver. 16, 17. (4.) He affirms the Rechabites of the blessing of God upon them, for their pious obedience to their father, ver. 18, 19.

1. THE word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Jofiah king of Judah, saying, 2. 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. 3. Then I took Jeezeanish, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Hebaishiah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4. And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaiah a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Measelah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door. 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. 6. But they said, We will

drink no wine: for 7 Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever. 7. 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 land where ye be strangers. 8. 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, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; 9. Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: 7 neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed. 10. But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11. But it came to pass when Nebuchadnezzar 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.

The date of this chapter seems to be about the fourth year of Jehoiakim, when, on account of his rebellion, Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land, and about seventeen years before the preceding prophecies were delivered.

The Rechabites here mentioned were Kennes, of the posterity of Hobah, Moses’s father-in-law, 1 Chron. ii. 55. Judg. i. 16. one family of which, denominated from Rechab their great progenitor, observed some peculiar rites, enjoined them by Jonadab, the son or lineal defendant of Rechab, a man famous for his unity in the days of Jehu, about 300 years before this time, 2 Kings x. 15, 16.

1. The injunctions Jonadab laid on them were, to drink no wine, and dwell in tents, having neither houses nor land, nor vineyard, nor villages; but to devote themselves to a pastoral life, remote from the busy world, where corruption and vice must abound, and thereby be farther removed from temptation: as they were strangers in the land, they must be content with their lies, and desire no great things; nor seek to accumulate wealth, which might provoke the envy of the people among whom they dwelt: luxury also, the bane of body and soul, would thus be banished from them; and, accustomed to hard fare, they would be the better able to meet the days of calamity, which the sins of the land where they sojourned were bringing upon them. Note, (1.) Though God hath not forbid us wise, temperance will dictate caution and self-denial. (2.) It is desirable to sit loose to this present world; and the less we have in it, generally, the less unwilling we shall be to part from it. (3.) They who are strangers upon earth must never think of taking up their rest below, but be ready, at a moment’s warning, to put off this tabernacle.

2. The Rechabites strictly observed Jonadab’s rule. Men, women, and children, were all a family of Nazarites; and tho’ they were now obliged through necessity, by reason of the invasion, to dispense with one part of their father’s injunctions, and had for safety retired to Jerusalem, yet not with an intention to take up their abode there longer than the danger threatened: and as for the other, they still religiously observed it; and therefore, though urged by the prophet to drink; who had invited them together into one of the chambers of the temple, and set before them pots of wine, they absolutely refused, and pleaded their father’s order as the reason of their conduct. Note, When there is a spirit of real sobriety, the wine, even when it sparkles, will have no influence, nor the solicitations of others be able to extort a compliance with the least excels.

3. ¶ Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, 3. Thus faith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Go, and tell the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words, faith the LORD. 14. 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 hearkned not unto me. 15. I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘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: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkned unto me. 16. Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkned unto me: 17. Therefore thus faith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon Judah, and upon all the in-

habitants 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. 18. ¶ And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus faith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he hath commanded you: 19. Therefore thus faith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

Jeremiah 35:12-19

It was not the prophets’ intention to draw the Rechabites into a breach of their rule, but to set them forth as an example to Israel.

1. The obedience of the Rechabites to their father served to aggravate the rebellion of the Jews against the commands of God. The commands of Jonadab, a mere man, were kept; the words of the eternal God disregarded: his injunctions, descending only by tradition, had more influence over his posterity, than God’s written laws, urged by a succession of prophets daily inculcating their observance on the Jews. It was a real piece of self-denial the son of Rechab enjoined, in a matter before lawful; whereas what God had forbidden was highly criminal, and what he commanded would be their real comfort. The Rechabites had no particular obligation to Jonadab to enforce their obedience; whilst every thing Israel possessed in Canaan came from God’s bounty, and was held on condition of their fidelity, so that both gratitude and duty should have engaged them to observe God’s commandments.

2. The Jews are threatened for their disobedience and base ingratitude. The Rechabites shall rise up in judgment and condemn them; and God will execute upon them all the devastings he hath pronounced since they remained incorrigible, and would neither by admonitions nor corrections be warned and led unto repentance. Note, Though vengeance is slow in coming, it is sure to all that abide impenitence.

3. The Rechabites are commanded and rewarded for their dutiful obedience to their father Jonadab’s commands. ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.’ As long as Israel was a nation his posterity should continue in it; or perhaps to the end of time, the family, though now mixed with the Jews, being not extinct; or it may have respect to better days, when they should be converted by the preaching of the gospel, and, among other faithful souls, to the end of time, stand before the Lord, to offer the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise. Note, Nothing entails more surely a blessing on children than their dutiful observance of their pious parents instructions.