Jeremiah 35:1-11

A. The Fidelity of the Rechabites Jeremiah 35:1-11

TRANSLATION

(1) The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, (2) Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them to the house of the LORD unto one of the chambers, and offer them wine to drink. (3) And I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites. (4) And I brought them to the house of the LORD, unto the chamber of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which is beside the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold. (5) And I placed before the sons of the house of Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said unto them, Drink wine! (6) And they responded, We do not drink wine for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, Do not drink wine, you nor your sons, forever. (7) Furthermore do not build houses, sow seed, plant vineyards or own any such; but you shall dwell in tents all of your days, in order that your days may be many upon the face of the land in which you are sojourning. (8) And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, every word which he commanded us, not to drink wine all of our days, neither we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, (9) nor to build houses in which to dwell; and we do not possess vineyards, fields or seed. (10) We dwell in tents, and we have obeyed, and done everything which Jonadab our father commanded us. (11) But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up against the land, that we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem because of the army of the Chaldeans and Arameans. So we dwell in Jerusalem.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah used many different methods to communicate God's truth to men. In the present instance he uses a dramatic demonstration involving a whole clan to drive home the truth to the people of Judah. The Rechabites are one of the most interesting groups mentioned in the Bible. They were apparently of Kenite descent (1 Chronicles 2:55) and had joined the Israelites at the time of the Exodus from Egypt (Judges 1:16). It was Jehonadab (or Jonadab) the son of Rechab who gave to the name Rechabite its special connotation.

Jehonadab first appears in 2 Kings 9:15-31 as a militant worshiper of Yahweh. He participated in the revolution of 841 B.C. when the zealot Jehu overthrew the dynasty of Omri in the northern kingdom of Israel. Apparently the excesses of Ahab and Jezebel, the importation of the worship of the Tyrian Baal, the disintegration of ancient social patterns and the wide-spread debauchery so completely upset certain conservative elements of the population that they were ready to take drastic steps to preserve the old values. Jehonadab had imposed rather strict regulations upon his descendants. But even though some 200 years had elapsed the Rechabites were still living by the rule of their father. Normally a nomadic group, the Rechabites had recently sought refuge in Jerusalem from the roving bands of Chaldeans and Syrians which were making repeated raids on the Jews living outside the walled cities (Jeremiah 35:11).

The narrative begins with Jeremiah receiving instruction to seek out the members of the Rechabite community.[302] In obedience to this command Jeremiah contacted Jaazaniah, the present leader of the sect, and invited him and the members of his clan to come to the Temple (Jeremiah 35:2). Scripture does not state whether or not Jeremiah informed Jaazaniah as to the purpose of the Temple visit but the impression is left that what transpired there came as somewhat of a surprise to the Rechabites.

[302] Literally, Go to the house of the Rechabites. House here does not refer to a dwelling but to members of a clan or, better still, a community.

Jeremiah chose the chamber of the sons of Hanan the man of God[303] as the spot for the demonstration (Jeremiah 35:4). A number of chambers were arranged around the courts of the Temple and served partly as storehouses and partly as residences for priests and other Temple personnel.[304] No doubt this particular chamber was able to accommodate several persons. It certainly was located in a prominent place being next to the chamber of the princes and just above the chamber of Maaseiah, the keeper of the door.[305] This would be a most advantageous spot for an object lesson to be seen by the leaders of Jerusalem. The fact that Hanan (or his sons) lent the room to Jeremiah on this occasion indicates that some high ranking officials of the nation were in sympathy with the prophet.

[303] The title man of God was an honorable title of the prophets. It was applied to Samuel (1 Samuel 9:6-10), Elijah (2 Kings 1:9-13), Elisha (2 Kings 4-13) and others. The term occurs only here in Jeremiah. Perhaps Hanan was a prophet. If so, his sons may have been his disciples. See Streane, op cit., p. 237.

[304] See 1 Chronicles 9:27; Ezekiel 40:17; Nehemiah 10:37-39.

[305] The keeper of the door was an important priestly function. There were three of these officials corresponding to the number of gates of the Temple (Jeremiah 52:24; 2 Kings 25:18). They seem to have been in charge of money contributed for the Temple (2 Kings 12:9).

After a crowd of witnesses, probably including Temple officials, had assembled Jeremiah placed before the Rechabites large bowls of wine together with drinking cups and told them to drink (Jeremiah 35:5). This is no example of placing a temptation before a weaker brother. It was not Jeremiah's intention to entice these ascetics into sin. He knew that the Rechabites had committed themselves to a rigorous rule of life that included the abstinence from all fruit of the vine.[306] It was their loyalty and obedience to this way of life that Jeremiah wished to vividly portray before the national leaders. So he offered them wine and, as expected, the Rechabites vigorously declined the invitation to drink.[307] They offered a reason for their refusal. Jonadab, the ancestor of their clan, had commanded them (1) not to drink wine; (2) not to build houses; and (3) not to engage in agricultural pursuits (Jeremiah 35:6-7). The descendants of Jonadab had compiled with these commandments for over 200 years (Jeremiah 35:8-10). Surely this is one of the most noted examples of the influence of a father in all the annals of history! They wish it to be clearly understood that their presence in Jerusalem does not indicate unfaithfulness to principle. Only for the sake of self-preservation had they sought refuge in the city. Bands of Chaldeans and Syrians pillaging the countryside had forced these gentle people to temporarily take Up residence behind the protective walk of the capital (Jeremiah 35:11).

[306] At this point the Rechabites have something in common with the Nazarites who also abstained from all fruit of the vine. There is no indication, however, that the Rechabites did not cut their hair or avoided contact with dead bodies as was the case with the Nazarites.
[307] The use of the Hebrew imperfect in the Rechabite refusal implies customary action and can be translated: We never drink wine.

The Rechabites were a people who desired the simple pastoral life. But there is more involved. By their practices they were protesting the corruption which they observed in the sedentary population about them. The excessive drinking and wild harvest-time orgies associated with Baal worship were repulsive to Jonadab. Since Baal was an agricultural deity, the god of the farmer, Jonadab refused to allow members of his clan to sow seed, to plant or to own vineyards. By their austerity the Rechabites were a constant rebuke to those Israelites who succumbed to the tantalizing temptation to join in the sensual worship of Baal. Like the Nazarites, the Rechabites set an example of commitment to God. Even when forced to temporarily seek the safety of Jerusalem, even when confronted by the command of a prophet within the house of God these noble nomads refused to compromise their convictions. Along with their meager belongings the Rechabites had brought their principles to the big city with them. Such convictions and courage were as rare in the sixth century before Christ as they are today. May God grant that the lives of His people today will be a perpetual protest against the debauchery and drunkenness of this world.

Jeremiah commends the Rechabites for being faithful to their vow. This does not, of course, mean that Jeremiah shared their sentiments in every respect or regarded their way of life as a model that all should follow. Jeremiah spent most of his life in Jerusalem, lived in a house, presumably drank wine (it was the common daily beverage), and owned land (Jeremiah 32:1-15). The main point here is that the faithful obedience of the Rechabites is pleasing to God. They were a living rebuke to a faithless and disobedient nation.