A Principled People

"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.But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadad the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying,Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever."

My heart’s desire and prayer to God is that our contemporaries and generations future’s testimony of New Zion is and will be "Those folk are a People of Principles. A people who wouldn’t fall for anything because they stood for something."

Fellow Zionites, I am of the strong conviction that the greatest legacy we can ever leave to those future souls waiting to be born again by God using us as His mid-wives is A PERPETUAL AND PERTINENT PACKAGE OF POWERFUL PRINCIPLES.

We ought, we must, hand to them a house that is financially stable; they need not inherit our debt. Fiscal responsibility is important. We ought, we

must deliver to them a congregation deeply immersed in worship, mission,evangelism, ministry, and mercy; for these are extremely important also. And yet, I argue, the greatest legacy we can leave behind us is A

PERPETUAL AND PERTINENT PACKAGE OF POWERFUL PRINCIPLES which we have ourselves PROCLAIMED AND PRACTICED!!!

Now, my reason for drawing that radical conclusion is based upon our Target Text. For here, we are confronted and challenged by A People who Proclaimed and Practiced Principles for a Protracted Period, even in the Presence of a Provocative Proposal from a Powerful Prophet. You see, it’s relatively easy to practice principles in the presence of folk who are

pedestrianing in the opposite direction of you. It’s easy to hold to convictions when there is no tension and strife in your life. But how pertinent are your principles, how firm is your convictions, when you are challenged by a man of God to do something that goes against your core beliefs? No; how stable is the ground of your beliefs when God Himself challenges the

convictions of your culture and folk?

When God challenges your faithfulness, how Pertinent are Your Principles?

I believe that is a relevant question; for in Verses 1 and 2, we find that Jeremiah is acting under orders from the Lord (read). Now, before we go off on a tangent screaming that there is some inconsistency here, let’s balance this equation. For though God tempts no man with evil to sin, He does put our faith to the test in order to approve its character. You see, God knows what you and I will and will not do. But the bigger picture is this: Sometimes God spotlights us to show the world what A People of Principle really look like. We are God’s Show People. We show others what God can do and what He is like. We are Show Folk. So, when God wants to demonstrate to the world a portion of His awesome power and limitless

wisdom, He brings us forth as exhibit A. He spotlights His people to reveal what a People of Principle Really looks Like. Read Verses 3-5 again. GOD’S SHOW FOLK!

Now, there are several truths this passage teaches us about Principles.

I. FIRST, A PRINCIPLE IS FIRST PRACTICED

AND PRESCRIBED BY A PREDECESSOR.

Now, I would have you note that verse 2 informs us that the people in question were descendant and offspring of one Rechab, who was a contemporary of King David. But he set a bad precedent, he laid a bad example; for in his ignorant zeal, he killed one of King Saul’s sons and brought his head to King David. and for that act, David had his men to cut off their hands and feet and hung them over a pool. So, we need

to understand that the people we have targeted did not practice nor subscribe to the principles of Rechab.

And that is significant; because too many of us are practicing the principles of sin laid down by earlier generations in our families. This cycle of sin and self-destruction is being perpetuated because so many of us have chosen to follow the wrong folk in our families. We all have a Rechab in our family. But that doesn’t mean we have to follow his example. There is someone else in our family history who is more noble.

Perhaps, we ought to look to the example of a Jonadad. Jonadad was one of the ones who helped eradicate Baal worship from Israel. He staked his claim on the One God of Israel and would not bow down to another.

And so, it was he who taught his children and kinfolk to fear God only.

By his example, he taught them to refrain from drinking wine, because at that time, wine was associated with devil worship and led to all kinds of