Father's Day - Promise Keepers

Today is Father’s Day and it just so happens that today would have been my Father’s 95th birthday. I miss my father who went to be with the Lord a little over 8 years ago. He was one of the most Godly men I knew. I strive to be just half the man he was.

Today, We’re looking into the story of a family, in the years leading up to the fall of Judah to the Babylonians, around 600 BC. The family was called the “Rechabites.” Let me give you the gist of today’s message: The Rechabites followed the direction of their father, Jonadab, son of Rechab. Jonadab died some 200-250 years previously, yet his family made a promise to always follow his command. They were true "Promise Keepers." They kept the promises made by their ancestors hundreds of years before.

Jeremiah 35:1–6

Many of you remember the parachurch organization called "Promise Keepers?" A non-denomination organization dedicated to the building up Godly men, opposing same-sex marriage, championing chastity and fidelity in marriage, godly fatherhood, and being the head of their families that God has clearly called men to be. Promise Keepers' most notable event was its “Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men” open-air gathering at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on October 4, 1997. C-SPAN carried the event live in its entirety. Attendance figures vary but have been estimated to be between 600,000 and 800,000. [1] This particular event I’m proud to say was one in which I took part.

My son, when he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1997, while he was in advance training at the Marine Corps Base in 29 Palms, California, a couple of godly sergeants who were involved in Promise Keepers, took Bobby under their wings to mentor him during his yearlong stay there. I’m very grateful to them for keeping Bobby on the straight and narrow during his early years in the Marines.

One thing this world and our country is lacking, is men of integrity. Men who would be true fathers to their children and pass on their heritage of a firm foundation rooted in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We are lacking men to teach boys what it means to be a real man. And daughters are suffering too. They learn how a man should treat a woman from the example of their own fathers in how they treat their mothers.

Fatherless homes is beyond crisis levels in this nation. Just a couple of quick statistics from <Fathers.com> quoting data from the U.S. Census Bureau: With the increasing number of premarital births and a continuing high divorce rate, the proportion of children living with just one parent rose from 9.1% in 1960 to 20.7% in 2012. Currently, 55.1% of all black children, 31.1% of all Hispanic children, and 20.7% of all white children are living in single-parent homes. [2]

For many children, they do not know their past and for them their future is even more uncertain. Many today, with the influences and temptations of the world are quickly rejecting the teaching of their parents and many parents are failing to teach their children, these children are falling to the ways of world, and are far from the truth.

This was not the case with the Rechabites. God was using the Rechabites as an example to Israel who have been unfaithful to the commands of God.

Jeremiah 35:1–2 (CSB) This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them to one of the chambers of the temple of the LORD to offer them a drink of wine.”

So Jeremiah brings the Rechabite clan into the temple for a little refreshment of wine. Wine was the drink of the day, it was not like they had a choice of Coca Cola, or Sprite.

Jeremiah 35:5 (CSB) I set jars filled with wine and some cups before the sons of the house of the Rechabites and said to them, “Drink wine!”

I’m sure the Rechabite were wondering, what is this all about. They were, as a group, teetotalers. They did not drink wine at all. Was God commanding Jeremiah to tempt them or otherwise test them? The answer was neither.

But this was putting the Rechabites in a difficult situation. In that day is was the height of rudeness to refuse a host when offered something to eat or drink. It is still that way in mideastern houses today.

Jeremiah 35:6 (CSB) But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded, ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine.

Read the verses that followed. Jonadab also commanded them to live the life of a nomad. Why? What was the purpose behind these commands? No explanation is given for Jonadab’s command. Perhaps Jonadab became repulsed and disillusioned by the corruption and immorality he saw in city life and determined to separate himself and his family from its evil influences.[3]