I guess every teenager grapples with who he is. For me, a 17-year-old, away from home and “on my own” at college, I was ever so much “smarter” than I am today and certainly “much smarter” than my own father who had attended college and seminary on a “catch as catch can” basis and had no degree to serve as his academic credit card. “How smart can he be?” asked this genius 17-year-old with his assumptions of mental superiority and confident certainty of success—even success in the same field of endeavor.
It was in this state of mind, shortly after one of my periodic visits home where my father had “proved” his lack of sophistication and mental capacity by disagreeing with me—it didn’t matter if the topic of the day was politics, theology, ethics, or money management. My father was obviously out of touch, clueless, and hopeless. I went to a Saturday matinee showing of that great Sidney Poitier movie, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” and I reveled in that confrontation between Poitier’s world-renowned doctor character and his inner-city postman father. The postman father plays the “I sacrificed everything for you” card and the doctor plays the “father’s duty” card. That scene epitomized my feelings. My own father had already done his duty. Why didn’t he just leave me alone?
He didn’t leave me alone because he knew that I wasn’t anywhere near as brilliant as 17-year-old Johnny thought he was. In fact, he could see the gaping weaknesses in my armor of pseudo-sophistication, the unprotected portions of my helmet of academia. If I had been as smart as 17-year-old Johnny thought he was, I would have listened to my father about a lot more things and I might not have experienced all of those hero-to-zero rollercoaster experiences that I ended up having in my life.
Frankly, the father’s duty isn’t over until the father dies. And if the father has done well, the father’s legacy takes over when the father has gone on. Let’s look at the legacy of an earthly father this morning and, as our text does, let’s make some comparisons with our heavenly father. I’m going to break my usual rule and read from my own translation, this morning, largely because I want you to hear the meaning of the names involved in our text.
1) The word which happened to Jeremiah from Yahweh (Let Yahweh exalt) in the days of Jehoiakim (Yahweh caused to stand), son of Josiah (Yahweh heals), King of Judah, saying:
2) “Go to the House of the Rechabites (riders or charioteers – in the ancient world, this often meant an elite warrior class) and, [as a result], you will speak to them and cause them to come to the House of Yahweh, to one of the chambers and cause them to drink wine.
3) And I took Jaazaniah (Yahweh hears), son of Jeremiah (Yahweh exalts or possibly, Yahweh throws), son of Habazziniah (“loves to celebrate?”), and his brothers, and all his sons, and all the House of the Rechabites.
4) And I brought them to the House of Yahweh, to the chamber of the Sons of Hanan (Favored, or Experiencing Grace), son of Igdaliah (Yahweh is Great), the man of God, which was near the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah (Made by Yahweh), son of Shallum (The Replaced One), keeper of the threshold.
5) And I placed pitchers full of wine and cups in front of the House of the Rechabites (lit. “gave to their faces”) and I said to them, “Drink wine!”
6) And they said, “We do not drink wine BECAUSE Jonadab (Yahweh incites or Yahweh volunteers/offers), son of Rechab (rider/charioteer/warrior?) commanded us saying, “Do not drink wine, you and your sons (children) forever (lit. to the horizon with idea of “for as far as you can see”)
7) And a house you shall not construct and seed you shall not sow and vineyards you shall not plant and [none of these] shall belong to you [lit. and shall not be for you] BECAUSE in tents you shall live all your days. Accordingly, you shall live many days upon the face of the land in which you are resident aliens there.
8) And we have heard the voice of Jonodab, son of Rechab, our father, for all which he commanded us, no drinking wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, and our daughters,
9) No building houses for us to live in, nor vineyards, fields, or seed belonging to us.
10) But we have lived in tents, we heard and we did all the things which Jonadab, our father, commanded us.
11) And when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against this land and we said, “Come and let us go to Jerusalem from the face of the armed host of the Chaldeans and from the face of the armed host of the Assyrians!” and we proceeded to live in Jerusalem.
12) And the word of Yahweh happened to Jeremiah saying,
13) “Thus says Yahweh of Armies, God of Israel,
‘Go and say to the men of Judah and to the ones living in Jerusalem,
Why do you not take instruction to hear my words? The very utterance of Yahweh!
14) The words of Jonadab, son of Rechab, which he commanded to his sons for no drinking wine are accomplished (lit. caused to stand) and they do not drink to this day BECAUSE they heard their father’s commandment.
And I, I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you didn’t hear me.
15) And I sent to you all my servants, the prophets, rising early, and sent them to say, ‘Return, please, each man from his evil way and make your doings right [amend your deeds] and do not walk after other gods, to serve them, but live in the land which I gave to you and to your fathers!’ but you did not turn (modern slang = tune or attune) your ears or hear me
16) BECAUSE the sons of Jonadab, son of Rechab, have accomplished the commandments of their father which he commanded them, but this people have not heard me.
17) THEREFORE, thus says Yahweh, God of Armies, God of Israel,
Check me out, bringing upon Judah and upon those living in Jerusalem, all the evil I have spoken to them because I have spoken to them and they have not heard and I have called to them and they have not answered.
18) BUT to the house of the Rechabites, Jeremiah said,
”Thus says Yahweh of Armies, God of Israel, because you have heard the commandments of Jonadab, your father, and you heard all his commandments and you did all that he commanded you,
19) THEREFORE, thus says Yahweh of Armies, God of Israel, Jonadab, son of Rechab, shall not lack a man in standing before me all their days.
So, who were these Rechabites? As you heard in my translation, the root word for the name is rider or charioteer. In the ancient Near East, this often meant a warrior class. In this case, since we are told that they lived in tents, we see that they are nomadic warriors. But why does Jeremiah bother with them? He bothers because God calls them to his attention.
Now, God may have called them to Jeremiah’s attention because they had a pretty important role in I Kings 10:15-28. Remember old Ahab and Jezebel, the Baal-worshipping King and Queen of the Northern Kingdom, Israel? A fellow named Jehu led a coup against the descendents of those idolatrous royals and, in I Kings 10:15-28, this Jonadab, son of Rechab, meets Jehu and is asked whose side he is on. Jonadab says, “Just watch me” and gets into Jehu’s chariot. They go into Samaria, the capitol of Israel, and slaughter the remaining 70 sons of Ahab, slaughtered all the worshippers in the temple of Baal, and destroyed both the pillars of Baal’s temple and the temple itself.
We also see that the zeal of Jonadab went further. He had commanded his descendents not to drink wine, live in anything other than tents, or plant vineyards or fields. Now, this makes sense if they are a warrior class. They can’t drink wine and stay alert. If they have stationary homes, fields, and vineyards, they can be targeted by the enemy. In this way they could not. Their father gave them instruction that was very practical for staying faithful to the task for which God called them.
Now, of course, this text has often been preached as a defense of total abstinence from alcohol as a beverage, but I think that misses the point. If we’re supposed to be teetotalers as a result of this text, we’re also not supposed to be homeowners or farmers. The point of the text is that God’s people are blessed when they obey the instruction of their fathers—ESPECIALLY when that instruction prepares them to avoid physical and materialistic entanglements and attachments that could weaken their service to the Lord.
Notice, then, what happens. Jeremiah brings them into a special chamber—essentially the chamber of Grace (Hanan) which is related to the fact that God is Great (Igdaliah) and close enough to the rooms allotted for the people of power (princes and priests) that you get a sense that something important is going to happen. Jeremiah orders the Rechabites to drink wine in this very holy place. And although I hesitate to reduce this account to a sacred version of “Simon Says,” note that he doesn’t say that the Lord told them to drink wine. He merely gives them the opportunity to disobey their ancestor and the encouragement to disobey their ancestor. But they don’t!
It must have seemed strange to the princes, the nobility, when these yokels from out in the wilderness, these barbarian mercenaries (at least, that’s my theory), refuse what must have been fine wine since it was dedicated to God. It may have been, as some commentators like John Calvin have suggested, a symbolic action directed at the priests who, though forbidden to drink while about their duties in the temple, were known to have done so.
Regardless, it was an attention-getting gambit, an elaborate stunt designed to allow Jeremiah to present God’s Word of judgment on Judah. If the Rechabites had accepted Jeremiah’s command and disobeyed their earthly father, the stunt would have failed. And do you know what? As tragic as it is, there are times when we disregard the wisdom passed along to us by godly parents to the detriment of God’s message because our own willfulness mitigates the effectiveness of our witness. Fortunately for our message, the Rechabites stay strong.
Now, as I read the response of the Rechabites, I’m not sure if this means that they are trying to excuse themselves for living in the city of Jerusalem temporarily and, as a result, disobeying one of these principles. God’s words at the end of the chapter certainly don’t indicate that there was any compromise. Yes, according to verse 12, they have taken refuge in the city walls, but it doesn’t say that they have taken up permanent residence in any houses. Indeed, it doesn’t even say that they’ve taken up temporary residence in any houses—just as US cities had Hoovertowns in the Great Depression and Atlanta has an illegal tent city or hobo camp near us—I can well imagine the Rechabites bivouacking in Jerusalem until the crisis is over.
What crisis? It certainly seems like the description of the situation in verse 11 fits nicely with the description of II Kings 24:1-2 (Read it). Jehoiakim seems to keep flip-flopping between masters. He’s aligned with Nebuchadnezzar. Then, according to this verse, he decides to throw off the yoke of Babylon. As a result, verse 2 describes probes from the Babylonians—testing Judah’s military strength, raids from the Syrians—picking up loot from the unprepared; and opportunistic attacks from their distant relations, the Moabites and Ammonites.
Eventually, the crisis described in II Kings 24 was to bring down Judah during the short-lived reign of Jehoiachin (ironically named “Yahweh establishes”), Jehoiakim’s son. But the most ironic aspect of this passage to me is the fact that the Rechabites admit to retreating from the armed might of the Babylonians and the Assyrians, BUT when God speaks, over and over again, God describes Himself as God of ARMIES (Lord of Hosts) and God of Israel (the northern kingdom was long gone, but God wasn’t finished with them yet). The Rechabites’ obedience to their father’s instruction had put them in good stead to find the mightier strength of God compared to what appeared to be the formidable strength of God’s enemies. And so it can still be today.
Let’s play particular attention to God’s words. God says that His rulers and even His ordinary citizens have ignored the very utterance of God. These “barbarians” from the wilderness are conscientious about their ancestor’s instructions but God’s people have, in general, ignored more important messages. Note the emphasis on “rising early” to speak by both God and the prophets. God isn’t trying to put the legalese in fine print at the bottom of His message or hire a speedy speaking prophet to state a disclaimer at the end of the sermon much like one of those radio announcers who says “Past performance is not guarantee of future results” or “Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price—may not be available at all locations, local taxes and restrictions may apply.” Instead, God persistently tried to express His will to His people which they blithely ignored.
And what was that will He was expressing? Verse 15 makes it clear. RETURN! That’s the essence of repentance—turning around to start heading, with God’s help, in the right direction. RETURN! They needed to turn FROM their own evil, destructive way and TOWARD God’s good way. The Hebrew verb for amending one’s way or making things right is literally to make your deeds good. RETURN! They were to turn FROM false gods and TOWARD the living God.
So, God contrasts the obedience of the Rechabites with the deafness and dumb willfulness of those in power. He insists that judgment will come because God has given them the message straight out and God has given them a call—an invitation out. And they ignored Him.
BUT the Rechabites will always have standing with God (literally, a man standing before Me) for as long as time goes on.
“Okay, preacher,” you ask, “what’s the point?” I believe this text has several. First, fathers have a responsibility to pass along wisdom to their children in order to ensure that their children are prepared to serve God and face God’s enemies. The advice to be sober/alert/not drunken, to be free of entanglements (to be able to go where God wants and to not have to fear the destruction of God’s enemies) is sound advice today.
Second, children have a responsibility to listen to their earthly fathers as well as their heavenly father. If I had listened to my father and submitted to my college professors instead of whining about what Cal Baptist DIDN’T have and rebelling against what I DIDN’T like, I would have gotten a lot more out of my college education. If I had paid attention to my father’s concerns about the way I expressed my theology, politics, and philosophy, I might not have had certain doors of ministry closed along the way.
Third, God has RISEN EARLY to share His will with us in the Bible and, if we ignore it like the residents of Jerusalem ignored God’s prophets, we are doomed to the same kinds of failures, defeats, and oppression. We’ll be defeated by demonic forces, our own weaknesses, and obvious enemies like those secular progressives who want to legislate our freedom of religious expression right out of our society.
Fourth, when we listen to our fathers—both heavenly and earthly—we get “standing” before God. God gives us boldness in sharing with others; God grants us courage in the face of opposition; and God guarantees access so that we can express our needs and desires to Him. But to ignore our fathers leads us to weakness and ineffectiveness. I’m afraid that, when looking back at my life since my brilliance beyond all others at age 17 and after looking at this passage of the Bible, Sidney Poitier’s cinematic doctor character wasn’t near as smart as I thought he was back in 1968. And, for the record, my dad is considerably wiser now than he was in ’68. I just don’t understand how he could have gotten so much smarter while I’ve gotten so much dumber.
Let’s commit ourselves to paying more attention to our earthly fathers if we still have them (or their memories) and paying more attention to our Heavenly Father’s revelation of Himself in the Bible. We can’t afford to ignore either means by which God shows His purpose for our lives.
