My daughters have a friend who comes to play with them, but one thing about this girl is that she is ever clean. I have watched her grow but she has maintained that discipline. Sometimes when I have trouble getting mine to shower, I challenge them using the example of their friend. Then one day my youngest said, “From today onwards, when I see Patience from afar coming home, I will run to bathe” (although it never really happened). But the older one keeps saying “Mum, I will take a shower after playing because I will still get dirty”.
When Israel wouldn’t do what God wanted them to do, He brought in the Rechabites to challenge them.(Jer 35:12-15)
The Rechabites were descendants of Jehonadab from the tribe of the Kenites, relatives of Jethro Moses’s Father-in-law. (Jdg 1:16, 1Ch 2:55). He (Jehonadab) gave an order to his sons not to drink any wine, nor to build permanent houses or plant crops. They were to be nomads moving from place to place tending livestock.
Following Israeli’s continuous disobedience to God, God instructed, Prophet Jeremiah to invite the Rechabites to one of the chambers in the temple, to test their faithfulness to their custom. Jeremiah put pots full of wine before them and told them to drink but they refused, saying their forefather Jonadab instructed them not to drink wine. (Jer 35:2-6, 8).
“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 Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever: 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.
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; Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us”. (Jer 35:5-10)
Noteworthy is that, from the time of Jonadab to Jeremiah there was a span of over 200 years and yet his descendants were still faithful to his instruction. These people were not Israelites but they impressed God. .
KEY LESSONS FROM THE STORY
1. We should learn from those who are excelling spiritually. Just like in other arenas, spiritually there will be those who are doing better than the others. However, instead of becoming jealous or envious of them, we should befriend them if possible and learn from them. Imagine what great difference it would have made, if Cain had asked Abel the secret behind his sacrifice (that was accepted by God) instead of killing him.
Roberts Liardon compiled profiles of the ministers of God in a book called “God’s Generals”. I believe the goal for that book is so that the church can learn from these men and women of God and do better. However even while there are various platforms for that, some church leaders don’t want their members to learn from other ministers or churches. And also some individuals are very rigid; they feel like its sin to listen to other men and women of God except their own. Another evil is the stiff competition among churches instead of cooperation. We are of one faith, one hope, and one Spirit. And Jesus prayed that we should be one. The wealthy people say if you want to be rich, surround yourself with people who are better than you, so you can learn from them. The Rechabites were brought as a point of comparison to Israel, but we can take it that God wants us to learn from those who are doing well so we can pull up our socks.
2. Do not look at non-believers with contempt. The Rechabites were gentiles living among Israelites, yet God was impressed with them and even chose them to be priests.
Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Recabites, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says; “You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jonadab and have followed all the instructions and have done everything he ordered. Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says; Jonadab son of Rechab will never fail to have a man to serve me.
I heard Winfrey Oprah ask Bishop T.D. Jakes in an interview if there were many paths to God. And Bishop Jakes said, “You know you can even be in the right path and still miss heaven”. He was saying that even if you are a Christian and you do not follow God’s instructions, you can still miss heaven. Today many Christians have a superiority complex over people of other religions. They feel like they are the only righteousness ones just because they confessed. But many will be surprised on the Day of Judgment. The Israelites knew God, had all the laws yet they remained disobedient. And they were severely punished for their disobedience.
In the book of Luke 18, Jesus told a parable of two men who went before God. One went with the attitude of “I have done it all, I have no fault whatsoever” whereas the other went with great humility and was justified before God. Scripture says that Jesus told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. (Lk 18:9).
Let’s not be so full of ourselves. Remember all the ways of a man are clean/pure in his own sight but the Lord weighs the motives.
3. God’s love is patient and longsuffering. We read that He had spoken to the Israelites over and over. Sent His prophets to them over and over. This shows that God gives us many chances to change. He is full of mercy and compassion and does not delight in the destruction of His people. In fact this nature of God made Jonah to run away from his assignment. Jonah knew the people of Nineveh had sinned and wanted them punished but that wasn’t the heart of God. Instead He looked forward to them changing so they wouldn’t be destroyed. This should give encouragement to all who are struggling with sin. God isn’t angry with you but the reason His word keeps coming to you again and again is because He wants you to change and be saved, not continue in sin and be destroyed.
4. Teach our children the ways of God. It was over 200 years since Rechab gave his descendants those orders to the time that Jeremiah was told to call them to be showcased. These people wouldn’t have known what their ancestor told them to do, if the fathers weren’t committed to teaching their children these orders. God expects us to teach our children His ways. In referring to Abraham,
The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation…….For I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about what he has promised him. (Gen 18:17-19)
Prov 22:6, says ”Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
Deut 6:6-9 says, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
In my neighbourhood there are a number of Muslims and I get challenged to see the commitment they have in teaching their children the Quran and Arabic. These children gather in one home every evening after school and the “Mwalimu” (Teacher) teaches them. Yet most Christians wait for their children to be taught once a week in Sunday school. It’s impressive to hear the Sunday school children memorize scriptures during their presentations in the main church, but without a culture of reading the bible daily, those scriptures evaporate very soon after the presentation. Someone said that Christian parents ensure that their children go to school and do their homework daily before they go to sleep, but don’t mind if they missed church or to read their bibles.
5. We are pilgrims on earth. The Rechabites lived in tents and never planted crops. They wanted to be reminded that this world wasn’t their home and having permanent houses would have made them comfortable not to think of the next life. This should be our mindset as children of God. “Phil 3:20, says “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control; will transform our lowly bodies, so that they will be like his glorious body.
Col 3:1 says “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Jesus said He would come like a thief so we need to be alert and watchful always.
6. When we stubbornly and persistently live in disobedience God will reject us. People are misinterpreting grace as if it’s a leeway to continue living in sin because forgiveness is guaranteed. But just like human beings reach a point and give up on people who are continuously rebellious, even God will give up on you. I heard of a story of a man who was back and forth in his walk with the Lord. And when people told him to change he would tell them, “I know what you’re talking about, but don’t give up praying for me”. A man of God said one day while he was praying for this man, the Lord told him, “Get up from your knees and stop praying for that man. He said never pray for him again”. This is shocking yet it’s true that even today, there are people God has given up on, because they became adamant to his voice.
7. Let’s not become too familiar with God. Familiarity and dishonor will cause us not to take God’s word seriously. In the story in Jeremiah 35, God said I have spoken to you and even sent my prophets to you over and over yet you have refused to obey. In the book of Ezekiel 12, God said the Israelites had a proverb saying that his prophecies would not come to pass soon but were for the future. And that is typical of us today. People aren’t shaken to hear that Jesus is coming back soon. They think he will take a very long time and this makes them reluctant to obey.
Conclusion
Obedience to God is a true sign of our love for God. The Rechabites were showcased because of their obedience to their forefather. Love is the greatest and only effective motivation for obeying Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father and I too will love him and show myself to him”. ………….If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching……..He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. (John 14:21, 23, 24)
May God by His Spirit strength all of us to love and obey Him always.
