Rechabites Are No Joke

RECHABITES ARE NO JOKE

JEREMIAH 35:1-19

#FathersDay2021

DAD JOKES PART 1… https://www.countryliving.com/life/a27452412/best-dad-jokes/

Why do fathers take an extra pair of socks when they go golfing?" "In case they get a hole in one!"

"Singing in the shower is fun until you get soap in your mouth. Then it's a soap opera."

"What do a tick and the Eiffel Tower have in common?" "They're both Paris sites."

"What do you call a fish wearing a bowtie?" "Sofishticated."

"How do you follow Will Smith in the snow?" "You follow the fresh prints."

"If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?" "Pilgrims."

What do you call a factory that makes okay products?" "A satisfactory."

"What did the janitor say when he jumped out of the closet?" "Supplies!"

"What did the ocean say to the beach?" "Nothing, it just waved."

"Why do seagulls fly over the ocean?" "Because if they flew over the bay, we'd call them bagels."

"I only know 25 letters of the alphabet. I don't know y."

"What did the zero say to the eight?" "That belt looks good on you."

"I asked my dog what's two minus two. He said nothing."

"What did Baby Corn say to Mama Corn?" "Where's Pop Corn?"

"What's the best thing about Switzerland?" "I don't know, but the flag is a big plus."

INTRODUCTION

Today is Father’s Day. It is a Sunday where, since 1972, we highlight fathers. It is not a church holiday by any means… not like Christmas or Easter or Mother’s Day (wink wink)… but it is a day where many times we pause and focus on fatherhood. It is a worthy topic.

For this Father’s Day, I’d like us to spend time in Jeremiah 35 and see one father’s example and how it impacted his children and his family down through the generations. We meet a man named Jonadab the son of Rechab in 2 Kings 10 when he befriends a man named Jehu who became king and was tasked by the Lord to right wrongs and get rid of idol worship in Israel. Jehu mostly did well.

READ 2 Kings 10:27-28 (ESV)

And they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day. 28 Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel.

Jehu is king and he falters and the Bible tells us in 2 Kings 10:31 that Jehu was not careful to follow the ways of the Lord and was tripped up by sin, culture, and all of the other temptations that come our way.

I know I am mentioning King Jehu, but don’t forget about Jonadab the son of Rechab who was Jehu’s companion and helped set Israel back on the path to worshipping God properly. Jonadab was there. As far as I can tell, we don’t know much about Jonadab the son of Rechab until 200 years later when his family is mentioned in Jeremiah 35. There are a lot of names in this passage we are going to read, with which sometimes we struggle, so don’t get tripped up by them. Let’s read and discover about Jonadab.

READ JEREMIAH 35:1-11 (ESV)

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the LORD into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Syrians.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.”