Jeremiah 35 records an interesting object lesson. It was a lesson for the people of the time . . . it is a lesson for the people of this time. And what grabs me about it, is a promise that God makes to a group of men at the time of Judah’s demise which is having an impact on some family, somewhere, today. If I’m reading it right, there are Rechabites among us . . .

The story’s pretty simple. God tells Jeremiah to go to the house of the Rechabites, and invite them over to the temple and then give them some wine to drink. Jeremiah extends the invitation . . . they RSVP in the affirmative . . . they show up . . . he serves up . . . and they close up . . .

“Then I (Jeremiah) set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, ‘Drink wine.’ But they said, ‘We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.’ ” (Jeremiah 35:5-10)

And these boys, and their families, become God’s example to a rebellious nation of what He desires. They had been instructed by their dad on how they were to live . . . and they listened . . . and they obeyed . . . and even when sitting in the temple of God, before a prophet of God, and told to drink, they said, “Uh, no. We have determined to do what our father asked of us.” And the Lord, through Jeremiah, says to the people of Judah, “Will you not receive instruction to obey my words like the sons of the Rechabite, Jonadab?” (35:13-14)

In their simple, unpretentious, “as for me and my house” willingness to follow the instruction of their father, these boys and their families are held up as a divine object lesson of the obedience the Father of the family of believers desires. An object lesson for Judah . . . an object lesson for me . . . the Father requests obedience. He wants His people to incline their ears to His word . . . to prepare their hearts for it to be planted . . . to steel their wills with holy determination to follow . . . to know the blessing of the enabling power of the Spirit . . . and to experience the joy of abiding in the will of the Savior of their souls. God desires obedience among His people.

And what’s captured my imagination is a promise God makes through Jeremiah to this family of tent dwelling teetotalers, “Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.'” (35:19)

There are, therefore, Rechabites among us . . .

Generation after generation . . . through the millennia . . . God has placed a special protection on the line of this family . . . all because of their willingness and desire to obey. And I can’t help but be challenged by the importance the Father places on obedience from His children . . . the joy it gives Him when I say, “Yes Lord” . . . “Thy will be done Lord” . . . “By Your strength Lord” . . . “Because I love you Lord.”

These Rechabites . . . they walk among us . . . oh, that by God’s grace we might walk as one of them . . . for His glory . . . amen?