Jeremiah 35:1-19 ERV
During the time when Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah, was king of Judah, the LORD spoke this message to Jeremiah:
[2] “Go to the Recabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the LORD’s Temple. Offer them wine to drink.”
[3] So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, who was the son of Habazziniah. And I got all of Jaazaniah’s brothers and sons and the whole family of the Recabites together.
[4] Then I brought them into the Temple of the LORD. We went into the room of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah. Hanan was a man of God. The room was next to the room where the princes of Judah stay. It was over the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum. Maaseiah was the doorkeeper in the Temple.
[5] Then I put some bowls full of wine and some cups in front of the Recabite family. And I said to them, “Drink some wine.”
[6] But the Recabite family answered, “We never drink wine. We never drink it because our ancestor Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine.
[7] Also you must never build houses, plant seeds, or plant vineyards. You must never do any of those things. You must live only in tents. If you do that, you will live a long time in the land where you move from place to place.’
[8] So we have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. None of us ever drinks wine, and neither do our wives, sons, or daughters.
[9] We never build houses to live in, we never own vineyards or fields, and we never plant crops.
[10] We have lived in tents and have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.
[11] But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked the country of Judah, we did go into Jerusalem. We said to each other, ‘Come, we must enter the city of Jerusalem so that we can escape the Babylonian army and the Aramean army.’ So we have stayed in Jerusalem.”
[12] Then this message from the LORD came to Jeremiah:
[13] “The LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says to go to the people of Judah and Jerusalem and tell them this message: ‘You should learn a lesson and obey my message.’ This message is from the LORD.
[14] ‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine, and that command has been obeyed. To this day the descendants of Jonadab have obeyed their ancestor’s command. They do not drink wine. But I have given commands to you people of Judah again and again, and you have not obeyed me.
[15] Time after time I have sent my servants the prophets to you. They said, “You must each stop doing evil things and do what is right. Don’t follow other gods. Don’t worship or serve them. If you obey me, you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not paid attention to my message.
[16] The descendants of Jonadab obeyed the commands that their ancestor gave them, but the people of Judah have not obeyed me.’
[17] “So this is what the LORD God All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘I said that many bad things would happen to Judah and Jerusalem. I will soon make all those bad things happen. I spoke to the people, but they refused to listen. I called out to them, but they didn’t answer me.’”
[18] Then Jeremiah said to the Recabite family, “This is what the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the commands of your ancestor Jonadab. You have followed all of his teachings. You have done everything he commanded.’
[19] So the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab to serve me.’”

The Rechabites were a nomadic tribe recorded in 1 Chronicles 2:55 as part of the Kenites of Hemmath.
Jonadab was the son of Rehab, a Kenite who descended from Hobab. He was the head of the Rechabites in the time of Jehu and commanded his tribe to abstain from wine, as well as instructing them to dwell in tents: this was to help see life as transient and to keep a low profile possibly to continue long in the land where they were strangers.
God used the faithfulness of the Rechabites to teach an important lesson to the Israelis. The Lord told Jeremiah to invite the Rechabites family to meet with him in verse 2 and to offer them wine, which they firmly declined, explaining the command of their forefather in verse 6. They remained faithful to their family tradition that had been passed on so long ago.
By the obedience of the Rechabites to their father, Jeremiah condemns the disobedience of the Jews to God their Father. We are taught how much God loves and rewards obedience and hates and punishes disobedience.
The Rechabites faithfully abided by the set rules through the generations, from Jehu’s time in 2 Kings 10:15 to Jeremiah’s time, well over 200 years.
The story of the Rechabites highlights the importance of covenant obedience and disobedience in our lives. The implication is that if the Rechabites observed the instructions of their human ancestors, stayed faithful to a long-standing family covenant not to drink wine, and held themselves accountable for their obedience to this instruction, we shouldn’t be careless and disobedient to God’s covenant. This family could have updated and modified Jonadab’s rule at any time in any generation, but they decided to hold fast to the generational long command.
God sent Jeremiah to remind Judah to learn a lesson from the Rechabites’ obedient faithfulness to Jonadab. God contrasted the obedience of the Rechabites to the disobedience of His people. Again, and again God sent His prophets to tell the Israelites to turn from their wicked ways, but the people wouldn’t heed God’s Word, just as again and again we hear God’s word but refuses to obey them. God is saying to us here that as the Rechabites obeyed and lived a good life based on their forefather’s instructions then, we too must hold firm to the new covenant in obedience and live by His word.
The consideration that we are strangers and pilgrims in this world as drawn in verses 9-10 should oblige us to abstain from all fleshly lusts and materialism. Jonadab’s descendants observed these strict rules, only using proper means for their safety in a time of general suffering. Now we have a greater means of staying safe, prospering and overcoming sufferings and shortcomings-the name of Jesus which is better and stronger than what not drinking wine will do for us.
We have a covenant obligation to obey the instructions of our “Father” and live the way His word wants us to live. There is much to learn from this family, they stood firm against assimilating into the culture of the time. Is it possible for us to be like the Rechabites in the world we live in now?
Shalom