“The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: 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.” (Jer 35:1-5 AV)

This incident would have seemed very odd in the ordinary, run of the mill experiences of the Jewish people. It certainly had some distinctly interesting and extraordinary characteristics because Jeremiah’s actions were no everyday occurrences. Firstly, He was God’s prophet. Secondly, He claimed to be acting under divine instructions. Thirdly, he brought the Rechabites into the temple to perform what could be seen as a divinely sanctioned action that would violate their most treasured values, virtues and traditions. Fourthly, the right and appropriate thing for the people involved in this soiree was to obey God’s instructions for them to drink the wine according to the accepted norms for responding to divine invitations. Fifthly, Jeremiah in conjunction with God, seemed to have set up the Rechabites with an unforeseen dilemma with which they had no business becoming entangled.

When God spoke through His prophets, the hearer had the choice of fully obeying, partially complying or completely disobeying His instructions. However, this was not the case for the Lord’s people. They had always been expected to obey God’s directives. God had laid this principle out clearly in His dealings with individual humans beginning with Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3. He continued to reinforce it unequivocally throughout His covenant with the Children of Israel in Deuteronomy Chapters 27 – 28. In these chapters, Jehovah explained the contract in clear and simple terms such as: a blessing if you obey and a curse if you disobey.

Obedience to God’s directives was a familiar prerequisite for interacting with His prophets as well.  By the time of Jeremiah’s emergence on the scene it had been received wisdom that obedience was preferable. It was also settled that (as a general rule) it was not a good idea for people or nations to disobey the directions of God’s prophets. The Bible is replete with the dire consequences incurred by individuals and the Children of Israel when they did not follow God’s instructions. For example, 1 Kings 13:1-32 relates the story of God’s Prophet who disobeyed His instructions not to stop nor ingest food near Bethel after he had delivered God’s judgment against the idol worshiping Jeroboam. After refusing the King’s hospitality and proceeding on his way, the prophet returned to the house of another deceitful prophet and visited with him against God’s specific instructions. He was killed by a lion after he attempted to resume his journey.

Likewise, partial or incomplete compliance had its punishing results too. Another example of a national consequence that flowed from a partial attempt at following the prophet’s instructions is seen in the story of 2 Kings 13:14-19 when Joash the King of Israel came to visit Elisha on his deathbed. The prophet instructed the King to take some arrows and strike the ground with them. King Joash complied and struck the ground three times and stopped without being told to do so. Elisha became upset with the king and explained that had he struck the ground more, he would have defeated Syria. However, seeing that he had only struck thrice, he would attack them three times but not defeat them.

Within this well understood context, Jeremiah, in compliance with Jehovah’s instructions, brought the Rechabites into the Temple and offered them wine to drink. The Rechabites refused outright.

“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 35:6-10 AV)

It is quite tempting to use the Rechabites refusal to obey Jehovah’s instructions to drink wine to promote abstinence from alcohol. However, this reflects only a shallow understanding of the meaning of their actions. From God’s viewpoint, their refusal to obey His instructions made them the perfect people to employ to carry out His purpose. God had known that the Children of Israel would be disobedient and break the terms of the covenant (De 31:16). Consequently, it was a small matter for Him to select an individual or group of people to display the values He thought were important. It would be easy for Him to arrange matters, (long before they would become current) to have circumstances and individuals in place to obtain the results He needed to make His point. The Rechabites were best fitted for the prophetic declaration and judgment God needed to make at that point in time

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me. I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me. Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me: Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.” (Jer 35:13-17 AV)

God approved of the Rechabites adherence to their father’s instructions, even though it meant disobeying His own directive. An odd occurrence, because we are familiar with the Lord’s insistence on obedience to His word. Why did their actions so impress God?

Prior to Jeremiah’s interaction with them, the Rechabites were not particularly highlighted in the Scriptures. In fact, this story is only mentioned in Jeremiah 35. In contrast, their father was a noteworthy person and was referred to many times. The most noteworthy mention was in 2 Kings 10:15-25, where Elijah invited him to accompany him on Jehu’s mission to eradicate Baal’s prophets and eliminate baal worship out of Israel. It is reasonable to assume that their existence and customs were probably familiar to Jeremiah because their way of living was not particularly unique, and their father’s participation and actions in restoring the true worship of Jehovah was recorded in the annals of Jewish history.

The obvious interpretation for Christian denominations is to laud the Rechabites for their obedience to their father’s teachings. Other traditional interpretations admire the Rechabites for their moral purity and faithful adherence to the Mosaic codes. Some have used their example as a template for promoting abstinence from alcohol. Still others can identify their rigid faithfulness to their cultural traditions as noteworthy as they resist the influences of cultural change and inclination towards depravity and excesses.

While these are credible ways of interpreting their actions, they do not explain why God approved of their refusal to accept His invitation to drink wine. Neither does it account for why He celebrated it so much that He set up an everlasting covenant

With them

“And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.” (Jer 35:18-19 AV)

although obedience was the most striking feature of this episode, their willingness to refuse God’s order to drink wine (because doing so would contravene their allegiance and fidelity to their father’s directives) displayed important characteristics about them. It was also a test of their faithfulness, consistency, commitment, discipline, and integrity.  God had obviously arranged for their forefathers to pass down these instructions to them way back in the past. Jonadab, their forefather, had given them these directives as he saw fit or so he may have thought. They were obviously important because his descendants stuck to them religiously. Whatever means were used to drill these virtues into their family culture, they had carried their allegiance and loyalty throughout the generations, so much so that even a prophet claiming to be divinely inspired could not separate them from these values.

Treasuring these values may have become the very foundation of their cultural distinctness for them, so that they could not countenance being brought into the temple to desecrate them- even if this desecration was to take place in one of the holiest places in Israel.

Jehovah, knowing the heart of their father and his ability to instill these characteristics into his offspring, selected them for their faithfulness and willingness to stick to what they believed in, even when He sent His prophet to test them. They were the perfect material for Him to use as his exemplar. They were to be set up as an example of faithfulness and obedience that He could use to contrast with the nation of Israel. Their very existence would be a reproach to the children of Israel because they were unfaithful and could not keep the terms of their contract with God. Yet these Rechabites would hold to their instructions and not be swayed, even by God Himself.

The Rechabites had been chosen to be God’s advertisement. This was not strange from a scriptural perspective. We know of Job, who unknown to him, was suddenly thrust into the middle of a divine contest at God’s insistence to prove God’s points in His argument with Satan (Job 1:8 – 12, 2:2 – 6). Like the Rechabites, it wasn’t just job’s integrity that was on trial, but God’s ability to assess character and pronounce judgment on anything. Job did not fail God, but stood as a shining billboard to prove to Satan and the hosts of eternity that His confidence was well placed.

The Rechabites in their own simple way had been living from generation to generations as show pieces and bandit signs for God’s fidelity and justice. Unknown to them, He had selected them long before they were born and given their father instructions which would see them tested at some time in the future and able to successfully pass the test. Their disobedience to His prophet was never a question from His perspective. Although Jeremiah might have wondered about the outcome of this venture, God would have known beforehand that they would react the way they did. Further He would have been aware that this was the reaction that was needed to provide the example that He could hold up for the rest of the Children of Israel to see.

More importantly for us, their example earned them a chapter in our Bible. What we can learn from them is perhaps yet not properly understood. Certainly, it was far more than drinking or not drinking wine as a sign of their righteousness. The Rechabites were not the only people who abstained from strong drink and wine. Samson (Ju 13:3-5) and John the Baptizer (Lu 1:13-15) were two other famous examples of people who practiced abstinence from wine and other alcoholic beverages.

Based on God’s reaction, it was clear that the Rechabites had fulfilled the purpose for which He had called them. They were to be advertisement for the values He treasured most such as consistency, integrity, obedience, commitment and fidelity to the most important customs, practices and values as they understood them.

The argument can probably be made that they were faced with a win -win situation. This means that if

they had chosen to follow the prophet’s instructions and drank the wine, they would have been obeying Jehovah and therefore were not sinning. This argument can be strengthened by the fact that wine drinking is perfectly acceptable among those who follow Judaism. God had not prohibited wine drinking, so that the prophet had not set up a moral dilemma for them, and the question was not about sinning, but making a choice that had particular repercussions attached. It is possible that in their simple way they were unaware of the long-term ramifications of their choice and did not ponder too much about which way they should go. They simply relied on the tried and true values, virtues, and traditions that had kept them through the generations and chose according to what they knew to be right.

Just as their choice taught us something, we can also learn from the alternative that they did not pursue. Although it was not a question of sinning, had they drunk the wine they would not have served Jehovah’s purpose for them to be His showcase. They would have abandoned what they knew to be true up to that point, relinquished their treasured values and lost their distinctness as they began to drink and behave like the Jews among whom they were living. They were Kenites and “strangers” among the Jews and they could easily have adopted their customs and blended in, leaving their fathers injunctions behind. We would probably not have read about them as they settled in to be like everyone else and possibly died out as time wore on. In all this they would not have sinned but done what the good man of God had encouraged them to do.

However, they would have lost out on the opportunity to be God’s showcase for His prophetic purpose. Their act in holding to what they believed to be true and right for them, led them to be a remarkable group. So much so that God’s approval was recorded for our instruction. Not only that, but God has blessed them so that their culture and way of life did not die out, but they lasted all those millennia and can still be found today in the middle east.

Learn more about the Rechabites at:

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12616-rechabites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechabite

Who were the Rechabites?

https://www.gotquestions.org/Rechabites.html