Obedient Rechabites and Disobedient Judah

Rev. Steve Andrews, pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 35:1-19.

The LORD sends Jeremiah to speak to the Rechabites. In 1 Chronicles 2, the Rechabites are connected with the Kenites, a group of people that historically had good relations with the people of Israel. Jeremiah gathers the Rechabites with important witnesses in one of the chambers of the temple of the LORD. He sets before them wine and invites them to drink. They refuse Jeremiah’s offer out of obedience to a command given by their father Jonadab. Abstinence from wine is a part of the lifestyle he gave to them, which they have not given up even as they sought protection from the Babylonians by living in Jerusalem. The LORD commands Jeremiah to use this as an object lesson to His people. The key is the obedience of the Rechabites. They faithfully listened to their father’s command and obeyed what he had said. This stands in stark contrast with the people of Judah. They repeatedly refused to obey what the LORD had said, despite His persistence in sending them prophets. This text calls us to listen to the LORD’s Word now with repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

“A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Jeremiah. The prophet calls the people of Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their faithless idolatry and warns them of the destruction that is coming in the Babylonian exile. Yet Jeremiah does not leave us without hope in the midst of such dark days. Jeremiah and all who believe the Word of God he preached survive because of hope that is found in the righteous Branch from the line of David, Jesus Christ.