Jeremiah 35

This chapter (35) that we’re going to look at tonight actually goes back 10 or 20 years.   Remember, these chapters of the book of Jeremiah in our Bibles are not in chronological order.   They are in an intentional sequence though, they’re arranged as a coherent ‘message’ that God wants to convey through Jeremiah.

Let’s momentarily think about our VISION

• We are a community of people responding to the Gospel, living in freedom, and growing in the grace of God.

MISSION

• We are committed to communicating God's love and plan for people & making disciples through His Word.

CORE VALUES:

• WORD
• WORSHIP
• PRAYER
• FAMILY
• MISSIONS

What we at Calvary Chapel Lake Stevens are all about the same thing Jeremiah is teaching.   God wants us to be real, committed, devoted christians, putting God first in our lives.   And God wants us to be honest, transparent, committed people towards each other.

In this chapter, the Lord calls attention to the commitment of a single clan within Israel and to highlight their devotion as a family.  God highlights the Rechabites as a stark contrast to the nation of Judah.

Jeremiah 35:1-19 (NKJV) 1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” 

Picture this, let’s try to figure out what Jeremiah is doing here.   He gets this clan called the Rechabites and he brings him into the to the area of the temple and he sits him down and of course whenever Jeremiah does something he draws a crowd and so there's a crowd of people going okay what's jeremiah up to now and he sits him down and he pours out of these big jugs of wine and sets him in front of the Rechabites and says ok guys here’s some drinks.  Indulge!

3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, 4 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, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door. 5 Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 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. 7 ‘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.’ 8 “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, 9 “nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. 10 “But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 

So the Rechabites were nomadic herdsmen by decree if you will, of Jonadab.   They didn’t have permanent dwellings, they lived in tents.   They followed this practice of abstinence from alcohol as laid down by their parent Jonadab.  As a family they were a picture of having a very light connection to the world.

11 “But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Syrians.’ So we dwell at Jerusalem.” 12 Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying, 13 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction to obey My words?” says the LORD. 14 “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father’s commandment. But although I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, you did not obey Me. 

Sometimes, God teaches us lessons by comparison and contrast. In other words these guys (these Rechabites) are faithful and are doing what their forefather told them to do.   And yet you guys are not following what God (your heavenly Father) told you to do.

15 “I have also sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending [them,] saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me. 16 “Surely the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.” ’ 17 “Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the doom that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have not answered.’ ” 18 And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, 19 ‘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.” ’ ”

That means the descendants of Jonadab the son of Rechab shall continue (they will exist as a family down through the ages).   Wouldn’t it be interesting to be able to trace that lineage of Jonadab to this very day and see who his family were.   I guarantee you, based on God’s promise in His Word right here that you would see a Jewish family descended from Jonadab who trusts Jesus as their messiah.

God, through Jeremiah is trying to show the rest of the people that were listening how these Rechabites obeyed a man but you won't obey God.   God is shaming them and we ought to be ashamed when we obey man and not God.

You remember when the disciples got hauled in before the sanhedrin in Acts 5

Act 5:27-29 NASB95]  27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.

This story reminds us that obedience is a good thing but whenever we are called to an obedience that overrides what God has said in his word we have no obligation to obey it. We put a lot of prayer and discussion and thought into whether or not to hold church at a time during COVID when the state was basically mandating no in-person gathering.   We decided (with caution and with sobriety) we would meet.  Masks were in place, social distancing was in place, extreme deep cleaning of the premises was put in place, our air conditioning system was retrofitted with medical grade filtration.   We even rented a circus tent and met in the parking lot.   We began to offer youtube streaming of our services, for anyone with a compromised immune system or a tender conscience.

Here’s a thought experiment; you're in a job and your boss says i want you to fudge some numbers so we don’t have to pay so much in taxes. You are under no obligation to follow that order. But I’ll lose my job. You think God can't get you another job. You think God can't take care of you if you walk in obedience to him.  He will honor those who honor his word and that's the important thing to remember: we are to obey God.

If God gives you a command you obey it.  If man says no you can't keep that command you politely say i'm sorry but you’re not God.

Let’s look at some scriptural examples of being out of alignment with God bu placing man’s commandments over God’s.

Mark 7:3-13 (NKJV) 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash [their] hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 [When they come] from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, [like] the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” 6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with [their] lips, But their heart is far from Me. 7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men--the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” 9 He said to them, “[All too] well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10 “For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11 “But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me [is] Corban”--’ (that is, a gift [to God]), 12 “then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 “making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Some people place great emphasis on religion and religious acts, and going to church and how in some way that makes them right before God.    Some people a so focused on rule following, and yet they are involved in breaking the 7th commandment or the 9th commandment.

1 Samuel 15:22 (NKJV)

So Samuel said: “Has the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, [And] to heed than the fat of rams.

Here’s the punch-line.    What’s more important, to follow some tradition (something that’s been passed down from your forefathers) or to obey God?  Obviously, keep your word.  If you say you're going to do something, do it.   More importantly though, is to keep your word to God.

I try to keep the main thing, the main thing and I believe I’ve done so in this chapter of Jeremiah, but there’s a side topic that I want to give you my personal perspective on.

This chapter only peripherally deals with alcohol, but I want to briefly give you my thoughts on it.

I’m not a ‘teetotaller’.   In other words, I have drunk alcohol, and I don’t believe in a total prohibition of alcohol in everyone’s life.   But let me offer a few scriptural warnings:

Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

Romans 13:13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor [the] covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Ephesians 5:17-18 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

As an elder, I’ve sat and talked with more than one guy who struggled with alcohol or some other addictive behavior.   What do I tell them?   I give them my personal testimony related to drinking alcohol…

Here’s how I received the victory over drinking alcohol. I used to drink; even as a Christian.  I would tell myself and Julie, I just need to blow off a little steam.   She would say, “you don’t need that stuff.”

Around 25 years ago, I was working with a brother, Patrick Miles, to start Calvary Chapel Monroe.   We were studying and praying together.  We had a weekly church service that Julie and I were part of.   One time Patrick asked me, “do you drink?”   I said yeah.   He just challenged me not to drink any more.  It wasn’t until he set that challenge before me and I took it seriously that things changed.   It was just that simple.   What’s the Biblical principle in action here?   Titus 2:15 says These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.