The House of the Rechabites

Jeremiah 35

Introduction

We are going to return to Jeremiah now.

As you may know, Jeremiah stays in a fairly chronological order for the first 33 chapters.

Now we move into various portraits that are well out of chronology, but they are mostly given timelines as they are presented to us.

One of my favorite of these is the story of the Rechabites, which was first brought to my attention in a sermon by brother Waldron.

He brought them up as a matter of course as those familiar characters of which we were all aware. It was one of those moments when I realized I didn’t know the Bible like I thought I did.

The History of the Rechabites

These Rechabites do not appear out of the blue. We can trace them back through some connections.

The first connection is back to Jonadab or Jehonadab (2 Kgs. 10:15).

The next connection is made for us in the genealogies of Chronicles (1 Chron. 2:55).

The Kenites are the people of Moses’ in-laws (Judges 4:11).

Moses appealed to them to come with them into the promised land (Num. 10:29).

They continued to be a protected people living among the Israelites (1 Sam. 15:6).

Now come back to Jonadab and look at the environment in which he gives this counsel (2 Kgs. 10:15).

Now imagine that sort of people coming into the city, and what the folks in Jerusalem must have thought after 200-250 years of following these rules.

What We Can Learn

Sometimes it is wise to separate ourselves further from the world than law requires.

Fathers need to make the case for their rules.

They followed these rules because they trusted his judgment.

We should not quickly walk away from traditions set in place by faithful predecessors.

When others live faithfully by a standard that is stricter than God’s standard, it is a strong rebuke to those who consider God’s standard too great.

When we respect the source, instructions do not lose relevance.

Conclusion

What are you doing to keep yourself separated from the world?

Are you leading your family with this kind of authority?

Are you giving the word of God the same level of respect that is given to the instructions of men?