Bird's-eye view
In this brief but potent conclusion to the episode of the Rechabites, the prophet Jeremiah delivers the divine verdict. The entire affair has been a masterful piece of prophetic street theater, orchestrated by God Himself. He instructed Jeremiah to bring this obscure, nomadic clan into the Temple precincts and offer them wine. Their staunch refusal, grounded in a centuries-old command from their forefather Jonadab, becomes a living, breathing parable. It stands in stark, shameful contrast to the flagrant disobedience of Judah, who had received commands not from a mere man, but from the living God, and yet treated them like dust. Here in these final two verses, the object lesson is driven home with a promise. While covenant-breaking Judah is headed for calamity, this pocket of covenant-keeping Gentiles is given a promise of perpetuity. God sees and God rewards faithfulness, and the nature of that reward is to have a place "standing before Me always."
The passage serves as a powerful testament to the principles of generational faithfulness and the gravity of honoring one's forefathers. More than that, it reveals the character of God. He is not a distant deity, indifferent to the loyalties of men. He is the great rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, and He is pleased to use the simple, stubborn obedience of a desert clan to rebuke princes and priests. The promise made to the Rechabites is a gospel promise in miniature: faithfulness results in a lasting heritage and a place in the presence of God.
Outline
- 1. The Divine Commendation (v. 18)
- a. The Authority of the Message (v. 18a)
- b. The Reason for the Blessing: Obedience (v. 18b)
- c. The Thoroughness of their Obedience (v. 18c)
- 2. The Divine Promise (v. 19)
- a. The Certainty of the Promise (v. 19a)
- b. The Substance of the Promise: Perpetuity (v. 19b)
- c. The Nature of the Promise: Service (v. 19c)
Context In Jeremiah
Jeremiah 35 is a flashback. The events described here take place in the reign of Jehoiakim (v. 1), which is earlier than the surrounding chapters that deal with the final days of Zedekiah and the fall of Jerusalem. The Spirit arranges the material here not chronologically, but thematically. This chapter is a dramatic foil. Just before this, in chapter 34, God condemns Zedekiah and the nobles of Judah for making a covenant to release their Hebrew slaves and then faithlessly reneging on it. They break a direct command from God. Immediately following this, in chapter 36, Jehoiakim will take Jeremiah's scroll, the written Word of God, and burn it piece by piece in a fire pot. So, sandwiched between these two accounts of Israel's high-handed, covenant-breaking treachery, we have this story of the Rechabites' simple, steadfast, covenant-keeping integrity. Their faithfulness to a human father shames Judah's faithlessness to their heavenly Father. The contrast could not be more severe, and it serves to justify the coming judgment that Jeremiah has been prophesying all along.
Key Issues
- Generational Faithfulness
- The Fifth Commandment
- Covenant Keeping vs. Covenant Breaking
- The Nature of Divine Blessing
- Standing Before the Lord
Verse by Verse Commentary
18 Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have listened to the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands, and done according to all that he commanded you,
Jeremiah begins by establishing his authority. He is not offering his personal congratulations or patting them on the back for a job well done. The words that follow are not his own; they are a direct oracle from "Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel." This is the covenant God, the commander of angelic armies, the God who entered into a specific relationship with the sons of Jacob. It is this God who now turns His attention to this Gentile clan. And what has caught the eye of the King of the universe? Simple obedience. The word "because" is the hinge of the entire passage. Blessing follows obedience as thunder follows lightning. The reason for the commendation is threefold, and the repetition is for emphasis. First, they "listened to the command of Jonadab your father." This goes to the heart of the matter. They honored their father, not just in some sentimental way, but by paying careful attention to his instructions. This is the fifth commandment in shoe leather. Second, they "kept all his commands." Their obedience was not selective. They didn't pick and choose the parts of the family rule they liked. They embraced the whole package, the inconvenient parts included. Third, they had "done according to all that he commanded you." Theirs was not a theoretical or abstract obedience. It was practical, active, and complete. For over two centuries, this family had maintained a counter-cultural lifestyle based on the word of their patriarch. While Israel was chasing every new-fangled idol from the surrounding nations, the Rechabites were faithfully adhering to the old paths set for them by their father.
19 therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not have a man cut off from standing before Me always.” ’ ”
Here we move from the reason to the reward. The word "therefore" connects the promise directly to the obedience just described. Again, Jeremiah makes it plain that this is a divine decree from "Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel." The promise is not that the Rechabites will be rich, or that they will be powerful in the political sense. The promise is one of perpetuity and presence. "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not have a man cut off..." This is a promise of a lasting lineage. While the houses of the kings of Judah were about to be cut off and the nation sent into exile, this faithful family is promised a future. Jonadab, through his sons, will endure. God is the one who builds a house, a lineage, and He builds it on the foundation of faithfulness.
And what will this lineage be doing? They will be "standing before Me always." This is crucial. This is priestly language. It is used to describe the work of the Levites and the prophets, those who had special access to the presence of God to serve Him (Deut. 10:8; 1 Kings 17:1). God is not just promising them survival. He is promising them a place of honored service in His presence. They, a Gentile clan, are being granted a privilege that covenant-breaking Israel was in the process of forfeiting. Their steadfast obedience to an earthly father has resulted in their being brought into the very courts of their heavenly Father. This is a beautiful picture of the gospel. Through the perfect obedience of Christ, our true and better Father, we who were strangers and aliens are brought near and given the right to stand before God, not in fear, but in service and in praise, forever.
Application
The lesson of the Rechabites is a sharp-edged one for our own day. We live in an age that despises authority, mocks tradition, and honors novelty above all. The Rechabites are a rebuke to our chronological snobbery. They honored the wisdom of their father, Jonadab, and held fast to it for generations. This is the essence of the fifth commandment: honoring our father and mother, which is the root of all stable society. When we despise the heritage of our fathers, whether in our families, our churches, or our nations, we are setting ourselves up for the same judgment that befell Judah.
Furthermore, this passage teaches us that God sees and honors faithfulness in the small things. The Rechabites' rules were not, in themselves, divine commands. Not drinking wine is not a universal moral requirement. But their steadfast loyalty to the charge they had been given was a beautiful thing in God's sight. It revealed a heart of integrity. How can we expect to be faithful to God in the great matters of His law if we are faithless in our smaller commitments to men? Faithfulness is a character trait, and it is forged in the daily choices of obedience.
Finally, the reward is a glorious encouragement. God promises a lasting heritage to the faithful. While the disobedient see their family lines cut off and their names blotted out, God ensures that the righteous will be held in everlasting remembrance. The ultimate expression of this is not found in having an endless line of biological children, but in being part of the household of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Because of His perfect obedience, we are adopted as sons and given a place to "stand before" our God forever. Our obedience, flowing from faith in Him, is the way we walk in that blessing and secure a spiritual inheritance for the generations that follow us.