Jeremiah 35 (HCSB)
The Rechabites’ Example
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them to one of the chambers of the temple of the Lord to offer them a drink of wine.”
3 So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the entire house of the Rechabites— 4 and I brought them into the temple of the Lord to a chamber occupied by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God, who had a chamber near the officials’ chamber, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper. 5 I set jars filled with wine and some cups before the sons of the house of the Rechabites and said to them, “Drink wine!”
6 But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded: ‘You and your sons must never drink wine. 7 You must not build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard. Those things are not for you. Rather, you must live in tents your whole life, so you may live a long time on the soil where you stay as a temporary resident.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, in all he commanded us. So we haven’t drunk wine our whole life—we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters. 9 We also have not built houses to live in and do not have vineyard, field, or seed. 10 But we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done as our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11 However, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched into the land, we said: Come, let’s go into Jerusalem to get away from the Chaldean and Aramean armies. So we have been living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Go, say to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem: Will you not accept discipline by listening to My words?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 14 “The words of Jonadab, son of Rechab, have been carried out. He commanded his sons not to drink wine, and they have not drunk to this very day because they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I have spoken to you time and time again, and you have not obeyed Me! 15 Time and time again I have sent you all My servants the prophets, proclaiming: Turn, each one from his evil way of life, and correct your actions. Stop following other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I gave you and your ancestors. But you would not pay attention or obey Me. 16 Yes, the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab carried out their ancestor’s command he gave them, but these people have not obeyed Me. 17 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring to Judah and to all the residents of Jerusalem all the disaster I have pronounced against them because I have spoken to them, but they have not obeyed, and I have called to them, but they would not answer.”
18 Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites: “This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab and have kept all his commands and have done all that he commanded you, 19 this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab son of Rechab will never fail to have a man to always stand before Me.’”
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 15b): Once again, You feel the need to repeat Yourself to me, Father, which I thank You for as I am often stubborn and hard-headed by default, unfortunately. You repeat Yourself here by saying I would not pay attention or obey You through the Word and messengers You have placed in my life. Please forgive me for this disobedience and inattentiveness, Father. Forgive me for often living in the distractions of this world. Help me to be better at truly paying attention to Your truths and Your words when You are relaying a message to me, Father.
PROMISE (verse 17): In this verse, You make us a promise that those who do not obey You and those who do not respond to Your callings to us will surely be disciplined in their lives and suffer through some type of disasters. All You want from us is a faithful and loving relationship from us with trust, obedience, and our attention, yet we often fail at this relationship time and time again. Please help me to be better in my relationship with You, Father, so that I may listen to the instruction and counsel You are often trying to give me.
ATTITUDE (verses 15b, 17b): I have struggled with this my entire life in my personal relationships, which has also carried over to my relationship with You since coming to faith, Father. Help me to no longer struggle with my attitude of inattentiveness. Help me to, at a minimum, be fully attentive in my relationship with You even if I may fail at times at being attentive in my personal relationships in this life, Father. Remind me that I should always want to listen to You and give me the discernment to know when it is definitely You trying to speak to me instead of the distractions of my own selfishness, the world, or even the enemy.
COMMAND (verse 15): In this verse, You again give what seems to be such a simple command, yet I have struggled with this my entire faith walk with You, Father. You command us to turn from our evil way of life, to correct our actions, to stop following the false gods of this life, to pay attention to You, and to obey You. Although it seems like a lot, this command is actually quite simple in nature. You’ve laid out a template for us to live our lives by, similar to how the laws of our governments work. You expect us to follow that template in our lives and when we don’t, You will administer appropriate discipline according to Your will and Your glory. Help me to be better at paying attention to You, Father, so that I may always know Your commands, but also be willing to obey them at all times.
EXAMPLE (verses 14-16): Father, the Rechabites in this Scripture thought they were being faithful to You by following the commands of their ancestors which were received by You. You seemed to be proud of them for that as that was better than many of Your people at the time. You were also disappointed in them, however, as they were so faithfully following what was passed down through generations through their ancestors, but they failed to listen to anything that came from messengers You were sending to them. Essentially, they were faithful to the instructions of old, but were not willing to accept any new instructions from You. Thank You for providing me this example, Father, as I often have lived my faith journey like this. I have often lived solely in the instruction of the past in some respects, but as I matured in my knowledge of You in my faith I failed to bring into my life anything new from You. Help me to live a more obedient, open, and flexible life so that I am living in a way that is attentive to Your needs for my life no matter how often those needs may change. Help me to be a better listener and to have better righteous discernment, so that I know when it is You wanting me to make a change.
*DAILY NOTE: Not only do I lose focus quite easily in many of my relationships and conversations, but I often listen to respond instead of just listening. I have done this to You, my wife, my kids, friends, coworkers, and even strangers. Please help me to silent my mind when I should be listening, Father. Help me to remove the distractions from my mind in those moments so I can be attentive. Help me to become a better listener instead of always trying to respond or solve a problem. Although You often give me advice in my time of need, I have noticed that You only give me that advice when I actually ask for it, Father. Thank You for being an amazing listener. Help me to be more like You, Father.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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