The Rechabites Commended
35 [a]The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoi′akim the son of Josi′ah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the Rech′abites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Ja-azani′ah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazzini′ah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rech′abites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdali′ah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Ma-asei′ah the son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rech′abites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jon′adab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons for ever; 7 you shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jon′adab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed; 10 but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed and done all that Jon′adab our father commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chalde′ans and the army of the Syrians.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? says the Lord. 14 The command which Jon′adab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept; and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land which I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jon′adab the son of Rechab have kept the command which their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing on Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered.”
18 But to the house of the Rech′abites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jon′adab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jon′adab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.”
Footnotes
- 35 This chapter is our chief source of information about the little-known sect of Rechabites; cf. 2 Kings 10. 15-16, 23. They obeyed what they felt to be a call to serve God in the wilderness and desert places. The ancient nomad life during the Exodus was always looked back to as the time of the greatest fidelity to God.