Listen and Pay Attention to God; Then You Can Reform

Jeremiah 35:1-19                                                   Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 35:15                                                    3-16-18

“Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.’ But you have not paid attention or listened to me.“

Dear Lord, heavenly Father, thank you for your granting us true life and contentment in you, no matter what storm is raging around me. There is peace and calm as we live in you. I come before you now to meditate on your word. Please teach me your truth. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Part 1: An Attitude of Obedience (1-11)

Verses 1-11, “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: 2 “Go to the Rekabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink.”

3 So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the whole family of the Rekabites. 4 I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper. 5 Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”

6 But they replied, “We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jehonadab son of Rekab gave us this command: ‘Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine. 7 Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.’ 8 We have obeyed everything our forefather Jehonadab son of Rekab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine 9 or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops. 10 We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jehonadab commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded this land, we said, ‘Come, we must go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”

This passage is not in chronological order. Jeremiah is going back many years. He is not under house arrest here. We are taken back to a time when God was trying to show the people of Judah their sin through the life and ministry of Jeremiah. In this passage, their sin is their disobedience to God.

God wanted to reveal the peoples’ disobedience by revealing the obedience of a nomadic people, the Rekabites.  The Rekabites were the descendants of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. Their forefather was Jonadab son of Rekab. We know little about them.

The Lord sent Jeremiah to test them by tempting them to drink wine. Because their forefather Jonadab son of Rekab had commanded them not to drink. They all refused. They had tried to follow the lifestyle commanded by their forefather rather than following their own desires or the customs of the people around them.

How tempting this was. They are nomadic people. They would never have an opportunity to drink wine. It would have been a luxury to them. After all, wasn’t it a prophet that was offering it to them? They might have thought, “surely this is not so bad. Let’s just give this a little taste.” But they refused to even take a sip.

They would normally have not even come around Jerusalem, preferring the nomadic desert life that their forefathers told them to always live. But they were forced to come to Jerusalem, attempting to find refuge from the encroaching Babylonian army. Even though they were living in the city, they still kept their unity and their unique identity.

Their obedience to their forefather’s command was amazing! They were such a sincere people. They were honest. They were trustworthy. They understood their history. They had a clear identity as a people. They were united as one. Just being among them would make you smile.

I think that obedience to a forefather’s command, that is not in the Bible, is not so important. It is like the Hutterites or the Old Order Amish. They obey the commands of their forefathers. Their lifestyles are not part of the Bible. They are living the lifestyles that were handed down by their forefathers. They can choose to do this, but it is not a mandate from God.

But what is important to note is the Rekabites’ attitude of obedience. They are really intent to obey the commands of their ancestors. I think that this is the point that God wanted to make through this demonstration, obedience to his commands. This is what makes them a great example of obedience to show the people of Judah.

Part 2:  Pay Attention To God And Obey His Word  (12-19)

Verses 12-19, “12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: 13 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?’ declares the Lord. 14 ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab ordered his descendants not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me. 15 Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not paid attention or listened to me. 16 The descendants of Jehonadab son of Rekab have carried out the command their forefather gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.’

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’”

18 Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jehonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’ 19 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab will never fail to have a descendant to serve me.’”

The Lord wanted his people to learn a lesson in obedience and faithfulness from the Rekabites. It is not that God wanted them to obey how to build their homes and what kinds of job they should always have. God wanted them to obey the direction not to worship other gods nor practice the religions of the people around them. That seems simple enough. But it was too difficult for the Israelites to obey.

The Israelites practiced the religions of the surrounding nations. Maybe they intermarried and started to practice them. Maybe they were looking for some benefits from idols. They may have thought that if they worshipped Baal then they would have bountiful harvests. They could have wanted to enter into trade with surrounding nations who would only do so if they worshipped their local idol. It was much easier to get along with and be accepted by their gentile neighbors if they only compromised with their idols.

It is also easier to worship gentile’s idols than to follow the God of the Bible. These foreign religions appeal to peoples’ sinful desires. Some of these religions involved temple prostitution. It wouldn’t be too hard to get their teenage sons to get up early and go to the idol’s temple. They could sacrifice the children to Molech, the children that they were too poor to raise and hopefully get some benefit from the sacrifice. They didn’t have to repent of their sins and their selfishness. They could offer sacrifices and get some benefits for themselves. They also can humanly understand these man-made religions, for they are works based religions. They appeal to our humanistic elements. The more they put in the more they get. They more people obey the religion the more blessings they get for themselves and their family. It is easy and it is appealing. There are many reasons why a people group accepts gentile idols and worship foreign religions.

But ultimately the people are led astray from sincere worship of the God of the Bible into the arms of a counterfeit religion that does not give life and only death. They are not showing the way of the Lord to future generations. They actually are marching the whole entire nation into spiritual darkness. If the God of the Bible and his words are ignored for long enough then damaging religious and political beliefs grow, false beliefs that can keep a people enslaved for over 1,500 years or more. What happens to a nation whose citizens ignore the Gospel? Well there are countries where, 75 years ago, it was not dangerous to walk in the streets. But now the streets are full of crime and murder. People weren’t afraid to go out at night before, but they are now. What happened? People, “en mass” let go of obedience to the God of the Bible and his word.

But God’s people should obey God’s word. It is a matter of life and death, for the individual and also the nation. God has spoken to his people in Jeremiah’s time through the prophets, commanding them not to follow other gods. But the people did not obey. That was their downfall. When facing the example of the Rekabites they are without excuse. They were convicted.

It should have led to their repentance. But it did not.  They continued in their sin. The only thing that would help a small percentage of the people of Judah to repent was being conquered by the Babylonians and forced into exile. That helped. The idols that they worshipped could not help them out of that predicament.  What they needed to do is pay attention to God and listen to God.

God is faithful. The Rekabites, who had such a beautiful attitude, would be blessed for their faithfulness. But God would subject Israel to severe suffering. But this would be redemptive and turn the hearts of a small percentage of them back to God.

I learn from this passage, that though it is easier to follow the ways of the world, and we get some short term benefits from doing so, we must obey God. Obeying God begins with faith….faith to pay attention and to listen to him. This comes from regular and sincere Bible study and prayer and talking about God’s word with other people of faith.

Then God begins to work a miracle in our hearts. We begin to be able obey his word. He helps us to turn from our wickedness and reform our ways. What seemed so impossible before now is a reality. We see the importance of obedience to his word. He plants an earnestness in us to turn from our wicked ways and reform our actions. We become a new creation, a person who can obey God and glorify him. We become a nation who can glorify God.  God will surely bless us and the future generations when this happens.

Prayer: Lord, it is not easy to pay attention and listen to your word. So many have abandoned you and your word for the world. How short sighted! You make obedience to your word possible. By your grace help me to obey your word.

One Word: Listen to God and pay attention. God will help you obey him.