Hello and welcome back to another Revelation Post! I’ve been reading through the book of Jeremiah, and it has been edifying to say the least. This recent read-through I gleaned a lot from this chapter in particular and I pray it blesses you as it did me. Enjoy!
I was reading Jeremiah 35, and I’ll try to summarize it to the best of my abilities. The title of the chapter is “The Obedience of the Rechabites” and in this chapter the Lord instructs Jeremiah to invite a man named Jaazaniah, his brothers and their sons and the whole house of the Rechabites to enter into the house of the Lord and to offer them wine to drink. Being obedient, Jeremiah does so, inviting this family into the house of the Lord and offering them wine, but they end up declining to drink. They stated in verse 6 “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. (7) you shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant of have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’”
Now after hearing this Jeremiah receives a word from the Lord for the people of Judah and the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem which is summarized in verse 16: “The sons of Jonadab the sons of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me”. Due to the consistent disobedience of the people toward God and His commandments, as well as their dishonoring of the covenants made with Him, the Lord gives them over to disaster. Yet the Lord honors the house of the Rechabites in verse 19 stating “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.”
Even though the Rechabites were honoring a command given by man, the Lord honored their obedience, which spanned for generations. In contrast, the children of Israel have been disobedient for generations, dating all the way back to their deliverance from Egypt.
There are many other examples of the Lord honoring covenants, yet there are also plenty of examples of man failing to uphold their end of the deal; breaking commandments given by God and ruining a good thing. It’s no surprise that those who have broken the promises they made to the Lord encountered ruin and destruction, yet those who were obedient found favor in the Lord’s sight.
While God is graceful, and full of mercy, He is also unyielding when it comes to commands and covenants. He takes them seriously, and as the Bible gives evidence to, He does not fall short of fulfilling His word. More often than not it is us who falls short; praise be to God for His grace and mercy. The main thing I gleaned from this passage is just how much the Lord delights in obedience and how seriously He takes our words. If we, either individually or as a family form a covenant with God, the dangers of breaking it can be severe. This is why the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 5:5-6 (NJKV) “Better not to ow than to vow and not pay. (6) Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?” It’s better to not make a promise with the Lord, to swear by His name or form a covenant (like marriage for example) than to break it and present God with some sort of excuse, riling up His anger.
I don’t share this to scare you but to share in the revelation of just how serious the Lord takes the words we speak. Too often we as humans say one thing but do another. False promises and empty words are far from pleasing to the Lord, and we know that it’s better to be obedient than to sacrifice. If you make a commitment, honor it. If you form a covenant with the Lord, honor it. If you receive a command from the Lord, be obedient. Not out of fear of His wrath, but out of reverence and love for who He is. He will surely provide you the means to be obedient, but at the end of the day it’s our choice to make…daily. Do we honor the Lord, or do we go our own way?
I pray this has caused you to think, given you food for thought, and blessed you all at once. Take the word of the Lord seriously and watch what you promise. The Lord keeps His word; do you keep yours?
Until next time, stay blessed
JB
Rnt with JB 