12, 13Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts [Jehovah Zebaoth], the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken 14to my words? saith the Lord. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking [i. e., zealously and unceasingly]; but ye 15hearkened not unto me. I have sent also unto all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sendingthem, saying Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have 16not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me. Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded 17them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me: Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have 18called unto them, but they have not answered. And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, 19and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The commands of Jonadab, the Rechabite, have been kept centuries after his death by his people who are not descendants of Abraham, and who consequently participate in the covenant of promise only mediately, and in the second line. Israel, however, has not obeyed the commands of Jehovah, the God of hosts, though they have been presented and inculcated unceasingly by prophets. Therefore all the threatenings pronounced by the Lord on Israel shall be fulfilled. But to the Rechabites it is promised, that Jonadab shall not want a man to stand before Jehovah.
Jer_35:12-15. Then came … hearkened unto me. From “go,” Jer_35:13, we see that Jeremiah was to speak these words, not in the “chamber,” but outside, to the people.—Instruction. Comp. Jer_2:30; Jer_32:33.—Return ye now, etc. Comp. Jer_25:5.
Jer_35:16-19. Because the sons … forever.—Shall not want a man. Comp. rems. on Jer_33:17.—To stand before me. As this expression involves the idea of service (comp. Comm. on Jer_7:10), and according to the connection that of the priestly service or worship (comp. Comm. on Jer_15:19), it is not merely the continuance of the Rechabite family, but its perseverance in the worship of Jehovah. It is said that there are still Rechabites in Asia. Wolff, the missionary to the Jews, met them in Mesopotamia and Yemen. Wolff designates the desert of Yemen near Senaar, as the proper residence of these Rechabites, who still assert their origin from Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses. Comp. Dr. JosephWolff’s Travels.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. As the Lord says to the Jews of His time, Luk_11:31-32, that the queen of the South and the people of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment against the people of this generation, and will condemn them, for a greater than Solomon or Jonah is here, so might Jeremiah say to his contemporaries that the Rechabites would rise up against them, and condemn them, for a greater than Jonadab is here.
2. The Rechabites’ obedience to their ancestor’s command is in itself praiseworthy and exemplary. It is in perfect accordance with the fourth Commandment. Comp. Sirach 3. Were the Rechabites equally conscientious in their observance of the Divine commands? Would not a custom contrary to the divine command have been retained with equal tenacity on the authority of their chief? The family feeling and national spirit are natural. They do not mortify our fresh. They may, for the sake of the honor and interest of our family, which is mediately our own personal honor and interest, impel us to the most difficult performances. I have heard of children, on whom the inculcation of the divine commands made little impression; but when they were told, it is the King’s will, they did what was desired of them. Comp. Mar_7:8 sqq.
3. “All families could not pursue Rechab’s mode of life, nor should they. God gives many different callings; happy are they who can feel content in the most simple, and who constantly preserve the feeling of being pilgrims in this world. It is also not contrary to God’s ordering that distinct families, ranks and callings, are formed, or that special plans are adopted for the exercise of partnerships in certain times and circumstances, just as the church at Jerusalem introduced a kind of community of goods. We are only not to perceive any special sanctity in such arrangements; they are only practices, and all depends on the mind in which they are undertaken.” Diedrich.
4.“Abuti consueverunt hac narratione de Recha-bitis Monachi ad stabiliendam vitam monasticam, quemadmodum Bellarminus ex hoc capite causam eorum agere conatur (De Mon. II., cap. 5), hunc in modum scribens: ‘Habemus etiam Jeremiah 35 insignem commendationem nepotum Rechab, qui, cum iis pater sive avus præcepisset, ut domus non ædificarent, agros non seminarent, vineas non plantarent, vinum nunquam biberent, vitam durissimam quasi extra mundum agerent, omnia diligentissime observarunt, quos etiam monachorum nostrorum figuram gessisse scribit Hieronymus in Epist. ad Paulin.’Cf. Hieron. in Exod. cap. 21.” Förster.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
True obedience shown in the example of Israel and the Rechabites. 1. The Rechabites put Israel to shame, in so far as they obey the command of their earthly ancestor, while the latter does not obey the Lord’s command. 2. The obedience of the Rechabites to the command of their earthly ancestor is however no pledge of their obedience to the commands of God. 3. Obedience to God’s commands is guaranteed only among the spiritual Israel, i. e., among those, who by the Holy Spirit have become members of a higher order of nature, in which the will of God is written in the hearts of all, and has consequently become the innermost principle of life.—Or, 1. In respect to legal obedience the Jews are surpassed by the Rechabites (the difference between the two). 2. The obedience of the Rechabites to their ancestor does not guarantee their obedience to God (equality of the two). 3. Only spiritual Israel bears in itself the guarantee of obedience to God’s command (the higher third).
Footnotes:
Jer_35:14.—
äåַּ÷í àֶúÎãִּáְøִé
. On the construction. Comp. Naegelsb Gr., 100, 2.
Jer_35:15.—
åִùׁáå àì
–
äàãîä
. Comp. 25. 5.
àֵì
for
òַì
. Comp. Comm. on Jer_10:1, as also
àֵìÎéְäåּãָä
, Jer_35:17, and the reverse in
òַìÎîöְåַú
, Jer_35:18.
