Jeremiah;- The Rechabites (ch35), page 1

The last portion of Jeremiah’s narrative, before the prophecies against the nations, covers the final siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, in the time of king Zedekiah. But the story is interrupted by two chapters which take the story back to his predecessor Jehoiakim. The chronology of Jeremiah is very disordered, which I find irritating. However, I think I have guessed the reason for this particular anomaly. The two chapters work as a “flashback”, helping to explain why their relationship with their God has broken down to such a point that he is willing to allow this disaster.

At the beginning of ch35, Jeremiah invites a group of people to meet him in one of the chambers of the temple. The interview which follows may have been intended for the benefit of an invited audience.

We need to remember, as background, that the Israelites were once nomadic herders dwelling in tents. It shows in the dietary laws of Leviticus ch11, which declare quite clearly (reading between the lines); “We eat from our flocks and herds almost exclusively. We’re not interested in food that has to be hunted down, we don’t go near the sea, and we don’t stay in one place long enough to keep pigs or plant things. Especially not those dangerous vines”. Hence the moral implied in the story of Noah as the first tiller of the soil, and also the first man to get drunk (Genesis ch9 vv20-21). “See? That’s what happens when you start planting things. That’s when mankind started going downhill again.”

The taboo against settling down in houses and planting seeds would have been strengthened by the fact that the settlers and planters of the land were Canaanites who worshipped other gods. Nevertheless it was gradually relaxed among the Israelites, and only the taboo against vines and wine was preserved in the traditional laws. However, Jonadab son of Rechab commanded his descendants, as we learn in this chapter (vv8-10) to go back to living in tents. They were not to build houses or plant seeds. And of course they were not to drink wine, even from vines planted by other people.

It looks as though they returned to this way of life as a protest against the idolatry of Ahab and Jezebel. Jonadab appears in the story of Jehu’s rebellion (2 Kings ch10 vv15-16) when Jehu picks him up in his chariot and shows off his own zeal for the Lord, apparently looking for Jonadab’s approval and endorsement. We might wonder why the Rechabites were named after Jonadab’s father. I think the answer is that Rechab was the first to adopt the lifestyle, from personal choice, while Jonadab was the one who codified it, in his father’s honour, and imposed it upon his family.

The Rechabites must have found refuge in Judah after the fall of Israel. When Nebuchadnezzar came up against Judah near the end of Jehoiakim’s reign, they were obliged to seek shelter in Jerusalem (v11), compromising their reluctance to live in houses.

At the beginning of chapter 35, on the instructions of the Lord, Jeremiah visited the house where the Rechabites were living and invited them to join him in one of the chambers of the house of the Lord. Specifically, the chamber assigned to the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God (which may mean that he was a fellow-prophet). Jeremiah still had a few friends in high places. Ironically, this chamber was directly above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold, who may have looked suspiciously at the people whom Jeremiah was bringing into his domain (unless they were smuggled up an outside staircase). Sons of Maaseiah who are not especially friendly are mentioned elsewhere in the book.

I’m sure that the conversation which followed was not for Jeremiah’s benefit. There would have been followers of Jeremiah in that chamber, brought there for the purpose of hearing this explanation. That’s why I’m calling it an “interview”.

Jeremiah showed the invited Rechabites an array of cups and wine and invited them to drink. They refused, citing the commands of their ancestor Jonadab and explaining that they had always obeyed these commands (apart from the current forced compromise on the point of living in houses).

Jeremiah was then given a word from the Lord for the men of Judah and Jerusalem. I suspect that he delivered it on the spot, speaking immediately after the Rechabites. He pointed out the moral. The Rechabites had obeyed their father’s command faithfully. Yet the Lord had been speaking to the people of Judah persistently, through his servants the prophets, and they had not listened. That was why he was bringing down on Judah and Jerusalem all the evils which he had pronounced.

In contrast, the Rechabite community would have their reward; “Jonadab the son of Rechab will never lack a man to stand before me”.