Sunday Morning, December 1, 2019 AM

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Sunday Morning, December 1, 2019 AM “Like a Rechabite” Jeremiah 35:1-19

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Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Father, I thank you for those you have brought today.
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I just thank you for gathering us together around this most necessary food, your word, given to us by your
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Holy Spirit, all about your Son Jesus Christ, our bread from heaven.
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And I pray that you would help us to be satisfied in Christ today, be nourished by him and to be filled by him.
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I pray that you would attune our desires to you and fulfill those desires with Christ.
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Lord, we thank you for being our Heavenly Father who knows our needs before we even ask, who goes about meeting those needs and providing for us.
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We thank you that you invite us to come to you and to pray, to seek your face, to approach you with confidence because of who sits at your right hand, our
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Savior, our Lord, our elder brother, Jesus Christ.
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We thank you that we may approach in his name, that by his name we may know you and fellowship together with you through your gift of the
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Holy Spirit. May you do your work in us according to your word.
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We pray for these many mercies, these graces, looking only to Christ, the one with whom you are well -pleased.
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Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles to Jeremiah 35, Jeremiah 35 and be reading verses 1 through 11 in a moment, but we may make it to the end of the chapter, we may not, depending on how how the
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Lord moves. The title of the sermon today is, Like a Rechabite. You know, it's one of those words that only a few who are in the know really get, and it's not fair, but you know how it is when you get around a nerd, or it's worse if there's two nerds, because then they begin to talk about things in shorthand that other people just kind of stare on, and they want to be involved, they really do.
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They want to have the camaraderie of the inside joke and the meaning of the terms, but just really don't know what's going on.
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But I pray, it is my heart's desire, that at the end of our time together in this chapter, that we will all, like nerds, know what a rechabite is, and that we can use it as our shorthand to talk about our faith and what it means, how we live out our faith in Christ.
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So Jeremiah 35, and we'll be reading verses 1 through 11 in a moment. As you are making your way there, it's important to remember that just a couple of chapters ago in Jeremiah, there was a focus on the latter portion of Zedekiah's reign, the last king to sit on the throne of David prior to Christ.
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And Zedekiah is, in those last few days, desperate, and he has
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Jeremiah imprisoned. The armies of Babylon have surrounded the city and have pushed their siege engines all the way to the walls.
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Very soon now, the armies of Babylon will be coming into the city. Death and destruction await almost all who live in the walls.
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A very dismal time, a very tragic time.
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But now, in chapter 35, our passage involves a story that happens at least 10, probably 15 years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem.
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It was a time when the Babylonians were indeed a threat. Their armies had begun moving through this general area of the ancient
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Near East, defeating small kingdoms and city -states. Judah herself would be no exception.
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They too would have to bow the knee to the power of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies.
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But things weren't so bad. It wasn't as bad as it was right before the city was destroyed.
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This was a time when when Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies were coming through and they would indeed put
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Jerusalem under the thumb of Babylonian power. They would indeed take some exiles out to Babylon.
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But it was not yet the end. And we have a story here in Jeremiah 35 where God speaks through Jeremiah to the people, to the king
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Jehoiakim and the people, and he gives them an example.
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He takes a small, odd family called the Rechabites, puts them in front of the whole nation, and says, why can't you be more like these people?
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And that's what we're going to learn about today. We're going to think about the Rechabites. We're going to think about how to speak and obey and to listen and to stand like Rechabites.
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So if you please stand with me, I'm going to read Jeremiah 35 and I'll read verses 1 through 11.
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The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, go to the house of the
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Rechabites and speak to them and bring them into the house of the Lord into one of the chambers and give them wine to drink.
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Then I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazaniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the
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Rechabites and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Mosiah, the son of Shalom, the doorkeeper.
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And I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites, pitchers full of wine and cups, and I said to them, drink wine.
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But they said, we will not drink wine for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us saying, you shall not drink wine, you or your sons forever.
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You shall not build a house and you shall not sow seed. You should not plant a vineyard or own one, but in tents you shall dwell all your days that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.
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We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in.
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And we do not have vineyard or field or seed. We have only dwelt in tents and have obeyed and have done according to all that Jonadab, our father, commanded us.
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But when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against the land, we said, come, let us go to Jerusalem before the army of the
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Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans. So we have dwelt in Jerusalem.
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And this is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. There are certain qualities and customs and mannerisms that are unique to each family, making that family group distinctive.
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Celebrating Thanksgiving with my wife's side of the family is a different experience than celebrating it with my side of the family.
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There are unique interactions. There are unique traditions and expectations with each gathering.
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I'm sure that you've experienced that, depending on what side of the family you're with. And then, if they ever all get together, all the distinctives which occur.
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It's hard for those coming inside the family for the first time, the newly married spouse, the in -law, the fresh in -law, coming in to a family gathering where all this shorthand is understood and all the past history is understood.
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And they don't quite know how to interact with everyone. But each family has its unique culture.
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I think we know that. I think we know that the Cleavers are not the Simpsons. Every family is different.
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And even when it's not Thanksgiving or Christmas, the way in which families approach everyday life, not just their main gatherings, but just everyday life, the way they handle difficulties, the way that they come together for celebrations, the way that they communicate through various media, it all says something about the family.
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It all says something about that family. If you were to come to a gathering of my mother's side, there would be a marathon of storytelling.
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If you were to come to a gathering of my father's side, there would be barbecue bologna. These are the constants, always.
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Families are known by their culture. Families are known by their culture, good or bad.
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Good or bad. Families are known by their culture. What about our family here at Sunnyside Baptist Church?
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What about our family here? What is distinctive about our church family? We are a clan of Christ in this world.
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We live on his turf. We press his claims. But what is our recipe?
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How is it that we are seasoned? As Christ builds us up into him, into a full measure of maturity, our culture is to be crafted according to his glory.
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Our unique sets of relationships and interactions, our unique traditions, our qualities, our customs, our mannerisms, these are all to be married to Christ's character, his power, his plans.
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Christ is building his culture here among us, through us, so that we care for each other.
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And we welcome the stranger and we hold fiercely to the truth.
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We make music, we give generously, we feast, and we roll up our sleeves together.
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That's the way that Sunnysiders do things. And what is true and what is good and what is beautiful about our way is
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Christ's work in building us up into him. And the rest of it is our quirky personalities, our limitations, perhaps, and yes, indeed, our failings.
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But ultimately, what is worthwhile about being a part of this family is found in the worthiness of Jesus Christ, his words in our minds, his truths in our mouths, his character in our lives, his love in our hearts.
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Families are known by their culture, good or bad. Churches are families too, and of course, it's true in that way as well.
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We're going to learn about an odd little family in Jeremiah's time called the Rechabites, and they were known for their exemplary culture.
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God had a message for the whole tribe of Judah, all that was left of his people in that kingdom, and he wanted to highlight these oddball
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Rechabites and say, you know, you all could learn a thing or two from this family.
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And so the first thing that God wants the Jews to learn, and something that we would be wise to imitate, is to speak like a
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Rechabite. To speak like a Rechabite. Verses 1 through 7, we have a build -up to the first time that we hear this family speak to Jeremiah, and the build -up is that of a test that is given to them, and then they speak the truth to Jeremiah as their response.
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But to understand why these Rechabites are the way that they are, to understand the nature of the test that they have been given, we have to back up probably about 200 years.
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We first encounter the Rechabites in the person of their formidable forefather Jehonadab.
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Now in our chapter he's called Jehonadab. The extra E -H at the beginning of the name is dropped out, but his formal name, his full name, is
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Jehonadab. The extra E -H is interesting, it's actually, it's called a theophoric element, it's adding a little part of the name of God into your own name.
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The idea is that you're zealous for the Lord, the idea is that you want to maximize the glory of his name by the way in which people know your name.
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So you put a little part of the name of God, not the full name by any means, you put a little part of the name of God into your own name, so that when people hear your name, the idea is they would know you as a worshiper of the one true
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God, and that they would give praise to God because of you, because of the way in which you live.
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The Rechabites also followed this pattern, the Rechabites we encounter past Jehonadab also had the same kind of elements in their name.
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But Jehonadab was indeed zealous for the Lord. He lived in a time of great chaos, a great transition was taking place.
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The Omride dynasty had ruled over the northern kingdom Israel and had great influence on the southern kingdom of Judah, who were the
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Omrides you may ask? Just think Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab and Jezebel's dynasty was coming to an end.
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God divinely orchestrated a coup. He ordained, he anointed a new king in the northern kingdom by the name of Jehu, and he had
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Jehu as his instrument of judgment against all of Ahab's clan.
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Jehu ensured that Jezebel was killed, thrown out of a window to her bloody death.
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Her carcass was eaten by dogs while Jehu feasted in the local tavern.
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He went on to go fighting against more Omrides. He took out 70
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Omrides by a slaughter by correspondence course, as he sent out letters to all sorts of people and said, if you're really loyal to me, then rack up the
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Omrides and send me their heads. And then he went out and he found 42 more, which he took care of himself personally.
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And now he was in his chariot and driving towards a town where he was going to gather together all of the prophets of Baal at one time in one place, by trickery, that he could kill them all in one fell swoop.
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As he was driving along, this is in 2nd Kings chapter 10, as he was driving along,
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Jehonadab came to meet him. You may ask, how was it that Jehonadab could find
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Jehu? Well, the thing about Jehu was that everybody knew where he was at any given time based on his driving style.
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This is just for free, but if you pull up behind a car that has a vanity license plate that says 2k 920, you may want to give that person a little bit of room.
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2nd Kings chapter 9 verse 20, the watchman reported, the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.
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Everybody knew where Jehu was at any given time because of his driving style, and Jehonadab found him.
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In 2nd Kings 10 verses 15 through 17, we hear about their interaction. Now, when he departed from there, he met
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Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him, and he greeted him and said to him, is your heart right as my heart is with your heart?
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Which is a long way of saying, are you with me? Jehonadab answered, it is.
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Which is a very soft translation. The Geneva Bible had it a little bit better.
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Yea, doubtless. It's a very emphatic way of saying yes. So, Jehu is out killing
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Omrides, he's out killing Ahab's descendants, he made sure Jezebel died, he's cleansing that stain out of Israel, and he's on his way to go kill all the prophets of Baal.
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And he wants to know if Jehonadab, the Rechabite, is with him or against him, and Jehonadab says, you betcha
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I'm with you. Let's go get this done. Because Jehonadab was zealous for the Lord, and he was with Jehu when
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Jehu killed all the prophets of Baal. This is a good foreshadowing of the test that Jeremiah puts before Jehonadab's descendants.
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The question is put to Jehonadab, and he answers decisively.
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He answers definitively. So also his descendants, when the test is placed before them, they answer decisively.
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They answer definitively. Notice the test, verses 1 through 5.
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The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, go to the house of the
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Rechabites and speak to them and bring them into the house of the Lord into one of the chambers and give them wine to drink.
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So Jeremiah does that, and he goes and he gathers all the Rechabites together, and we discover later that they had fled the oncoming armies of Babylon.
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They were nomads. They had no houses. They had no vineyards. They had no farms. So they just moved ahead of the oncoming
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Babylonian armies until they ended up in Jerusalem, and there they were dwelling.
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Jeremiah goes and gets this whole family, brings them to the temple, brings them upstairs to an upper chamber into which all of them fit.
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All of them can fit in one room. That's how large this family was. That's how small this family was.
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They were not a powerful family. They were not a formidable family. What can this small little family do to help
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Judah? What part can they possibly play? Well, by their example, by putting on display their culture.
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God has honored the family by bringing them into this place. He makes their example fairly public, as it would be an odd thing to see these nomads march through the temple courts into the temple itself.
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God intends this to be an obvious example to all of his people, and he tests the people.
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We read in the text that Jonadab told his descendants, he instructed his descendants, gave them a perpetual command, you shall not drink wine.
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And God told Jeremiah to bring this family into the temple for the express purpose of ordering them to drink wine.
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So what is this? This is a test. This is a test.
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God intentionally tests this family because he's going to prove his point.
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He's going to bring glory to his name. He tested Israel in the wilderness, didn't he?
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He let them be hungry. He let them be thirsty to prove to them his glory and giving them bread from heaven and water from a rock.
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He intentionally tested his very own son, Jesus Christ, in the wilderness as Jesus defeated the temptations of the devil and proved himself the faithful son.
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Why does God test his people? The point of God's sovereign tests is to provide a megaphone for the truth.
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We are being tested by our sovereign God. Every single last one of us here.
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We are always and ever being tested by our sovereign
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God. Are things going well? He's testing you with prosperity, health, and peace.
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What will you do with it? Are you sick?
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Are you poor? Are you confused?
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Are you sorrowful? What is it? Has it come to you outside of God's hands?
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Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights with whom there was no variation or shifting shadow.
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Everything that comes to you has come to you by the hands of God and it's an opportunity.
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It's an opportunity to glorify God. How will we speak?
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What will we say when we are being tested? When Jonadab spoke zealously and directly to Jehu.
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So also the Rechabites here speak zealously and directly to Jeremiah. Verses six and seven, they tell him the truth.
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They said to him, we will not drink wine. For Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father commanded us saying, you shall not drink wine, you or your sons forever.
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You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one, but in tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.
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Which means that these Rechabites were perpetual nomads. They were a small family without power or prestige.
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They all could fit in one little room in the temple. And they should have been addled.
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They should have been dazzled by being brought into the temple. And surely drinking wine would it be just fine when you're in the middle of this holy place.
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What could be more righteous and cleansed than to be in the temple and drink wine there?
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And surely the great prophet Jeremiah would not steer them astray. Doesn't he speak for God?
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Surely, since he told them to drink wine, that would trump any instructions given to them by their dead ancestor, now gone for 200 years.
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But none of those factors swayed them. None of those factors swayed them.
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They're not playing green eggs and ham. They're not in a house with a mouse and not in a box with a fox.
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No Sam I am, we don't drink wine. Never. Our forefathers, this is what he said.
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And notice that they quote the instruction, the commandment in the context of all the other instructions that their forefather gave them.
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Look, this is part of our lifestyle. This is part of our culture. This is who we are. We don't drink wine and we don't live in houses and we don't plant fields and we don't own vineyards.
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So we don't do any of that stuff. We're following the instructions of our forefather, Jonadab. So they don't care about the person who told them to drink wine.
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They don't care about the environment in which the instructions were given. They do not care for the free gift or the great honor or the opinions of those who would hear what happened on that day.
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The truth is the truth is the truth. Proverbs 19 one says, better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse or twisted in his speech and is a fool.
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Families are known by their culture, good or bad. But how's this for family culture? The Rechabites were known for the way they spoke.
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Their forefather, Jonadab, and they themselves. They spoke the truth. They spoke decisively.
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They declare definitively their refusal to disobey the instructions.
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Many probably mocked the Rechabites as a band of wandering primitives who don't farm, don't build houses, and don't drink wine.
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What do they think? We're back in the wilderness? Why can't they get with the program? But what was more defining about the
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Rechabites than their old -fashioned ways was their commitment to speaking truth?
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Is that what we're known for as a family here? Are we known for speaking the truth?
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Or are we known for our shuffle mumble? When it comes to saying the things of God, when it comes to giving the amen to what our
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Heavenly Father has spoken in His Word, do we shuffle around the hard sayings?
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Do we mumble some kind of euphemistic appraisal? Or do we tell it like it is, no matter the person, the place, or the position at hand or at stake?
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Sunnysiders, do we speak like the Rechabites? And if we do, we speak like Christ.
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That's the main point after all. John 8 38, he says, I speak the things which
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I have seen with my father. He says this to the Jewish religious leaders, and he says, therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.
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And there he was speaking of the devil, who is the father of lies. What Christ the
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Son says is what the Father says. He's the faithful Son. He says exactly what the
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Father says in its proper context, giving it its right meaning. He's the faithful Son.
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He's the true Rechabite. He speaks the truth irrespective of the situation. I mean,
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I hope that inspires you. I hope that encourages you. Well, so this is a note to the decorating crew.
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This thing has to be braced, because I rock the pulpit sometimes. We want to be known, let us be known by the character and the courage of Christ to speak as our
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Father speaks. So we need to think about our family culture.
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What are we known for? Do we speak like a Rechabite, and then do we obey like a Rechabite? We see this in verses 8 through 11.
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And I've rudely interrupted Jeazaniah and his brothers as they are explaining things to Jeremiah. Verse 8, they continue, we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we our wives, our sons, or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in, and we do not have vineyard or field or seed.
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We have only dwelt in tents and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab, our father, commanded us.
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But when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against the land, we said, come, let us go to Jerusalem before the army of the
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Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans, so we have dwelt in Jerusalem.
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So notice in verse 8 that their obedience involves all the folks. It's not that some of the sons have obeyed.
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It's not that some of the, all the sons have obeyed, but not their wives. But the sons and their wives and their children, for all these generations, they have been obedient to all the instructions that God, that Jonadab gave to them.
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And God is using them as an example. Look at their obedience. All of them obey.
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Not just some of them, but but all of them obey. And look, they obey in all the different instructions.
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All the parts of the obedience are there. It's not just that we don't drink wine. It's, okay, so Jonadab gave us these instructions, and we've kept the not drinking wine part, but the others that we have capitulated on.
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But no, they've obeyed him in all of the prohibitions he gave them. Now, it's interesting that they call
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Jonadab our father. He's their ancestor. He lived 200 years before this point.
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That they call him their father. Now, I have a serious question here. If he's their father, why are they not called the
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Jehonadabites? Why are they not called the Rechabites? He's their defining forefather, because the name
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Rechab is actually the word for chariot. The word Rechab in the Hebrew is the word for chariot.
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And when Jehonadab, the Rechabite, the son of Rechab, which is an expression, met
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Jehu driving in his chariot, it's highly likely that the guy who made the chariot got into the chariot with Jehu.
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Jehu knows Jehonadab as the chariot maker. The expression son of Rechab has the idea of him being a chariot maker.
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And this would make some sense about the Rechabites. They would have to know the science, to whatever degree that they knew it, the science of metallurgy and how to craft chariots.
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They don't build houses. Why? Because that keeps them in one place. And they've got to get from ore vein to ore vein as they need it.
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They don't farm. They don't have time with their mining and their melting and their molding. They don't drink wine, probably because their trade keeps them alive and going and provides their income.
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Let's be honest, loose lips sink ships. So stay away from wine. So it's likely that these three charter instructions from Jehonadab were meant to keep his following generations focused, preserved, and effective.
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And disobedience at any level would be a threat to their continued existence.
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All of the instructions had to be followed. That makes them a fitting example for Israel.
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Because God gave them specific instructions to follow. And disobedience at any point would bring to them such threats that would bring them into danger of continuing in the land.
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And so the Rechabites needed to follow these instructions. And as it turned out, it wasn't just pragmatic.
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All of these instructions, all of these things needed to be obeyed. And it was a good idea to follow them so that this little guild of chariot makers would continue.
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But notice their situation now. Verse 11. Notice their situation now.
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But when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up against the land, we said, come and let us go to Jerusalem before the army of the
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Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans. So we had dwelt in Jerusalem. So what hope do they have now as Nebuchadnezzar is taking over the land, taking ownership of all the resources in the land, removing all opposing armed forces out of the land?
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What future do the Rechabites have in chariot making? None. There's no future for them to make more chariots.
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They're not going to be able to go out and mine a bunch of more ore in defiance of the great king of Babylon and make more chariots and raise up and to help make weapons.
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That's not going to happen. So here they are living in Jerusalem. They're probably still in their tents.
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There's areas they could camp. Probably not good areas. But they're camping inside Jerusalem in their tents.
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But why not just buy houses? I mean it's over, right? They're run as chariot makers.
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It's over. Why not just buy a house in Jerusalem? But they haven't done it. They need to make an income somehow, don't they?
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Maybe they should buy one of these vineyards and start working it. But they haven't done it, have they?
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And here they are in the temple and they're being instructed in this most holy place by this Holy Prophet to drink wine.
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What does it matter now that the Babylonians have come and they're trapped inside Jerusalem?
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What does it matter now that they obey Jonah Dab's instructions? What's the pragmatic payoff of obedience?
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I can't see any, but they still obey. That's the thing about the obedience that God wanted to exemplify.
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The obedience he wanted to highlight. It was all of the folks obeying all the parts of the commandments and they did it all the time.
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Even when things were bad. Even when in tough times they obeyed. And that's the kind of example
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God wanted to put in front of Judah. Obedience in the critical moment meant for the
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Rechabites not drinking, but obedience in the critical moment for Christ did mean drinking.
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To drink the cup. To say, not my will, but your will be done.
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To be obedient and humbly obedient even to the point of dying on the cross.
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So I decided, are we known for our obedience to Christ? Are we known for our obedience to our
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Founder? The Rechabites were known for their obedience to their forefather, Jonah Dab. But are we known for our obedience to our
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Founder, Jesus Christ? He is the author and the finisher of our faith. He is our archegos.
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He is our trailblazing captain, our Good Shepherd who leads us through suffering into glory.
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Are we known for our obedience to Him? Christ is world -renowned for His obedience.
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He is eternally praised for His obedience. He has been exalted to the right hand of God with the name above every name for His obedience.
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And we need to remember that we are absolutely saved to the uttermost by His obedience.
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And our obedience is reflective of His obedience.
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It is part of our worship of Him, our love towards Him.
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And when we are called to obey, we are not on our own. He, because of His obedience, because of His perfection,
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He is enthroned upon a throne of mercy and grace that we may come to in our time of need.
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May we be known as an obedient clan. All of us, all of what He's called us to do, all of the time, a family who follows
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Jesus and is known for our obedience. We also can listen like a
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Rechabite. Verses 12 through 17. Now, it should be fairly clear that the
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Rechabites listened well to their founding forefather, Jonadab. How else would they be able to speak like him?
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How else would they be able to obey his instructions unless they listened carefully? And in verses 12 to 13,
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God, after highlighting the Rechabite family for all of Judah to see, now gives an invitation to Judah.
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Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 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 by listening to my words?
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declares the Lord. This invitation is fairly rhetorical by this point in the story.
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It is really spoken with the tone the parent takes when engaging in a fruitless monologue with the silent, sullen teenager.
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Why won't you listen to me? It's not a real question. Not really expecting an answer, and if an answer does come, it probably will not be pretty.
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It's an invitation nonetheless. It's clear to show, hey, look at these Rechabites. They're listening to the instructions of their dead ancestor gone 200 years prior when there's apparently no good reason for them to follow his instructions anymore, but they're still being obedient.
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Hey, Judah, why won't you listen to me? It's the example.
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Verses 14 and following. The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are observed.
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So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. But I have spoken to you again and again.
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You have not listened to me, he says. This is one of the more ironic kinds of indictments.
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You never listen, said to those who don't listen. But why are they in that position?
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It's because of their idolatry, and that's the true indictment. Verses 15 and 16. Also I have sent to you all of my servants, the prophets, sending them again and again, saying, turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them.
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Then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and your forefathers, but you have not inclined your ear or listened to me.
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Indeed, the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have observed the command of their father, which he has commanded them, but this people has not listened to me.
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Why have they not listened to him? Because they were idol worshippers. They worshiped little stone gods with stone ears and stone middles.
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And so they had stone hearts, and they had stone ears. Because Psalm 115 says, those who make the idols and trust in those idols become like those idols.
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So they have ears that do not hear. God uses the clear example of the
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Rechabites to indict the failed culture of the Jews. The Jews had a culture of not listening to God's Word.
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God's Word did not govern their lives, did not inform their thinking, did not impact their choices, did not roll off their tongues, did not hide in their hearts, did not tingle in their ears.
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That's the indictment. We are made in the image of God, and we live by the
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Word of God. And so the execution of what God has promised, verse 17, therefore thus says the
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Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing on Judah, and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the disaster
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I have pronounced against them, because I spoke to them, but they did not listen, and I have called them, but they did not answer.
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So in the end, God proves that he's the only true God. How does he prove that he's the true God and all the idols are false?
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By simply doing what he said he would do, whether anyone cared to listen to him or not.
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We've got to know that. This is very instructive for us. Whether or not we're listening, God has definitively spoken, and whether or not we're paying attention,
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God is bringing to pass all that he says he will do. Families are known by their culture, either good or bad.
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Are we known for our listening? Nothing so thrills a parent. Nothing is so rewarding for all of the heart -straining labor of disciplining and training children than when a child listens and then obeys with respectful affirmation.
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That is a drink of hot, that is a drink of water in a hot desert. Judah has proven a very large desert with very few oases.
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The Rechabites were an exception. What about us? What about us, Sunnyside? Are we an oasis of listening to God?
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When we commune with Christ by his Spirit and thanksgiving to the Father as we worship
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God, does he find in us responsive listeners? Does he have joy in us as we listen to his instructions and and we we abide by his teaching and we take to heart his counsels?
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Psalm 32 8 through 9 says, I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go.
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I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near you.
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We are not beasts. We have been made in the image of God to be led by the
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Word of God. Do we listen to the
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Word of God? Do we hear it, actively hear it?
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Do we give it due consideration? Do we read the Word? Do we study the
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Word? Do we meditate upon the Scriptures? Are we memorizing the
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Scriptures in our conversation? Do we use the Scriptures? Do we proclaim it to others as our authority?
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Do we listen like Rechabites? Do we listen as Christ listened to his Father and spoke accordingly?
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Finally, the example set before the Jews was this, to stand like a
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Rechabite, verses 18 and 19. The Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, thus says the
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Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands and done according to all he commanded you, therefore, thus says the
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Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before me always.
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So the final thing God has to say about the Rechabites is to make them an example of the blessings of obedience.
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He promised that there would always be a Rechabite who would stand before him. We're told in the
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Greek translation of the Old Testament, it's called the Septuagint, and a little heading above Psalm 71, we're told that it was written by some
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Rechabites who were among the early captives taken away along with Daniel and Ezekiel.
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We're told that when Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall, a Rechabite by the name of Melchizedek was helping.
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Rechabites were known in the time of Christ by the Jews, the time of the
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Apostles, even after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Rechabites were known. There are blessings for obedience.
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Now, look back at the end of verse 7. We have a promise that goes along with obedience.
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Now, Jonadab spoke to his sons, and what does he say to them after all of his instructions?
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Why should they obey these strange instructions? Look at the conclusion of verse 7, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.
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Now, compare that to the promise that God makes in his rhetorical invitation to the
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Jews, or the summary of what his prophets said. Verse 15, also I've sent to you all my servants and the prophets, sending them again and again, saying,
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Turn now, every man from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will dwell in the land which
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I have given to you and to your forefathers. It sounds similar. Jonadab said,
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You obey my instructions, you'll live long in the land. God says to the people, Obey my instructions, and you will live in the land.
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Obeying one's father, honoring God as Heavenly Father, the outcome, the promise is what? Living long in the land.
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Isn't that the first commandment with promise? The Apostle Paul says, Honor your father and mother as the
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Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you on the land which the
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Lord your God gives you. Fifth commandment, right?
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There's the promise. There's a promise of blessings for obedience. Blessings for honoring father and mother.
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And this accordingly extends to the blessings of honoring our Heavenly Father. Families are known by their culture, good or bad.
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The Rechabites were known for being obedient. How do these blessings translate in their lives? Well, how is it that the
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Rechabites endured? They're such a small family, a bunch of little nomads with no real connections to the to the movers and shakers of Jerusalem.
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How is it that they survived? Well, the Rechabites were taken into exile. What did they do when they lived there in exile?
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What they've been doing their entire lives? Their culture was one of obedience. And what was the instruction that God gave to the exiles through Jeremiah?
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Well, the very first time, here are the instructions. Build houses, live in them.
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Plant gardens, eat from them. The summary of it, give your give your children in marriage.
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You get married, have children, give your children in marriage. Your responsibility, oh Jews in exile, do not decrease, but multiply.
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Be fruitful and multiply. Those were the instructions that were given to the Jews in exile.
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And the Rechabites obeyed. I don't know if they built houses. I don't know if they planted crops. But they sure did not decrease.
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They followed the instructions that they could and they increased. They remained. We know they remained because they came back and helped build the walls, according to Nehemiah.
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And so they continued. But when God says, the
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Rechabites, that Jonadab will never lack a man to stand before me, what is he saying about obedience?
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That obedience brings long endurance in the land. And what is it, what is it if, what is it if Israel always obeyed?
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What's the result if Israel always obeyed? What was God's promise? They would still be in the land.
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What was the arrangement with Adam and Eve, if they always obeyed? They'd still be in the garden.
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What's the arrangement with Christ, if he always obeys? It's all his.
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And guess what? He always obeys. He always obeys.
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He's never going to be dethroned, because he's never going to be disobedient to his father.
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He's never going to lose his status as the last Adam, because he will never disobey his father.
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He will never lose the inheritance of all of creation, because he will never dishonor his father.
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He stands before God forever. And he is our forefather.
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He is our ancestor. He is our founder. And we only stand in him.
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We stand in him, and as we follow him in his example, as in our worship and our love for him, as we obey
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Christ, there are blessings. There are blessings for obedience.
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There's an impact. How old is Jesus Christ? Well, Jesus is a little over 2 ,000 years old.
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He was risen from the dead to die no more. He's at the right hand of the Father, fully God, and fully man, and he's over 2 ,000 years old.
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One of my favorite artists always depicts Christ with blazing white hair. Just like Revelation says, but yeah, he's 2 ,000 years old.
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He's our founder. Now, he has given us instructions to follow.
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Jonadab gave the Rechabites instructions to follow, that they would endure, that they would proceed and be preserved in their family culture.
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And they followed his instructions, and God says that's commendable. How much the more commendable is it that Christ, who is our founder, our elder brother, he has given us instructions to follow.
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And these instructions may sound incredibly strange based on the times in which we live.
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They may not seem to fit with the way everybody else is doing things, but you know,
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Jesus Christ said, I will build my church. And hasn't he been building his church?
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He builds his church. He has a way for us to live. He's got instructions for us, and as we follow his instructions, we experience the blessings of Christ.
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How well is Christ building his church? Is he doing a good job?
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Where were we at Pentecost, and where are we today? Where were we huddled in Jerusalem, unwilling to witness to Samaritans and Gentiles, and where are we today?
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Has Christ been building his church? What's the number of the redeemed at the end of everything?
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A number which no man can count. A number too many. So Christ is building his church.
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He has given us instructions to follow, and as we follow his instructions, we know those blessings.
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Jonah Dab was a wise man, and we consider the impact on his family.
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There was a multi -generational impact of a clear -thinking father. Listen, a multi -generational impact of a clear -thinking father.
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Now, Jesus Christ is our patriarch, and he builds his church, and he has given to us multi -generational blessings, and his infinite wisdom, and instructions that he's given to us, so that his church is built, and it grows, and it flourishes, no matter what the culture, no matter what the time period is, fully, sufficiently supplied, in all of our faith and practice, by his perfect Word.
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By way of application, fathers, are you thinking with that kind of wisdom of Christ?
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What kind of multi -generational impact are you trying to make in your families?
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What things can you do in the here and now that will bless your great -great -grandchildren?
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Now, that will eliminate a whole lot of options, and that will focus you on those things that you can do and invest in the family you have right here and now, whatever your role is as a grandfather, or as a father, or as a husband, or as you're being trained, getting ready to get married and have children.
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Let me tell you, if you're thinking about what you can do that will make a multi -generational impact, that's going to center you on just a few things that will matter.
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What kind of culture are you going to build into your family in the here and now that's going to have a multi -generational blessing?
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We need to think about that, because we need to think God's thoughts after him, and God's thoughts are long -term thoughts.
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They're not immediate gratification thoughts. They're long -term thoughts.
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So, what will we do? What will we do? What instructions will we give? What patterns will we set about speaking truth, about obedience, about listening, and about standing in Christ?
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Well, we're building culture here in our church family, and we're building culture in our families at home.
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Is it Recobite culture? Is it Christ -like culture? You know, what we're after is that his name would become more evident in our names, more evident in our family names, that the theophoric would pop in our names.
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Oh, there's a family who loves God. There's a family who speaks the truth of God, who is obedient to his ways, and listens to him, and stands in Christ.
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We want the theophoric to pop in our church name, that Sunnyside would be known for these things that are so Christ -like, that we would make
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Christ known all the more and all the better. And there are many blessings if we will build on that foundation.
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Let's close in prayer. Father, I thank you for the time you've given us in your Word. Thank you for the example of the Recobites. I pray that we would take it to heart.
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I thank you that you have given us a Savior and a Lord who is in whom is all wisdom and all knowledge, and that the things that he has told us remain, remain our guide, remain our goal.
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And I pray that you would help us to trust our Savior, our Lord, our Master, Jesus Christ, and follow him eagerly.