Year 9, Day 88: Jeremiah 35

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Today we get a chapter of unsung heroes: the people of the house of the Rechabites.  Here are a group of people whose ancestor gave them a command and they have listened to it.  They are obedient.  Even long after their ancestor has died, they continue to adhere to the command.  That’s loyalty.

In comparison, God speaks to the Hebrew people of Jerusalem.  They have not listened.  They have not obeyed.  They have followed their own paths.  This is not news to any reader of Jeremiah or the prophets.

God’s point is deeper than this, though.  It isn’t just the case of listening versus not listening.  It is the case of desire to listen.  After all, the Rechabites are listening to a person who has been long dead!  They want to listen and therefore they are adhering to the command of an ancestor.

The Hebrew people, on the other hand, are not listening to living prophets who are speaking in their midst.  They have living testimony to God’s will in their very midst.  Yet, they do not listen.  They don’t listen because they don’t want to.

So often, obedience is more than a case of force.  Yes, given the right circumstances obedience can be mandated.  Most of the time, though, obedience is a case of desire.  People obey because they want to and because they see the reason in it.   People disobey because they want to follow their own will instead of the will of another.  That’s the main point here in today’s chapter.

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