Year 3, Day 88: Jeremiah 35

Historical Anomaly

As we get to this chapter, we need to understand the internal dating given to this passage from Jeremiah.  Jehoiakim reigned from 609-598 BC, which means that this prophetic voice from God was given at least 11 years prior to the prophecies from the past few chapters.  This doesn’t diminish the truth in this chapter one bit.  It merely helps us keep our internal chronology as we read through a book that is not put together in a chronological fashion.

You might be wondering why Jeremiah would put this book together in a non-chronological fashion.  There are many reasons, but the most likely reason in this particular case is because Jeremiah is setting up a contrast.  In the prior chapter, Jeremiah put the absolute lack of faith and repentance of the Hebrew people on display.  Here in this chapter, we see an example of a family that is absolutely faithful.

Rechabites

The Rechabites were a clan of Hebrew people descended from a man named Rechab.  If you turn to 2 Kings 10:15-27 you can read the story of Jonadab [also known as Jehonadab] the son of Rechab.  Jehonadab joined with Jehu in purging the worship of Ba’al from the people of Israel.  After this act, Jehonadab rejected a settled life in favor of a nomadic life without alcohol.  After all, what nomad can make their own wine or beer?  Alcohol is a product of settled life, not life on the move.

Certainly Jehonadab was faithful to God.  Certainly his way of life was passed down through the generations of Jehonadab’s offspring.  In the time of Jeremiah, the Rechabites still were living nomadically and still refraining from drinking alcohol.  The only reason they were in Jerusalem for this prophecy was because the coming of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army had made it impossible to live safely as a nomad.

But here is the really neat principle to be found in this passage.  Jehu reigned in Israel from 841-814 BC.  This prophecy in Jeremiah is delivered somewhere between 609-598 BC.  Therefore, it can be said with assurance that this family of Rechabites had been faithful to the command of Jehonadab son of Rechab for a minimum of 205 years.  {If you’re curious, the other extreme is 243 years.}  For at least two centuries this family was faithful to the word of Jehonadab.

Let’s put that in perspective, shall we?  America fought for its independence and became its own country in 1776.  That was 237 years ago.  That’s within the span of time that the family of Jehonadab has been faithful to his decree.  I find that utterly amazing.  Most people in America can’t even count their lineage back halfway to 1776 {regardless of whether one’s family was here or not by then, mine weren’t} much less say that they were obedient to anything established by their family back then!

Clearly the family of Jehonadab had a good system of passing along not only information but also culture.  Clearly the family of Jehonadab had a means for teaching normative behavior as well as giving individual members of the family a personal attachment to their family identity.  Clearly the family of Jehonadab was doing something right as attested by God and his pronouncement of faithfulness here in the book of Jeremiah.

This chapter got me thinking about our culture today.  How many of us genuinely worry about whether the next generation will learn the cultural values that we hold dear?  How many of us can’t even guess whether the second generation after them will be obedient?  How many of us really can’t even think about the generations to follow?  Jehonodab’s family had it figured out.  For two-hundred years, a good ten generations worth of offspring carried their cultural values with them.

Judgment Pronounced

Of course, as the Rechabites are lifted up, the people of Judah are condemned.  The Rechabites were able to remain faithful for a few centuries; therefore, there is no excuse for the rest of the people.  {For the record, just because I say faithful does not mean that I mean sinless.}  The Rechabites prove that cultural values can be properly passed down and assimilated.  The fact that the people of Judah have chosen to pass other priorities along to their children is noted and punished by God.

That also has me thinking.  I do genuinely believe that one generation does pass along values to the next.  In fact, we pass along the values that we hold most dear.  The question is, what are those values?  Do we value normative behavior under humility before God as the Rechabites do?  Or do we value free expression of whatever we happen to believe at any given time?  I can go on with this if I want, but I’ll stop with the examples there.

The reality is that leadership defines culture.  Parents set the culture for their families.  Pastors {and other prominent church leaders} set the culture for the church.  Politicians, lawyers, and pop-culture sensations set the culture for the nation.  We are all responsible for setting the culture for the next generation.  I think it is high time that we take a good look at the culture that we happen to be creating.

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