SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/14/2014
5:11 PM
My Worship Time Focus: God’s Word
Dishonored PT-3
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Jeremiah 35:1-19
Message of the
verses: We will be looking at our
last sub-point under this first main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s 10th
chapter in his commentary on the book of Jeremiah.
The Integrity of the Rechabites (Jeremiah 35:1-19): “1 The word
which came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 2 “Go to the house of the 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." 3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah,
son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of
the Rechabites, 4 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 Maaseiah the
son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. 5 Then I set before the men of the house of the
Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, "Drink
wine!" 6 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. 7 ’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.’ 8
"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, 9 nor to build
ourselves houses to dwell in; and we do not have vineyard or field or seed. 10
“We have only dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all
that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 “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 Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans.’ So we
have dwelt in Jerusalem."
12 Then the word of the LORD came to
Jeremiah, saying, 13 "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?" declares the LORD. 14 “The words of Jonadab the son of
Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are observed. 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; yet you have not listened to Me. 15 “Also I
have sent to you all 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. Then you will dwell in the land which I
have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not inclined your ear
or listened to Me. 16 ’Indeed, the sons
of Jonadab the son of Rechab have observed the command of their father which he
commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.’"’ 17 "Therefore thus says the 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 that 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.’" 18 Then Jeremiah said to the house of the
Rechabites, "Thus says the 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 that he commanded you; 19 therefore thus says the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel, "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man
to stand before Me always."’"”
I will quote Warren Wiersbe’s first paragraph in order of
us to understand why this chapter took place 18 years before the events in the
last chapter: “This even occurred
eighteen years earlier during the reign of Jehoiakim (609-597 B. C). Jeremiah probably put the account at this
point in the book for the sake of contrast:
The people of Judah dishonored the Lord by disobeying His Law, while the
Rechabites honored their father by obeying his command.”
John MacArthur writes the following about the
Rechabites: “These were a semi-nomadic
Kenite group related to Moses’ father-in-law (Jdg. 1:16; 4:11), descended from
those in 1 Ch. 2:55. The originator of
their rules was Jonadab (35:6, 14; 2 Ki. 10:15, 23). They derived their name from Rechab (v. 8)
and were not of Jacob’s seed, but ‘strangers’ in Israel.”
We see that Dr. Wiersbe and I also saw that John MacArthur
both say that the reason that Jeremiah puts this story into this place in his
book is because these people have obeyed their father for over 250 years and
have not drank wine, but the people of God had forsaken their covenant from the
very words of the God that they were suppose to listen to. We in no way can believe that God was
tempting these people by having Jeremiah as them to drink wine for James 1:13
states: “Let no one say when he is
tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by
evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes the following at the end of his
commentary on this section which is something that is worth reading for in it
he tells his readers that believers should obey the Lord, especially in light
of what other people from different “religions” do to keep their commitments to
their religion. “How often God’s people
are put to shame by the devotion and discipline of people who don’t even know
the Lord but who are intensely loyal to their family, their religion, or their
personal pursuits. Even people who want
nothing to do with the Word of God can bey loyal to traditions and man-made
codes. If Christians were putting into
their spiritual walk the kind of discipline that athletes put into their chose
support, the church would be pulsating with revival life.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I have to agree
with what Dr. Wiersbe writes about people obeying their traditions and doing
things to prepare their lives, especially for sports, and yet I as a believer
cannot do the things as well as I want to do them in keeping the things that
are written in the Word of God.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Do a better joy in obeying the Word of God.
Memory verse for the
week: Colossians 3:1.
1 Therefore if you have
been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Daniel, Ezekiel, some of the
Psalms.”
Today’s Bible
question: “What did Joseph want to do
when he first saw Benjamin in Eqypt?”
Answer in our next SD. 7/14/2014 6:09 PM
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