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Matthew Henry |
J E R E M I A H.
CHAP. XXXV.
A variety of methods is tried, and every stone turned, to awaken the
Jews to a sense of their sin and to bring them to repentance and
reformation. The scope and tendency of many of the prophet’s sermons
was to frighten them out of their disobedience, by setting before them
what would be the end thereof if they persisted in it. The scope of
this sermon, in this chapter, is to shame them out of their
disobedience if they had any sense of honour left in them for a
discourse of this nature to fasten upon.
I. He sets before them the obedience of the family of the Rechabites to
the commands which were left them by Jonadab their ancestor, and how
they persevered in that obedience and would not be tempted from it,
II. With this he aggravates the disobedience of the Jews to God and
their contempt of his precepts,
III. He foretels the judgments of God upon the Jews for their impious
disobedience to God,
IV. He assures the Rechabites of the blessing of God upon them for
their pious obedience to their father,
| The Case of the Rechabites. | B. C. 607. |
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1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days
of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto 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, the son of
Habaziniah, and his brethren, 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, a man of God,
which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the
chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots
full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
6 But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of
Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine,
neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
7 Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant
vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in
tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be
strangers.
8 Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab
our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all
our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
9 Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we
vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done
according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
11 But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon
came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to
Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of
the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
This chapter is of an earlier date than many of those before; for what
is contained in it was said and done in the days of Jehoiakim
(v. 1);
but then it must be in the latter part of his reign, for it was after
the king of Babylon with his army came up into the land
(v. 11),
which seems to refer to the invasion mentioned
which was upon occasion of Jehoiakim’s rebelling against
Nebuchadnezzar. After the judgments of God had broken in upon this
rebellious people he continued to deal with them by his prophets to
turn them from sin, that his wrath might turn away from the. For this
purpose Jeremiah sets before them the example of the Rechabites, a
family that kept distinct by themselves and were no more numbered with
the families of Israel than they with the nations. They were originally
Kenites, as appears
These are the Kenites that came out of Hemath, the father of the
house of Rechab. The Kenites, at least those of them that gained a
settlement in the land of Israel, were of the posterity of Hobab,
Moses’s father-in-law,
We find them separated from the Amalekites,
See
One family of these Kenites had their denomination from Rechab. His
son, or a lineal descendant from him, was Jonadab, a man famous in his
time for wisdom and piety. He flourished in the days of Jehu, king of
Israel, nearly 300 years before this; for there we find him courted by
that rising prince, when he affected to appear zealous for God
which he thought nothing more likely to confirm people in the opinion
of than to have so good a man as Jonadab ride in the chariot with him.
Now here we are told,
I. What the rules of living were which Jonadab, probably by his last
will and testament, in writing, and duly executed, charged his
children, and his posterity after him throughout all generations,
religiously to observe; and we have reason to think that they were such
as he himself had all his days observed.
1. They were comprised in two remarkable precepts:–
(1.) He forbade them to drink wine, according to the law of the
Nazarites. Wine is indeed given to make glad the heart of man
and we are allowed the sober and moderate use of it; but we are so apt
to abuse it and get hurt by it, and a good man, who has his heart made
continually glad with the light of God’s countenance, has so
little need of it for that purpose
(Ps. iv. 6, 7),
that it is a commendable piece of self-denial either not to use it at
all or very sparingly and medicinally, as Timothy used it,
(2.) He appointed them to dwell in tents, and not to build
houses, nor purchase lands, nor rent or occupy either,
v. 7.
This was an instance of strictness and mortification beyond what the
Nazarenes were obliged to. Tents were mean dwellings, so that this
would teach them to be humble; they were cold dwellings, so that this
would teach them to be hardy and not to indulge the body; they were
movable dwellings, so that this would teach them not to think of
settling or taking root any where in this world. They must dwell in
tents all their days. They must from the beginning thus accustom
themselves to endure hardness, and then it would be no difficulty to
them, no, not under the decays of old age. Now,
2. Why did Jonadab prescribe these rules of living to his posterity? It
was not merely to show his authority, and to exercise a dominion over
them, by imposing upon them what he thought fit; but it was to show his
wisdom, and the real concern he had for their welfare, by recommending
to them what he knew would be beneficial to them, yet not tying them by
any oath or vow, or under any penalty, to observe these rules, but only
advising them to conform to this discipline as far as they found it for
edification, yet to be dispensed with in any case of necessity, as
here,
He prescribed these rules to them,
(1.) That they might preserve the ancient character of their family,
which, however looked upon by some with contempt, he thought its real
reputation. His ancestors had addicted themselves to a pastoral life
(Exod. ii. 16),
and he would have his posterity keep to it, and not degenerate from it,
as Israel had done, who originally were shepherds and dwelt in tents,
Note, We ought not to be ashamed of the honest employments of our
ancestors, though they were but mean.
(2.) That they might comport with their lot and bring their mind to
their condition. Moses had put them in hopes that they should be
naturalized
(Num. x. 32);
but, it seems they were not; they were still strangers in the
land
(v. 7),
had no inheritance in it, and therefore must live by their employments,
which was a good reason why they should accustom themselves to hard
fare and hard lodging; for strangers, such as they were, must not
expect to live as the landed men, so plentifully and delicately. Note,
It is our wisdom and duty to accommodate ourselves to our place and
rank, and not aim to live above it. What has been the lot of our
fathers why may we not be content that it should be our lot, and live
according to it? Mind not high things.
(3.) That they might not be envied and disturbed by their neighbours
among whom they lived. If they that were strangers should live great,
raise estates, and fare sumptuously, the natives would grudge them
their abundance, and have a jealous eye upon them, as the Philistines
had upon Isaac
and would seek occasions to quarrel with them and do them a mischief;
therefore he thought it would be their prudence to keep low, for that
would be the way to continue long-to live meanly, that they might
live many days in the land where they were strangers. Note,
Humility and contentment in obscurity are often the best policy and
men’s surest protection.
(4.) That they might be armed against temptations to luxury and
sensuality, the prevailing sin of the age and place they lived in.
Jonadab saw a general corruption of manners; the drunkards of Ephraim
abounded, and he was afraid lest his children should be debauched and
ruined by them; and therefore he obliged them to live by themselves,
retired in the country; and, that they might not run into any unlawful
pleasures, to deny themselves the use even of lawful delights. They
must be very sober, and temperate, and abstemious, which would
contribute to the health both of mind and body, and to their living
many days, and easy ones, and such as they might reflect upon with
comfort in the land where they were strangers. Note, The
consideration of this, that we are strangers and pilgrims, should
oblige us to abstain from all fleshly lusts, to live above the things
of sense, and look upon them with a generous and gracious contempt.
(5.) That they might be prepared for times of trouble and calamity.
Jonadab might, without a spirit of prophecy, foresee the destruction of
a people so wretchedly degenerated, and he would have his family
provide, that, if they could not in the peace thereof, yet even
in the midst of the troubles thereof, they might have peace. Let
them therefore have little to lose, and then losing times would be the
less dreadful to them: let them sit loose to what they had, and then
they might with less pain be stripped of it. Note, Those are in the
best frame to meet sufferings who are mortified to the world and life a
life of self-denial.
(6.) That in general they might learn to live by rule and under
discipline. It is good for us all to do so, and to teach our children
to do so. Those that have lived long, as Jonadab probably had done
when he left this charge to his posterity, can speak by experience of
the vanity of the world and the dangerous snares that are in the
abundance of its wealth and pleasures, and therefore ought to be
regarded when they warn those that come after them to stand upon their
guard.
II. How strictly his posterity observed these rules,
They had in their respective generations all of them obeyed the
voice of Jonadab their father, had done according to all that he
commanded them. They drank no wine, though they dwelt in a
country where was plenty of it; their wives and children drank no wine,
for those that are temperate themselves should take care that all under
their charge should be so too. They built no houses, tilled no ground,
but lived upon the products of their cattle. This they did partly in
obedience to their ancestor, and out of a veneration they had for his
name and authority, and partly from the experience they themselves had
of the benefit of living such a mortified life. See the force of
tradition, and the influence that antiquity, example, and great names,
have upon men, and how that which seems very difficult will by long
usage and custom become easy and in a manner natural. Now,
1. As to one of the particulars he had given them in charge, we are
here told how in a case of necessity they dispensed with the violation
of it
(v. 11):
When the king of Babylon came into the land with his army,
though they had hitherto dwelt in tents, they now quitted their tents,
and came and dwelt in Jerusalem, and in such houses as they could
furnish themselves with there. Note, The rules of a strict discipline
must not be made too strict, but so as to admit of a dispensation when
the necessity of a case calls for it, which therefore, in making vows
of that nature, it is wisdom to provide expressly for, that the way may
be made the more clear, and we may not afterwards be forced to say,
It was an error,
Eccles. v. 6.
Commands of that nature are to be understood with such limitations.
These Rechabites would have tempted God, and not trusted him, if they
had not used proper means for their own safety in a time of common
calamity, notwithstanding the law and custom of their family.
2. As to the other particular, we are here told how, notwithstanding
the greatest urgency, they religiously adhered to it. Jeremiah took
them into the temple
(v. 2),
into a prophet’s chamber, there, rather than into the chamber
of the princes, that joined to it, because he had a message from
God, which would look more like itself when it was delivered in the
chambers of a man of God. There he not only asked the Rechabites
whether they would drink any wine, but he set pots full of wine
before them, and cups to drink out of, made the temptation as
strong as possible, and said, “Drink you wine, you shall have it
on free cost. You have broken one of the rules of your order, in coming
to live at Jerusalem; why may you not break this too, and when you are
in the city do as they there do?” But they peremptorily refused. They
all agreed in the refusal. “No, we will drink no wine; for with
us it is against the law.” The prophet knew very well they would deny
it, and, when they did, urged it no further, for he saw they were
stedfastly resolved. Note, Those temptations are of no force with men
of confirmed sobriety which yet daily overcome such as, notwithstanding
their convictions, are of no resolution in the paths of virtue.
| Case of the Rechabites Applied. | B. C. 607. |
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12 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
13 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell
the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not
receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
14 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded
his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they
drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding
I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye
hearkened not unto me.
15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets,
rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every
man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after
other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I
have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined
your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
16 Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed
the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but
this people hath not hearkened unto me:
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of
Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced
against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not
heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
18 And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus
saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have
obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his
precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me
for ever.
The trial of the Rechabites’ constancy was intended but for a sign; now
here we have the application of it.
I. The Rechabites’ observance of their father’s charge to them is made
use of as an aggravation of the disobedience of the Jews to God. Let
them see it and be ashamed. The prophet asks them, in God’s name,
“Will you not at length receive instruction?
v. 13.
Will nothing affect you? Will nothing fasten upon you? Will nothing
prevail to discover sin and duty to you? You see how obedient the
Rechabites are to their father’s commandment
(v. 14);
but you have not inclined your ear to me”
(v. 15),
though one might much more reasonably expect that the people of God
should have obeyed him than that the sons of Jonadab should have obeyed
him; and the aggravation is very high, for,
1. The Rechabites were obedient to one who was but a man like
themselves, who had but the wisdom and power of a man, and was only the
father of their flesh; but the Jews were disobedient to an infinite and
eternal God, who had an absolute authority over them, as the Father of
their spirits.
2. Jonadab was long since dead, and was ignorant of them, and could
neither take cognizance of their disobedience to his orders nor give
correction for it; but God lives for ever, to see how his laws are
observed, and is in a readiness to revenge all disobedience.
3. The Rechabites were never put in mind of their obligations to their
father; but God often sent his prophets to his people, to put them in
mind of their duty to him, and yet they would not do it. This is
insisted on here as a great aggravation of their disobedience: “I
have myself spoken to you, rising early and speaking by the
written word and the dictates and admonitions of conscience
(v. 14);
nay, I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, men like
yourselves, whose terrors shall not make you afraid, rising up early
and sending them
(v. 15),
and yet all in vain.”
4. Jonadab never did that for his seed which God had done for his
people. He left them a charge, but left them no estate to bear the
charge; but God had given his people a good land, and promised
them that, if they would be obedient, they should still dwell in it, so
that they were bound both in gratitude and interest to be obedient, and
yet they would not hear, they would not hearken.
5. God did not tie up his people to so much hardship, and to such
instances of mortification, as Jonadab obliged his seed to; and yet
Jonadab’s orders were obeyed and God’s were not.
II. Judgments are threatened, as often before, against Judah and
Jerusalem, for their disobedience thus aggravated. The Rechabites shall
rise up in judgment against them, and shall condemn them; for they very
punctually performed the commandment of their father, and
continued and persevered in their obedience to it
(v. 16);
but this people, this rebellious and gainsaying people, have
not hearkened unto me; and therefore
(v. 17),
because they have not obeyed the precepts of the word, God will perform
the threatenings of it: “I will bring upon them, by the Chaldean
army, all the evil pronounced against them both in the law and
in the prophets, for I have spoken to them, I have called to
them–spoken in a still small voice to those that were near and
called aloud to those that were at a distance, tried all ways and means
to convince and reduce them–spoken by my word, called by my
providence, both to the same purport, and yet all to no purpose; they
have not heard nor answered.“
III. Mercy is here promised to the family of the Rechabites for their
steady and unanimous adherence to the laws of their house. Though it
was only for the shaming of Israel that their constancy was tried, yet,
being unshaken, it was found unto praise, and honour, and glory;
and God takes occasion from it to tell them that he had favours in
reserve for them
and that they should have the comfort of them.
1. That the family shall continue as long as any of the families of
Israel, among whom they were strangers and sojourners. it shall
never want a man to inherit what they had, though they had no
inheritance to leave. Note, Sometimes those that have the smallest
estates have the most numerous progeny; but he that sends mouths will
be sure to send meat.
2. That religion shall continue in the family: “He shall not want a
man to stand before me, to serve me.” Though they are neither
priests nor levites, nor appear to have had any post in the temple
service, yet in a constant course of regular devotion, they stand
before God, to minister to him. Note,
(1.) The greatest blessing that can be entailed upon a family is to
have the worship of God kept up in it from generation to generation.
(2.) Temperance, self-denial, and mortification to the world, do very
much befriend the exercises of piety, and help to transmit the
observance of them to posterity. The more dead we are to the delights
of sense the better we are disposed for the service of God; but nothing
is more fatal to the entail of religion in a family than pride and
luxury.
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