FAMILY MEMBERS SHOWING GRACE. 5-04-03

"ESTABLISHING GODLY STANDARDS FOR MY FAMILY."

JEREMIAH 35:1-5, 6-10, 12-17, 18-19

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO JEREMIAH 35.

The lesson this Sunday begins a series of four lessons in a study theme entitled "Family Members Showing Grace." This series will answer four questions: (1) "How can I help my family establish godly standards?" (2) "How can I promote peace within my family?" (3) "With what attitudes should my family and I give to God’s work?" (4) "How can my family serve God together?"

The purpose of these four lessons is to help us explore how families can be transformed by God’s grace, and how God’s grace changes attitudes and actions. I pray that these four lessons will help you establish and model godly, enduring standards for your family, work for peace in your family, develop a lifestyle of giving unselfishly to God’s work, and regularly serve God with your family members.

The family was ordained of God that children might be trained up for Himself; Family was before the church, or rather the first form of the church on earth. Happy are the families when the government of the parents is the reign of affection and the obedience of the children is submission of love. A happy family is but an earlier bit of heaven.

It is hoped this series of lessons will strengthen Christian family life. American culture in recent years seems to have become more hostile to the traditional family. Hollywood and TV series have had a devastating and negative influence upon the lifestyle of families. A greedy materialism has also taken its toll. An irresponsible individualism has not magnified the importance of unselfishly caring for others.

Christians need to do everything possible to strengthen their family life. The Bible has much to say that can help us in this effort. Few things will pay off with richer dividends over the long run than loving care for the quality of family life.

The lesson today centers on Jeremiah’s experience with a special type of Israelite family. They were called Recabites. Their family lifestyle is an interesting one to study in light of today’s society. They were known for their total dedication to the ways of God.

The suggested "Biblical Truth" for this lesson is that God expects His people to follow His standards. The suggested "Life Impact" for the lesson is to help us to establish and model godly, enduring standards for our families.

In a secular world-view, families generally choose to blend with society around them. They follow worldly standards and set worldly goals.

In the biblical world-view, God commands individuals and families to be different from the world. He expects them to obey Him rather than giving in to cultural moral attitudes and values.

Today’s lesson, "Establishing Godly Standards for My Family" is based on the story of the Rechabites (Rek-uh-bights) in Jeremiah 35. This is not one of the more familiar family Bible passages, but it has a powerful message of the effect of one man’s commitment on succeeding generations of his family. Jonadab (JAHN-uh-dab) made a commitment not to live in houses, plant vineyards, or drink wine. Centuries later his descendants kept his way of life.

How does a family preserve its standards from one generation to another? As succeeding sets of children marry, they may take on the customs of their new relatives and also establish traditions of their own. As they move away from home, they have fewer ties to the lifestyles of their parents. Influenced by their new surroundings, new cultures, and new friends, they may drift away from the traditional values of their families.

In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, the people of Judah had forsaken the standards of their ancestors and their faithfulness to God. Using the object lesson of a family of nomads, Jeremiah called God’s people to return from their spiritual wanderings. God also calls our generation to repent of our spiritual drift, and return our families to Him. In this study, we can discover three principles for establishing godly standards for ourselves, and our families. (1) Model obedient lifestyle. (2) Listen to the Lord. (3) Enjoy the blessings of obedience.

Preaching to God’s people of Judah in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BC, Jeremiah warned of God’s coming judgment because of their sins. Jeremiah pointed to the Recabite family’s lifestyle to emphasize the importance of faithfully following the Lord’s ways instead of giving in to cultural influence.

The Recabite family descended from the Kenites. They were a tribe of the Midianites. Moses’ father-in-law was a Kenite. Jonadab son of Recab was an influential forefather of the Kenites. He was a zealous believer in the Lord and joined Jehu, the king of Israel in destroying the worship of Baal in Israel. The Recabites lived a nomadic life in the desert of the Negev. The fact that they were in Jerusalem at the time of Jehoiakim was because of the threat of invasion by King Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah prophesied to the nation of Judah at a time when most of its citizens were disobedient to the commands of the Lord. God would soon allow Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon to conquer and punish the people of Judah for their sins. God used the example of the Recabites to chastise His people. The insertion of the story about the Recabites in the Book of Jeremiah is thematic, not chronological. Comparison of Ch. 34:1-2 with 35:1 shows the events described in Jeremiah 35 occurred at least 11 years before the events in Ch. 34. Ch. 35 helps the reader understand why God’s judgment fell on the nation of Judah.

In Vs. 2 the Lord instructed Jeremiah to invite members of the Recabite family to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the Lord. The house of the Lord refers to Solomon’s temple and the side rooms were adjacent to the temple. The priests used these rooms for storage and meetings.

Vs. 3-4 show how Jeremiah carried out God’s command. After bringing the Rechabites to a room in the temple, he set before them pots full of wine, and cups. Jeremiah left no doubt what they were being asked to do. Drink the wine, he commanded. Jeremiah did this because he was told to do so by God. Why did God set up this situation? God doesn’t tempt anyone, but he does test the faith and faithfulness of His people. And He does use His faithful people as object lessons for others’ learning. Vs. 12-17 show God used the Rechabites’ obedience to challenge those who were disobedient.

The Rechabites refused to drink the wine and cited the command of their forefather Jonadab son of Recab not to drink wine. In addition to this command, Jonadab further instructed his descendants not to build houses or sow seed or plant vineyards. He also instructed them to live in tents. The original reasons for these commands is not stated, but Jonadab probably gave these instructions to maintain the identity of the Recabite Clan and to protect them from the influence of the culture around them.

The Rechabites declaration "We will drink no wine", showed that they had moral convictions to which they remained true. Many people lack moral convictions. They have a flexible approach to life, in which they decide on issues of right and wrong when an issue comes up. What was the source of the Rechabites’ convictions? Their source was a family heritage going back to Jonadab. Jonadab is called "our forefather Jonadab son of Recab." Jonadab was not literally the father of that generation. Nor was Jonadab literally the son of Rechab. In the Bible father often means "forefather" or "ancestor" and son often means "descendant." The family ancestor Jonadab lived over two centuries before the time of these events in Jeremiah 35.

Jonadab, son of Recab, was apparently a man of great moral strength who exerted a tremendous influence over his descendants for many generations. He modeled the lifestyle he commanded for his children. Parents have a great opportunity to positively affect their descendants for many generations. The moral truths they wish to communicate must first be demonstrated in their own lives. As often has been said, principles of conduct are more often caught than taught.

If you are a parent or grandparent, what moral truths are you teaching your descendants? Are you clearly stating the important moral principles they need to know? And are you reinforcing their importance through your own conduct/ Families today can easily be drawn into the secular culture and conform to the standards of the world. Christian parents need to establish their own identity and rules to protect their children from the world’s influence and to help them live for God in the world.

The Rechabites refusal of wine was based on their obedience to their family tradition. Abstinence from all alcoholic beverages is the best course for Christians today as well. The purpose of Jeremiah 35, however, was not about the morality of drinking fermented drinks. All of the principles the Racabites adhered to showed a loyalty and obedience to Jonadab son of Recab. It was the faithfulness of the Racabites to their forefather that the Lord wanted to emphasize to the people of Judah.

When the Israelites entered Canaan, God warned them against compromising their distinctive faith and way of life. They were to worship the one true God, and they were to be holy as He is holy. They were told to drive out or destroy the Baal worshipers of Canaan.

By the time of Jonadab, he could see that the people had ignored this warning. The Israelites had become so slack that the king of Israel married a pagan princess, who proceeded to replace the worship of the Lord with the immoral and idolatrous worship of Baal.

Jonadab concluded that he needed to get his family away from these evil influences, insofar as he could. The cities and towns were places where much evil was found. Wine often was part of the pagan lifestyle. Therefore, Jonadab chose to live a nomadic life in tents rather than build a house, plant a vineyard, and drink the wine.

Believers in every generation must struggle with the issue of how to relate to a culture that does not reflect the Lord’s ways. Believers have tried three basic approaches. (1) Embrace the culture. (2) Avoid the culture. (3) Be in the culture but not of it.

We reject the first option as wrong. Unfortunately, in each generation, many professed believers compromise their faith, and way of life, by following the sinful standards of the world. They are in the world and they are of the world. No difference exists between how they live and how unbelievers live.

Throughout history; some believers have sought to live apart from the places and people through whom they could be tempted. People go to places of retreat and prayer, where each person is committed to the same holy life. People move their residence from a place where sin is all around to a more sheltered environment. This is what Jonadab sought to do. He lived in tents, with his family—away from the houses in settlements or cites where temptations were all around.

The third approach is to engage and interact with the culture---to be in the world but not of the world. When Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17: 14-16, He did not ask that they be taken out of the world, but that they be in the world without being of the world. Jesus befriended people of all kinds in order to witness to them. He was with sinners of all kinds, but He did not commit their sins. Throughout the Bible is this tension between the demand for personal holiness and the call to show God to all people.

Believers make moral and spiritual commitments according to which they seek to live. There are some places they won’t go and some things they will not do. They abstain from intoxication through alcoholic beverages and illicit drugs. They refuse to open their minds to the filth of some books, magazines, movies, and television programs. They refuse to get caught up in blatant materialism. They do not seek anything first except the kingdom of God.

Many of us believe that we should totally abstain from beverage alcohol. Although drinking wine was practiced in biblical times, drunkenness was condemned. Drunkenness was associated with other sins of an ungodly life. Alcohol slows down reflexes, leading to many deaths and injuries. It lowers moral inhibitions: thus it is often a factor in crime and sexual sins. Two other biblical principles provide a biblical basis for abstaining from beverage alcohol. For one thing, according to 1 Cor. 6: 19-20 as Christians, we are to be good stewards of our bodies and our health.

Every family teaches ethics to family members. The ethics may be good or bad, but children are taught in the home how to live. Parents teach by what they say and by what they do. As someone said, "More is caught than taught." But instruction and example are important. Jonadab practiced what he preached.

No one knows you better than the people who live in the same house with you. Our families see us as we truly are. Blessed are those families who have a godly heritage that they cherish and pass on to others. We have looked at this Bible story from Jonadab’s point of view. Look at it now from the point of view of his son. He had to make two choices. First, he had to decide to make his father’s faith his own.

Faith is not transmitted by heredity. Each must choose for himself. If the son chose (as he did in this case) to claim this heritage, he had to find ways to pass it along to his son. And so it was through each generation. Some people have a heritage of faith and love, but they choose to forsake it and go their own ways. Others prize their heritage, claim it, and pass it on to their descendants.

The loyal Recabites refused to drink wine and disobey the command given by Jonadab son of Recab nearly 250 years in the past. The people of Judah, however, refused to obey the words of the Lord. The Recabites were obedient to their earthly father, but the people of Judah were disobedient to their Heavenly Father. The Lord used the example of the Recabites, hoping that it would teach the people of Judah a lesson.

At the time, God did not explain to Jermiah why the prophet was asked to offer wine to the Rechabites. Jeremiah may have wondered. The reason became clear when the word of the Lord came a second time unto Jeremiah. Using His full title, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, He gave Jeremiah the message he was to deliver to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Part of God’s message to the people of Judah was to report on the continuing obedience of the Rechabites to the commands of Jonadab. We don’t know how familiar the common people were with the Rechabites. Very likely, many people were aware of this nomadic group who lived in the land. They may have known of their strange ways and perhaps knew the history of the group., Perhaps the people were familiar with the Rechabites because they had come into Jerusalem seeking protection because of the dangerous political events that were happening.

At any rate, Jeremiah told the people of Jerusalem of what Jonadab had taught and how the Rechabites had passed the test of integrity by refusing the wine that the prophet had offered to them. Jeremiah used their obedience to their long-deceased forefather to contrast the disobedience of Judah to their God.

God listed the many and persistent ways He had tried to call His people to repentance and obedience. No commands or laws are more important that those revealed by God. No one had done more for the people of Judah than the Lord, yet they repeatedly disobeyed Him. The Rechabites obeyed the teachings of a distant human ancestor. The people of Judah had turned a deaf ear to the pleas of their God. God’s persistence is seen in the words, "I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking/" In spite of this loving persistence, the people hearkened not unto Him.

Vs. 15 is one of those Bible verses that reveal the broken heart of a loving Father for His wayward children. The Lord sent His servants the prophets with this message and invitation: "Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings." As far as God was concerned, He was eager to welcome those who turned from their sins, to love and serve the Lord.

God told the nation how He would treat them if they obeyed His commands and how He would respond if they disobeyed. The blessings of obedience included the promise that they would live in the land securely. If they obeyed, He would protect them from foreign invaders. However, the opposite was also true. If they disobeyed, the Lord would bring disaster on them. This disaster would include defeat at the hands of their enemies.

The people of Judah refused to repent and obey their God. This is the heart of human sin. "Obedience to the Lord’s commands is not a problem unique to the Hebrews. From the beginning of history the human race has insisted on asserting its independence from God. It has not yet learned the lesson that declaring one’s independence from God does not bring happiness or blessing that the tempter promises."

God’s command to listen in Vs. 17 was a call to hear and obey or suffer the consequences. Parents must also establish proper discipline to teach their children right from wrong. Rules must be enforced. Children who are allowed to willfully break the rules of their parents without punishment are headed for disaster. Parents who love their children will lovingly and consistently discipline them for their own good. (Prov 13:24; Heb. 12:9)

Tragically, the people of Judah did not obey the warnings of Jeremiah. They did not learn the lesson illustrated by the faithful Recabites, The result was the invasion and fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587/586 BC. The fall of Jerusalem was followed by 70 years of captivity and hundreds of years of suffering by the nation under various foreigners.

Parents who fail to establish proper, biblical training for their children share responsibility when children make tragic choices. Godly parents cannot guarantee the choices their children make, but they can know they have been faithful to provide the proper love and discipline in obedience to God. Many children who grow up in godly homes where the Christian life is modeled for them through faithful parents will choose to obey the Lord. These children will look back on their discipline in the home with gratitude to their parents for standing firm for the truth.

While the disobedience of Judah resulted in disaster, the faithfulness of the Recabvites was rewarded. Jeremiah turned from his prophecy against the people of Jerusalem and faced his guests. The Recabites may have been listening to the judgment of Judah with amazement. Perhaps they wondered if this punishment would fall on them as well, since they had sought temporary refuge in Jerusalem from the enemy armies.

Jeremiah’s words must have allayed their fears and gladdened their hearts. Their long years of obedience were not in vain. The Lord spoke through the prophet that He would bless them with a unique status. God promised the Recabites that members of their family would serve the Lord continually. Jeremiah 35 does not specifically state what service the Rechabites would perform. Later tradition holds that they were involved in temple service.

One great blessing of obedience is the privilege of serving the Lord. A godly heritage involves members of a family serving God in many ways. The blessing of the Recabites did not necessarily mean that one of them would always be a priest or a prophet, but rather that their descendants would always be counted among those who served the Lord. The extent of the blessing mirrors the extent of their obedience. God commended the Recabites because they had obeyed the command, had followed His instructions, and had done every thing He had ordered. The sons of Jonadab had not only obeyed his commands but they had continued to follow his instructions throughout the centuries. Nehemiah 3:14. Mentions a descendant of Rechab approximately 150 years later who was faithfully serving the Lord.

The impact of this lesson on your life can help you be a Jonadab in your family. Your family needs to be a family of faith and obedience. You can do your part to establish such a family. If you have been blessed with such a heritage, you can and need to pass it on to your children. In either case, you can help your family to be a good example to other people and families.

NEXT SUNDAY WE LEARN TO MAKE PEACE IN OUR FAMILY. GEN. 13: 1-18.

A.V. DAUGHERTY 5-4-03