Jeremiah 35:1

The Bible says in Jeremiah 35:1-14, “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.[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.” God liked this family. God liked Jonadab the son of Rechab. Jonadab was the father and the head of the family. God was obviously impressed how the entire family obeyed the wishes of the father of the family because God is Father of the whole earth. When Jesus came to the earth, He obeyed the heavenly Father. Jesus said in John 15:10, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.”

The commandment that Jonadab gave to his family was to “drink no wine.” Why would Jonadab have given such a commandment? Undoubtedly Jonadab gave such a commandment because Jonadab knew the dangers of alcohol, and Jonadab wanted his family to be happy and successful and to avoid the pitfalls that alcohol can bring to anyone who is overcome by alcohol. The Bible uses the word “wine” over two hundred times, so it has a lot to say about it. The majority of these references are very negative in regards to drinking wine, and therefore any beverage that contains alcohol.

It is always good to go to the book of Genesis when researching any Biblical subject to see what lessons can be learned. “Genesis” means “beginning.” The book of Genesis tells about the beginning of creation, and also has the first teachings on many important subjects, such as sin, marriage, capital punishment, faith, the nation of Israel, and the promise of the Messiah. The first mention of wine in the Bible is found in Genesis 9:21 and it says in Genesis 9:20-21, “And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:[21] And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.” The message of the Bible is beware. Learn from the mistakes of others. Wine causes intoxication, and causes people to do shameful things that they otherwise would not do.

A good example about the message concerning wine and other alcoholic beverages in the Bible can be seen in the references to “wine” in the book of Proverbs. Wine is referred to ten times in the book of Proverbs, and nine of those are negative. It says in Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” There are some people who ignore all these Biblical warnings about the use of wine and other alcoholic beverages, and they find a verse in the Bible that is not negative, and they use that to justify drinking alcoholic beverages. They always say something along this line: “It is not wrong to drink wine. It is only wrong to abuse the drinking of wine.” There are several problems with taking this approach. First of all the use of the word “wine” in the Bible is used for all drinks that come from the fruit of the vine, including grape juice. Therefore, one must look at the context to try and determine if a particular verse of the Bible is referring to an alcoholic drink or to grape juice. Another truth to remember is that the wine of the Roman Empire for the common man had a very small alcohol content, much smaller than wine of today. Therefore, if you drink a glass of wine, you are not drinking the same beverage that is called “wine” in the Bible. You are drinking a beverage that has a much greater alcohol content. Beware.

Just looking at the drinking of alcoholic beverages from a practical point of view, there are many reasons not to do so. Millions just in the past hundred years have become alcoholics. And once that happens their lives usually suffer terrible consequences. Alcohol has enslaved millions of people. There can be serious health effects from alcohol affecting the stomach, the liver, and many other vital organs. The abuse of alcohol can affect the mind because it kills brain cells. Many people become angry and violent when under the influence of alcohol, and this affects their family relationships. Many divorces have happened due to someone in the marriage being an alcoholic. Many children have been scarred emotionally because of what they had to experience being a child in the home of an alcoholic. Alcoholism takes away a person’s productivity and ability to be punctual and responsible on the job. Many careers have been ruined by alcohol. Because alcohol impairs one’s ability to react physically in driving a car and other similar activities, alcohol has caused many terrible accidents involving automobiles, airplanes, boats, and other vehicles. Thousands of people are killed or injured every year due to alcoholism. It is against the law to drink and drive. People have been put in prison for what they caused due to driving while intoxicated.

Let’s just ask one question: how can all of the negative consequences of using alcohol be avoided? Never take a drink, and one thing is absolutely guaranteed: you will never drink too much and you will never become an alcoholic. Of the millions of people who became alcoholics, none of them would have ever been an alcoholic if they had never taken that first drink. It does not matter if it is legal or not. What matters is what is the best course to take. Remember the warning of Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Remember that God praised Jonadab for telling his family in Jeremiah 35:6, “Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever.”

The Bible says in Jeremiah 35:15-19, “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 Lord continues to use Jonadab and his family in the Lord’s message to the Israelites. What an honor was given to Jonadab! We do not know if Jonadab was rich or poor. It does not appear that he had a position of power. Perhaps very few would have known him, except for God. God looked down at the hearts of people and at the lives of everyone in the nation of Israel, and God chose Jonadab. The first thing that the Lord said to the Jewish people in this passage was to remind them that God had sent them preachers to tell the gospel. Notice the message that was sent to the people. God said in Jeremiah 35:15, “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.” This is the primary message of the Lord to all human beings in every generation. It was the message of John the Baptist who was the forerunner to Christ. The Bible says about John the Baptist in Luke 3:2-4, “Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zecharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” The Bible says concerning one of Jesus’ teachings on this subject in Luke 13:2-3, “And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all like wise perish.”

It is revealing that if you look at Jeremiah 35:15, the Word of God associates a refusal to repent with worshipping false gods. If someone refuses to repent and turn to the one true God whose name is Jesus, it means that they have chosen to replace the worship of God with someone or something else. They have turned to a false. The refusal to respond to the Gospel of Christ is a refusal to obey the first of the Ten Commandments which says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Jeremiah 35:18-19 reminds us that God rewards those who faithfully serve Him in this world. God shows a great appreciation for anyone who serves Him, perhaps because so few do. It says in Jeremiah 35:18-19, “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.” Notice that the reward lasts forever. It will stretch into and through eternity. Strive for the rewards that God alone can give. It will make your experience in heaven brighter and better by great degrees. It says in First Cor. 3: 11-15, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.[12] Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;[13] Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.[14] If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.[15] If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Paul an apostle said in Second Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.[7] I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:[8] Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

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