Gtcotr/ss071121
Someone
is having trouble obeying the Lord … someone is struggling with doing what the Word
of God commands. You might be struggling with:
·
Gossip,
Immorality
·
Money,
Unforgiveness
·
Worry,
Anger, Hurtful Words, or Difficult Decisions
· All choices … we make them every day
You know what the Bible says yet you are not following that still small voice of the Holy spirit you hear in your heart. In fact, there is another voice trying to discount the Word of God – it’s like a battle in your mind that you are trying to quiet. You will never be happy disobeying God. Disobedience to God reveals both a lack of trust and a lack of integrity. If anyone else has ever made the tough choice to obey God, then you can do it too. Life is a long game, and you are an important player to God.
A commitment to obey is a simple sign of trust. I remember that old hymn I learned to sing as a young boy while sitting on the back seat of the First Baptist Church in Simms, Texas … “Trust and Obey”. (1887)
4 Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends, we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way,
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
This morning it is my hope to encourage you to choose God today. We will launch our study of the Word by reading an unfamiliar passage in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah lived in Jerusalem around 600BC, during a difficult time when King Jehoiakim was doing evil in the sight of God and was also in disfavor with both the Kings of Egypt and Babylon. King Jehoiakim even burned one of the books of prophecy written by Jeremiah because he didn’t like what it said. God was not happy …
Jeremiah 35 NKJV
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, 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,
the son of Habazziniah, 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, a man of God, which was
by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of
Shallum, the keeper of the door.
5 Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.”
Since few people are familiar with the Rechabites and who they are, allow me to fill in the gaps with a brief walk through a little Bible history. Although the Rechabites lived in peace in the land of Judah and are referenced in the middle of the lineage of Judah, (1 Chronicles 2:55), they were not Israelites. Let’s go back to the days of Abraham.
Around
2000BC – Genesis 25:1-4 & 1 Chronicles
1:32-33
·
When
Abraham was a little over 140 years old, he married a woman named Keturah.
·
Abraham
and Keturah had several children. They named one of their sons Midian who, in
time, became the father of the Midianites.
·
The
Midianites lived along the east bank of the Jordan River, across from Jericho,
in what is now the country of Jordan.
· 500 years later – we come to the time of Moses.
About
1500BC – Exodus 2:21
·
Moses
escaped Egypt at 40 years old and went to Midian to hide from Pharaoh. There he
married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, who was the priest of Midian. So
Moses, who was a descendant of Abraham married Zipporah who was also a
descendant of Abraham.
·
Zipporah
had a brother named Hobab.
·
Numbers 10:29-32
o The Bible calls him Hobab
the Kenite.
o Hobab agreed to help
Moses navigate the wilderness to bring
the Children of Israel to the Promise Land.
o Moses promised Hobab
that he and his descendants would inherit right along with Israel, and the good
God did to Israel, Hobab and his family would also receive the same.
o And they did … fast forward another 100 years …
In
the 1400’s BC – Judges 1:16
·
The
descendants of Hobab, called the Kenites, settled in tents in the wilderness of
Judah eastwards from Jerusalem and Bethlehem towards the Dead Sea.
o The Kenites lived in peace with and in support of Israel.
Near
1300BC – Judges 4:11
·
Heber
the Kenite, a descendant of Hobab, lived in Judah where he married a woman
named Jael.
o Heber separated himself
from the Kenites in Judah and moved about 60 miles north to the Valley of
Jezreel near Mt Tabor.
o Heber made alliances
with both the King of the Canaanites named Jabin, as well as the Israelites.
·
Judges 4:21
o Jael killed King
Jabin’s commander, Sisera with her hammer and a tent peg, thereby winning the
war for Israel.
o The Kenites continued to live in peace with and in support of Israel. They lived in tents and didn’t plant vineyards.
Along
about 1100BC – 1 Samuel 15:6
· King Saul was about to make war with the Amalekites but before he attacked them, King Saul told the Kenites to separate themselves from the Amalekites and he spared the Kenites because they had shown kindness to Israel when they came out of Egypt with Moses.
Close
to 900BC – 2 Kings 10:15ff
·
Elijah
anointed Jehu to destroy the house of Ahab and Jezebel
·
Jehu
made a pact with Jonadab the leader of the Kenites.
o Jonadab was the son of
Rechab.
o Jonadab helped Jehu
rid Israel of Baal worship.
·
Jonadab
instructed his descendants to do a few things and to keep his commands.
· Jonadab said that if they would only trust and obey him, they would live a long time in the land where they were strangers.
Fast forward another 300 years and we are back to the Prophet Jeremiah.
About
600BC – Jeremiah 35
·
God
told Jeremiah to invite the Rechabites to the House of God in Jerusalem. We
just saw that the Rechabites were a family of the Kenites, descended from
Midian, who was one of the many sons of Abraham.
· God told Jeremiah to offer them wine to drink – so he did.
The Rechabites aren’t Jews, so why invite them to the House of God? God has a point He wants to make, and He is going to use them to make it.
Jeremiah 35
5 Then I set before the sons
of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to
them, “Drink wine.”
6 But they said, “We will
drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying,
‘You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever.
7 ‘You shall not build a
house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your
days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where
you are sojourners.’
8 “Thus we have obeyed the
voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to
drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,
9 “nor to build ourselves
houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or 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 Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, 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 to Jeremiah, saying,
These men were descendants of Abraham. If anyone knew the value of a covenant and the benefit of a commitment to trust and obey, it was them. But it had been 300 years since their father gave them these commands. And this was not the Word of God, it was only the word of their father.
That’s impressive, not only to me, but also to God. Listen to the point God wants to make here.
13 “Thus says the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction to obey My words?” says the LORD.
14 “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab,
which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day
they drink none, and obey their father’s commandment. But although I have
spoken to you, rising early and speaking, you did not obey Me.
15 “I have also sent to you all My servants the
prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Turn now everyone
from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve
them; then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’
But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me.
16 “Surely the sons of
Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which
he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.”’
17 “Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts,
the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem all the doom that I have pronounced against them; because I have
spoken to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have
not answered.’ ”
18 And Jeremiah said to the house of the
Rechabites, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Because you have
obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts 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 forever.”’ ”
There
is someone listening who has been struggling with obeying the Lord … doing what
the Word of God says to do. It might have to do with:
·
Gossip,
Sex
·
Money,
Unforgiveness
· Worry, Anger, Hurtful Words, or Difficult Decisions
The point God is making in Jeremiah is simply the fact that you know what the Bible says so, if you aren’t doing it, why? Disobedience to God reveals both a lack of trust and a lack of integrity. And it’s not hard to obey God. If there is anyone who can obey God, it’s you … you know Him.
What has the Lord been telling you to do? What does the Bible say about it? God is the one who has been reminding you. You know what the Bible says … You can do it. It might be a hard choice, but it will pay off. The first reward is being right with God and God will take care of you.
If your obedience or deliverance involves another person, be assured, God is speaking to them too.
Simply trust and obey … The sons of Jonadab obeyed his word for untold generations. Many believe the descendants of Rechab still live in the land of Israel, still dwelling in tents in that same Judean desert, sowing no seeds and planting no vineyards. You can see these people, living in peace and enjoying the land wherein they are yet strangers.
Come with me to Israel some time and I’ll show you these nomadic people still living a simple life in the Judean wilderness just as they have for generations past.
This morning our challenge is to trust God enough to do things His way. You have a choice today. Are going to obey God’s Word? Decide to trust Him and Let Him take care of everyone else. They have a choice too.
Trust that God knows best and do what He says … you will be blessed, and you will be an example to others who are struggling as well.
Next
Sunday, Part 2. We will discover another facet of this story and how we can
become victorious in spite of our past, our pain, and our position.
