Jeremiah 35:1 - Meaning and Application

This chapter belongs to an earlier time than many of the chapters before it. What is told here happened in the days of Jehoiakim, king of Judah (Jeremiah 35:1). It must have been toward the end of his reign, because it was after the king of Babylon and his army had come into the land (Jeremiah 35:11). That likely points to the invasion mentioned in 2 Kings 24:2, which came when Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

After God’s judgments had begun to fall on this stubborn people, he still kept speaking to them through his prophets. He wanted to turn them from sin so that his anger might turn away from them. For that purpose, Jeremiah sets before them the example of the Rechabites, a family that kept itself apart from the rest of Israel. They were originally Kenites, as 1 Chronicles 2:55 shows. The Kenites who settled in Israel were descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law (Judges 1:16). They are also seen apart from the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15:6 and in Judges 4:17.

One branch of these Kenites took its name from Rechab. His son, or a later descendant from him, was Jonadab, a man known in his day for wisdom and godliness. He lived during the reign of Jehu, king of Israel, about 300 years before this time. We see him in 2 Kings 10:15-16, when Jehu, eager to look devoted to God, invited him to ride with him in his chariot. Jehu likely thought that having such a respected man beside him would help people think well of his reforms.

Now we are told what way of life Jonadab gave to his children and to their descendants after them, for all generations. We have good reason to think these were rules he had followed himself all his life. He gave them two main commands. First, he told them not to drink wine, following the pattern of the Nazirites, people set apart to God in a special way. Wine can cheer the heart, and Scripture allows its sober and moderate use. But we are so easily harmed by it, and a godly person already has deep joy in God’s favor (Psalm 4:6-7), that it is a commendable kind of self-denial either to avoid it or use it only very sparingly and for medical need, as Timothy did (1 Timothy 5:23).

Second, he told them to live in tents, not to build houses, buy land, or even rent and occupy property (Jeremiah 35:7). This went beyond what the Nazirites were required to do. Tents were plain homes, so this would teach them humility. They were exposed homes, so this would train them to endure hardship and not pamper the body. They were movable homes, so this would remind them not to settle down too much in this world. They were to live this way all their days. By starting early, they would learn to bear hardship, and old age would not make it harder for them.

Why did Jonadab set these rules for his family? It was not simply to show authority or to rule over them. He did it because he was wise and truly cared for their good. He did not bind them with an oath or a vow, or threaten them with punishment. He only urged them to follow this discipline as far as it helped them grow, and to be exempt from it when necessity required, as in Jeremiah 35:11. He gave them these rules, first, so they would keep the old character of their family. Some may have looked down on that way of life, but he saw its true honor. His ancestors had lived as shepherds (Exodus 2:16), and he wanted his descendants to keep that simple calling. Israel itself had once been a people of shepherds and tents (Genesis 46:34). We should not be ashamed of the honest work of our ancestors, even if it seems humble.

Second, he wanted them to accept their condition and fit their lives to it. Moses had given hope that they might be made part of the land (Numbers 10:32), but that had not happened. They were still strangers in the land (Jeremiah 35:7) and had no inheritance there. So they needed to live from their labor, and that was a good reason to become used to simple food and simple shelter. Strangers should not expect to live like landowners, with abundance and comfort. It is wise and right to adapt ourselves to our place and rank, and not try to live above it. If this had been the lot of our fathers, why should we not be content for it to be ours too?

Third, he wanted them to avoid envy and trouble from the people among whom they lived. If strangers lived in wealth, built up estates, and feasted richly, the local people would resent them and watch them suspiciously, as the Philistines did with Isaac (Genesis 26:14). That would lead to quarrels and harm. So Jonadab thought it best for them to keep low. Living modestly would help them live long in the land where they were strangers. Humility and contentment in an obscure place are often the safest policy and the surest protection.

Fourth, he wanted to guard them against luxury and selfish pleasure, which were common sins in that time and place. Jonadab saw deep moral decay around him. The drunkards of Ephraim were many, and he feared his children might be corrupted and ruined by them. So he made them live apart, away from the city, and even deny themselves lawful pleasures so they would not fall into unlawful ones. He wanted them sober, temperate, and self-controlled. That would help both body and mind, and it would give them many good days in the land where they were strangers. Since we too are strangers and pilgrims in this world, we should avoid fleshly desires, rise above mere pleasure, and look on such things with a noble and holy disregard.

Fifth, he wanted them ready for times of trouble and disaster. Jonadab could see, without needing a special prophecy, that a people so badly turned from God was headed for destruction. He wanted his family prepared so that, if they could not live at peace during peaceful times, they might still have peace in the middle of trouble.

So they would have little to lose, and times of loss would be less frightening to them. If they held loosely to what they owned, then it would hurt less when it was taken away. People are in the best shape to face suffering when they have died to the world and live a life of self-denial.

In general, this also taught them to live by rule and under discipline. That is good for all of us, and we should teach our children to do the same. Those who have lived long, like Jonadab, who likely gave this charge to his descendants long before, can speak from experience about the empty promises of the world. They know the dangers hidden in wealth and pleasure, so others should listen when they warn the next generation to stay alert.

The text then shows how carefully Jonadab’s descendants kept these commands, in Jeremiah 35:8-10. In every generation they had obeyed their father Jonadab and done everything he commanded. They drank no wine, even though they lived in a land where wine was easy to get. Their wives and children also drank no wine, for those who practice self-control should be sure those under their care do the same.

They built no houses and did no farming, but lived from their flocks and herds. They did this partly because they honored their ancestor and respected his authority. They also did it because they had seen for themselves how helpful that simple, self-denying life was. We can see here how strong tradition can be, and how much old customs, example, and honored names can shape people. What seems very hard at first can, through long habit, become easy and almost natural.

On one point, we are told how they handled an emergency and set aside the rule when necessity required it, in Jeremiah 35:11. When the king of Babylon came into the land with his army, they left their tents and came to live in Jerusalem, in whatever houses they could use there. Strict discipline should not be made so rigid that it leaves no room for necessity. It is wise, when making promises of that kind, to allow for special cases from the start, so that later we do not have to say, “It was a mistake” (Ecclesiastes 5:6).

Such commands should be understood with these limits. The Rechabites would have been tempting God and not trusting him if they had failed to use proper means for their safety in a time of widespread trouble, even though their family rule and custom were otherwise against it.

On the other point, the text shows how they held firmly to their rule even under strong pressure. Jeremiah took them into the temple, into a prophet’s room there, rather than into the nearby room of the princes, because he had a message from God. That message would fit its setting better if it was delivered in the rooms of a man of God.

There he did more than ask whether they would drink wine. He set before them pots full of wine and cups to drink from, making the temptation as strong as possible. He told them, “Drink wine, and it will cost you nothing. You have already broken one rule of your order by coming to live in Jerusalem. Why not break this one too, and do in the city what the people there do?”

But they refused firmly, and they all agreed in the refusal. “No, we will not drink wine, because it is against our law.” The prophet knew very well that they would say no, and when they did, he did not press them further, because he saw they were firmly resolved. Temptations like this have no power over people who are settled in sobriety, though they often succeed with those who know the right path but lack the will to follow it.