THE EXAMPLE OF THE RECHABITES

This sermon deals with the issue of obedience. Throughout the history of mankind, the question of obedience had been a problem. Men struggled to obey God, starting from Adam to us today. God told Adam in Genesis 2:16-17, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Adam and Eve kept the word of God for a while, until the Serpent beguiled Eve. Shortly after that Eve gave the fruit to Adam and he did eat. They disobeyed God and they spiritually died. Their close relationship with God came to an end. They committed sin by disobeying the instruction of God and all men that came through Adam were considered to be born in sin.

There are situations that confront people everywhere, sit back and think over periods when your parents gave you commandments and you did not obey them. I beg to bring out the instruction God gave to the children of Israel. This started with Abraham in Genesis 24:1-3, which includes, “thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.” This instruction remained in place for all true children of Abraham. Isaac did not marry a Canaanite. Isaac continued in Genesis 28 with the same commandment from his father; he was now passing it on to his son Jacob, he said verse 1, “thou shall not take a wife of the daughter of Canaan.”

Also in Deuteronomy 7:1-7 you will find that the Lord gave a serious commandment to the children of Israel, which reads, “Neither shall thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.” Many children of Israel over the years disobeyed this commandment of God and faced terrible consequences. When you get unequally yoked with an unbeliever you end up bowing to their idol gods, instead of the living God.

Among the children of Israel was Jonadab the son of Rechab, who feared God. Jonadab was instructed by his father Rechab, and Recahab in turn instructed his own children with the following words, Jeremiah 35:8 “ hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters—-,” and have obeyed , and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

Prophet Jeremiah was moved of God to show that there were people who are faithful and love the Lord; like the Rechabites. In the last days which we leave in, the bible said children will become disobedient to parents. This is happening today. Yet the commandment to obey your parents is the one with a blessing of all the Ten Commandments. If this commandment has a blessing imagine what comes with obeying every word of God, especially have no other god besides me, saith the Lord.

In Jeremiah 35:4-8, the Prophet brought the whole house of the Rechabites, into the house of the Lord.  And set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and said unto them, drink ye wine. But they said, we will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Recahab our father commanded us, saying, ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever;—-that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers. Is this not resisting the word of a prophet? But if you know the scriptures, you would also know that the word of God is greater than the prophet. Also the word of the prophet must match the scriptures because the scriptures cannot be broken. The children of Rechab have been taught the scriptures and held fast to it, prophet or no prophet. The word of God cannot deny itself.

Ever imagined that in the midst of all the evils and disobedience, of the children of Israel against the commandments of God; that there were a people like the Recahabites that could obey the commandment of their father, even resisting the instruction of a Prophet like Jeremiah. They remembered the commandment of their father based on the word of God, when the prophet confronted them. The prophet commended them; let us learn from this example. Your so called daddy and mummy in the Lord may be good but be careful how you obey them; because human elements often come into it, treat your relationship with them as the Rechabites, the word and admonition of the Lord must come first.

Today, the children do not remember the commandments given them by their parent, or are not willing to obey them. Today many false prophets are in the world telling people to disobey both their parents and the commandments of God. Some preachers make their flock to commit several sins. These followers must bear in mind that when they disobey their parents or the commandment of God, they should hold themselves responsible also.

The Recahabites, remembered the words and commandments of their God fearing fathers. They practiced their faith. They stood their ground when faced with temptations. They loved the Lord and respected their father’s commandment.

Today humanism and modernism, instruments of destruction and of the devil, has corrupted the minds of the children. Also many parents have neither given any godly commandments to their children nor do the parent kept God in their lives by obeying His commandments. Necessary step to follow include thus:

1. Father, repent, teach and develop some godly commandments for yourself and your family.
2. Study the commandments and words of the Lord to have a firm foundation in your dealings.
3. Meditate on God’s word, before you make a commandment for your children and family.
4. Use the word of God against any temptations and remember the commandments of God.
5. Learn to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, spirit and body.
6. Respect your earthly God fearing fathers, who gave you commandments.
7. Learn to obey your parents, especially if they are godly.
8. Remember children, the words of godly parents often turn prophetic.

Translation moment 16
THE EXAMPLE OF THE RECHABITES