The Recabites are a rather obscure group that are mentioned in Jeremiah 35 as a people that did not drink wine and lived nomadic lives in tents. These people had made a vow at their father's (Jonadab ben Recab's) request, not to build houses or plant vineyards; and they committed themselves not to consume any wine. They therefore wandered through the countryside as nomads, relying by faith upon the Lord to provide for their necessities.
Equally noteworthy was their discipline of abstinence. In a culture that used wine as a form of celebration for the blessings of the Lord, it is noteworthy that these people took a vow to refrain from what others in the community would have considered a valued drink used for festive occasions. Possibly like the Nazirite vow, it was a statement of separateness and purity; or possibly it was a reminder to these people not to enjoy the present pleasures of life, knowing that God's ultimate blessing was yet to come through the Messiah. Still, it may be as Ricky L. Johnson suggests in the Holman Bible Dictionary that these Recabites were protesting the pagan influences of the Canaanite religions upon the descendants of Abraham.
The one thing that we do know is that these people were faithful and disciplined to their calling, though that calling obviously brought certain disadvantages. Not being able to plant crops, build houses, and enjoy the fruit of the vine was likely viewed as a sacrifice by these descendants of Rechab. Still, they were committed to the covenant that they had made to their father, Jonadab (and ultimately the LORD).
However, with the arrival of the warring Babylonians to the region of Judah, these nomadic people's life experience changed, and they were forced into the city of Jerusalem for protection. One has to wonder if any of these Recabites were disheartened at the Lord for His supposed lack of protection. Were they embittered that they had been forced from their tents into the city? Actually, the answer is no, because we know that when the Lord called Jeremiah to test these people to see what was in their hearts, they came through with flying colors. Specifically, the Lord summoned the prophet to invite these Recabites to a side room of the temple to drink some wine. If they had been like so many of us that permit our circumstances to dictate our level of commitedness to the LORD, one might find them saying in modern vernacular, "sure, let's do some serious partying . . . after all, what has God done for us lately? We've been faithful to our covenant and yet here we're having to run to Jerusalem to seek protection. Let's live it up and enjoy ourselves for it doesn't seem like God cares [if He's even there]."
Knowing that these events occurred during the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah tells us that gross licentiousness was a popular trend in Jerusalem at that time. The overwhelming majority of people in the city would have been indulging their own wanton desires with no feeling of contrition for their behavior. It would have been easy during that day for the Recabites to join in the revelry of the day. They would have fit in just fine.
Instead, when the LORD summoned the prophet Jeremiah to test the hearts of the people by inviting them to the temple to drink wine, the Recabites declined the request. What is noteworthy is that the Recabites did not know when Jeremiah called them to the temple the purpose for their summons. Just for these nomadic peoples to have been invited to the temple and to recline in a room adjacent to the room reserved for the officials would have been a distinct honor for them. In the euphoria of being given such an opportunity, it would have been easy to indulge in the choicest wine unexpectedly set before them. This would have been a very attractive invitation had they not been resolved to remain faithful to their covenant.
Immediately upon the offering, the men of the family proclaimed, "we do not drink wine, because our forefather Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command: 'Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine . . . we have obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us."
God responded to the Recabite's fidelity to their covenant by telling Jeremiah to go to the people of Judah and tell them to learn from this account of faithfulness. God was pleased that these sons of Jonadab were committed to the promise that they had made to their father. He used this account to indict the people of Judah since they were flagrantly uncommitted to the covenant stipulations that their forefathers had made with the LORD. For these Judean's egregious violation of the covenant, God would respond with demonstrative judgment.
God, however, would reward the Recabites with a promise that they would always have someone from their family to serve Him. This would have been a tremendous privilege for a people who were nomadic and therefore had little prestige within the community. God called these people out from the people of Judah, for He saw in them faithfulness and fidelity even in the midst of trial and tribulation.
This is a tremendous word for each of us. Who we present ourselves to be in the midst of crisis is who we really are. Were we to experience misfortune in our lives, how would we respond and who would we become? Would we be faithful to our covenant with the Lord while we struggle with life's disappointments, or would we give in to a fatalistic, embittered spirit and in effect indulge ourselves with any temptatious experience that comes our way?
We must remember that God rewards those who diligent follow Him. The Lord loves to see a disciplined person who is committed to the ways of righteousness, and He blesses those who are faithful to Him no matter the circumstance. Let us ever be resolved to remain loyal to our Lord, irrespective of our trials; and let us by faith trust that our Sovereign King will reward us for our faithfulness to Him.
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