“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.” (Jer 35:14 AV)
Jonadab commanded his sons to refrain from wine, not build houses or estates, not plant vineyards or crops, and dwell in tents. This was contrary to the entire tribe of Judah. They were doing just the opposite. Therefore, the sons of Jonadab would not fit in with regular society. These commandments were not without purpose. Jonadab knew Babylon would eventually invade what was left of Israel. By his wisdom, if his family were nomads with nothing worth taking, Babylon might leave them be. His commandments were extreme by the standard of the day. But they were different enough to dissuade the Chaldeans from taking them into captivity. God’s point to the rest of Judah was the sons of Jonadab were willing to live an extreme lifestyle by commandment from their deceased father, yet they were unwilling to live by the commandment of the one and only living God. The sons of Jonadab showed more honor to a human authority who had passed away several years ago than God’s people would the God who loved them and took care of them.
The point is not that the sons of Jonadab were willing to follow a human authority but not a divine one. We don’t know for certain how godly these men were. All we know of them is they were willing to honor their father and obey him in his absence wherein the tribe of Judah was not willing to follow God. The motive here is the lesson. The sons of Jonadab obeyed their father because they honored him. There may have been other factors such as the practicality of his advice. But when push came to shove, they obeyed because they honored the authority over them. This is where Judah failed. They walked in rebellion because they did not value the LORD and considered Him worthy of honor. They did not consider Him worthy of their devotion. They did not think God was more important than their neighbors, flesh, or material things of life. To them, God was a convenience. He was a tradition. He was a definition of what they should be, but there was no pressing need to be what they should be. In short, Judah did not value and honor God nearly as high as the sons of Jonadab did their father.
This morning, my mind went to another passage of scripture. The king of Judah called for the confiscation of the word of God from Jeremiah’s secretary, Baruch. Upon hearing the prophecies of Jeremiah, Jehoiakim had the entire book burned. The idea of burning God’s word stuck in my head. Then I began to think of my current wide-margin Bible. I am transferring electronic notes into it so that I can leave it to my sons to do with it what they will. I have four of these Bibles. Two of them are full of notes. One of them is too large of a physical book to do anything with. My current one is the one I am transferring notes into. I thought of my school Bible. It is held together by black duct tape. I wonder what would become of it. How does one dispose of a Bible that is falling apart? Then I thought of the US flag. It is burned. This burning is an honorable thing. Not like the king of Judah who meant to forever destroy the word of God. You cannot! It will be preserved for all of eternity. It would be the honorable thing to burn it in some type of prayerful act rather than throw it in a dumpster to rot in a landfill somewhere. It would be an honorable thing. We have lost this sense of honor. The reason we do not live in obedience to God is we lack the honor we once had. This is what the sons of Jonadab had and what Judah lacked. This is why God protected these men and sent the dishonorable to their land of captivity.
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