Simplicity in Obedience

In walking with God, at the completion of the obedience of each commandment, God will unfold the next line of His divine assignment.  Put yourself in the shoe of the servant of God, Prophet Jeremiah.   God told him, "Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words."  Contrary to God's instruction, not actually in disobedience to His words, some of us may say, "Lord, let me go to a solitary and a quiet place where I will be able to pay total attention to your words and I will hear you clearly," without knowing the intention of God for the simple instruction he expected Jeremiah to follow.

"Go to the house of Recabites, bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers and give them wine to drink."  Will you not wonder and ask: "To bring the Recabites into the house of the Lord, in the one of the chambers of God, and give them wine to drink?" I bet some of us would have said, "Lord, that could not have been you."   However, Jeremiah, who had been walking in the presence of the Lord in the time past did not see anything absurd in the commandment of God.  He did according to how God had bid him.

Jeremiah 35:6-10Jeremiah 35:6-10
6. But they replied, "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.
7. Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents.  Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.
8. We have obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us.  Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine
9. or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops.
10. We have lived in the tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab commanded us. God who knows the end before the beginning knew what would be the response of the Recabites.  It was on their response that He would base His message to His own people, the household of Israel.  The Recabites responded according to the expectation of God and said, "we will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Recab our father commanded us, saying, "Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons forever. . . ."  Let us study the commandment of Recabites:

1. Drink no wine
2. Build no house
3. Sow no seed
4. Plant no vineyard and own none, so that they may live long

If we were the tribe of Recabites, most of us would not keep these commandments today, especially now that some people have discovered their own "enjoyment" in the sparkling liquid in the bottle called alcohol, when owning a real estate properties gives you an edge in the class of material world and when the farmers are becoming millionaires in our days.  However, the Recabites kept the commandment of their fathers although the reward of their obedience was longevity that can only be given by God.

Deutronomy 5:31-33Deutronomy 5:31-33
31. But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess."
32. So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.
33. Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.  Upon the obedience of Recabites in faithfulness to their father's commandment, God reminded the household of Israel concerning His commandments.  God revealed the pains and heartaches caused by the disobedience of Israelites.  He recounted how he had sent His servants the prophets to warn them and ask them to repent of their evil ways, all to no avail.  Isaiah 1:2-4Isaiah 1:2-4
2. Hear, O heaven! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken:  "I reared children and brought them up but they have rebelled against me.
3. The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."
4. Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord: they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.; I Samuel 12:14-15I Samuel 12:14-15
14. If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God - good!
15. But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers. ; I Samuel 15:22-23I Samuel 15:22-23
22. But Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  To obey is better than sacrifice, and to beed is better than the fat of the rams.
23. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king."

Have you wondered if the Recabites could value longetivity so much as to obey the commandment of their forefather, how much more do Christian  God's commandments so that eternity with our Lord Jesus Christ could be our reward.