“The command that Jonadab, the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me.”
– Jeremiah 35:14
The picture here in Jeremiah 35:14, God’s drawing a comparison or really a contrast between Jonadab, the son of Rechab, who gave to his sons a command to drink no wine, and his sons kept that command. They didn’t drink any wine. It says, “For they obeyed their father’s command.” And then God says, “I,” and the implication is as a father to you, “have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me. You’ve not done what I command.” Later on in Jeremiah 35:16, it says, “The sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have kept the command their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me.”
Jeremiah 35:14 Shows Us that God is Kind to Us
And so I want to encourage us in each of our lives today to consider before God our father, are there any commands that we are not obeying, that He has spoken to us clearly in His word that we are not listening to, that you or I are not obeying? Oh God, our father in Heaven, we say to you together today, based on this picture in Jeremiah 35, we are so glad you’re our father. We trust that all your commands to us are good. They’re loving.
They’re kind. And they’re for our good and for other’s good and for your glory. God, help us to see your commands this way, not as burdens, but as invitations to experience abundant life, invitations to experience your love as we walk with you in obedience to you. God, help us to obey your commands as our father. You’re a perfect father. We know all of your commands to us are right and good and best for us.
Jeremiah 35:14 Leads Us to Flee Sexual Immorality
So God, please help us to obey you. We pray that, even right now, you would bring to our minds and our hearts, by your spirit, conviction about any commands we are not obeying, any commands we are ignoring. As we think about your word, how your word commands us to meditate on your word day and night. God, help us to hear and obey that command.
Your word tells us to flee sexual immorality, to speak in ways that are useful for building up others according to their needs in Christ Jesus. To not be anxious about anything, to not worry. And to rejoice always, to give thanks in all circumstances, to be holy as you are holy. To die to ourselves, to our pride, to cultivate humility. To clothe ourselves with compassion toward others, to bear with others, to love others as we love ourselves. And to forgive others as you have forgiven us, to make disciples. To proclaim the gospel as witnesses in the power of your Holy Spirit, to make disciples of all the nations.
God’s Commands are Good for Us
God, all these commands are right and good and best for us. We praise you as our father for giving them to us. We pray that you would help us to be faithful sons and daughters today. Help us to obey you as our father and to experience the joy of walking with you, loving you, and glorifying you as we do. We pray all of this. In light of Jeremiah 35:14, in light of your commands to us. May it be said that we listened and obeyed to you. That we listened to and obeyed you as our father. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
