In February of 1530, Martin Luther received a letter from his brother, James, that their father, John, was seriously ill. Martin had wanted his parents to come live with Katie and him so that they might care for them in their old age, but his father’s weakness had made such a move impossible. And once Martin got word that his father was seriously ill, he’d wanted to go visit his parents. However, he was advised against it by his close friends, since many of the lords and peasants felt great anger toward Martin. Therefore, Luther thought it wise not to tempt God but merely to write a letter to his father in this time. He wrote the letter on February 15, 1530.
If Luther penned this letter, thinking it might be the last words he communicated to his father, he would have perhaps been right. His dad would die only three months after this letter was written. And in the letter, as we might expect for a letter written to a man who may very well die, Luther wrote to his dad, “[Christ] will give you the grace to accept all this willingly and obediently.” Again, that kind of line is not surprising. What is surprising is the context in which Luther writes this sentence.
Luther does not write this talking about the possibility that his father may die, saying that Christ will give him the grace to accept that. He writes this sentence in the midst of discussing the possibility of this sickness not leading to death but his father getting better and living. Luther writes, “If it is his divine will that you should postpone that better life and continue to suffer with us in this troubled and unhappy vale of tears, to see and hear sorrow and help other Christians to suffer and conquer, he will give you the grace to accept all this willingly and obediently. This life, cursed by sin, is nothing but a vale of tears. The longer a man lives, the more sin and wickedness and plague and sorrow he sees and feels. Nor is there respite or cessation this side of the grave. Beyond is repose, and we can then sleep in the rest Christ gives until he comes again to wake us with joy. Amen. 1
Again, if I were to tell you that Luther wrote a letter to his father as his father was seriously ill, saying “he will give you grace to accept all this willingly and obediently” you would think that Luther would be writing to his father about dying, not living. So, why does Luther write this way of life on earth? Is it because he was consistently depressed and saw no pleasure in this world? Of course not. Luther’s letters reveal a man who enjoyed the pleasures God has given us in this world and even sees his enjoyment of them as a reminder to Satan that he does not hold Luther captive.
The reason Luther writes this way, I believe, is because as he was considering his father continuing life on this earth, he was considering it against the backdrop of eternity. That is to say, Luther did not have some kind of depressed view of life, but when he considered life now against the backdrop of eternity, the contrast allowed him to see that there is no comparison between this life and the next in which there will be no more pain, sorrow, tears, sin, death, or Satan.
You see, sometimes seeing something in contrast helps us see more clearly, doesn’t it? When we lived in Louisville, I would feel good about the fifty degree weather in the earliest days of spring until I found out it was in the sixties in Jackson. Then, I sulked a bit.
Well, it seems that this idea of seeing things in contrast was squarely in the mind of whoever compiled Jeremiah’s prophecies in this book – whether it was Jeremiah, Baruch, or someone else. And the reason I say that is because of the fact that the episodes that are recorded for us in chapters 34 and 35 are right here together. I mean, it’s not as if they’re together because they’re dealing with the same people. In chapter 34, Jeremiah speaks to Zedekiah and the people under his reign, while in chapter 35, Jeremiah is ministering in the days when Jehoiakim is reigning. Nor are these stories in chronological order. In fact, the episode that we read in chapter 35 probably occurred about ten years prior to the prophecy that precedes it in chapter 34.
So why are these two chapters together? It seems that they are together because the divinely inspired compiler of this book wanted us to note the contrast between these two chapters. You see, these two chapters form almost a perfect contrast in stories. Chapter 34 is about God’s people breaking their promise, as they violated a covenant they had made before the Lord – in his temple, while chapter 35 is about a people keeping their word and being faithful to their promise. This seems to be the only reason these two chapters are together – by providing the perfect contrast, the latter story helps us to see more clearly the tragic nature of sin in the first story. But, let’s first look at the stories so that we have them clearly in our heads.
Chapter 34 focuses on Zedekiah and the people under his reign. The first seven verses take place as Judah is about to be overthrown. In fact, only two fortified cities remained in addition to Jerusalem. This is the bleakest of times. Obviously Nebuchadnezzar is going to finish the fight, and Judah would be overcome. Yet, in the midst of these final days the Lord gives a gracious word to Zedekiah. He tells him that Jerusalem will indeed be given into the hand of the king of Babylon (34:2), but he is also told that he will not die by the sword but in peace. Instead of dying viciously in battle, Zedekiah would be captured, die in peace, and be remembered by the lament of his people, as a king would hope to die.
Then, in verses 8-22, we are brought back in time a bit (it seems) to a time when Judah had a reprieve from the fight with Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had withdrawn his forces for a bit, and we are told of a good work that Zedekiah had done in this time. At some point in the fight with Babylon, Zedekiah decided that the people of Judah should free their Hebrew slaves. We read in verses 8-10,
“The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them, that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free.”
Now, we don’t know exactly why Zedekiah issued this proclamation. It may not have been simply out of the good of his heart. Some commentators suggest that the probable reason was because with the siege and the shortage of food, it would make it quite hard to feed slaves – let alone one’s own family. Therefore, freeing the slaves was equivalent to releasing yourself from the responsibility to provide for them.
Others have suggested that the slaves were most likely freed in order that they might think well of their (now former) masters and, thus, fight for them against the Babylonians. We simply do not know, though either of these options seems reasonable, and I’ll show you in a bit why a number of commentators suggest these less than righteous motivations drove the freeing of the slaves.
We do know two things, however. First, we know that this was no small issue. That is, it isn’t as if this was considered a light matter. Rather, we read that people made a covenant (v. 6), and we find out later that they even made this covenant before God in his temple (v. 15). Second, we know that what they did was in accordance with God’s law.
You see, when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, he commanded them that if they had a Hebrew slave, then he should serve them for six years. But after six years, in the seventh year, he should go free. We find this command in Exodus 21:2 and Deuteronomy 15:12.
Now, did the Israelites actually follow this command? No, they hadn’t. But when Zedekiah proclaimed that the Hebrew slaves should be freed and the people obeyed, this was seen as an act of repentance before the Lord. The Lord even declares to them that this is what had been done. We read of this in verses 12-15,
“The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, “At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; you must set him free from your service.” But your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name.'"
So, all looks well, right? Well, not so fast. We read that after freeing the Hebrew slaves, the people reversed course. In 34:11, we read, “But afterward they turned around took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves.” And we see that the Lord was not pleased with this reversal in verse 16, as he continues,
“But then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.”
Therefore, the Lord declares to the people that as they have not obeyed the Lord in proclaiming liberty to their brothers, now they will hear the Lord proclaim liberty to them – liberty to die by the sword, pestilence, and famine (v. 17). As the people made the covenant, passing through a calf that had been cut into two people, so, they will find themselves facing the same fate as the calf. Though Babylon had withdrawn from assaulting the people, God would bring them back, so that the Lord declares in verse 22,
“Behold, I will command, declares the Lord, and will bring them back to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.”
That’s the picture of Jeremiah 34. However, chapter 35 provides a perfect contrast for this scene in which the people broke their covenant promise. In chapter 35, we read of the obedience of the Rechabites.
The Rechabites were the people who had descended from Rechab, and they had an ancestor whom we might recall, Jehonadab, who had commanded them to live a particular lifestyle. Now, before getting into the lifestyle they were commanded to live, let’s remind ourselves that Jehonadab is pictured in 2 Kings 10 as a God-honoring man who accompanied Jehu when he was wiping Baal and Baal worship out of Israel. So, this was an upright man. And, years earlier (it seems about 250 years before the time of Jeremiah 35) Jehonadab commanded his descendants, saying,
“You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn” (35:6-7).
So, they had lived like this for 250 years. And with that in mind, the command of the Lord in 35:2 seems somewhat strange. The Lord says to Jeremiah,
“God to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.”
And Jeremiah does just that. He brings the Rechabites into the temple and set before them pitchers of wine with cups, telling them to drink.
Now, if there ever was pressure to break their vow, this was it. They had been invited by the Lord’s prophet to come into the temple and dine with him. And, it wasn’t like they could say to one another, “Listen, just eat and drink things we’re allowed to eat and drink, and he’ll never notice that we didn’t have any wine.” After all, the only thing the text tells us that Jeremiah served were pitchers of wine and cups. You couldn’t hide that you were abstaining. And, on top of that, if there ever was a rule of etiquette about eating or drinking what you’re offered, I would imagine that drinking whatever the prophet of God serves you in the temple when God commands that prophet to offer you something to drink would qualify.
But they do not drink. We read their response in verses 6-11,
“But they answered, ‘We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, 'You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.' We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, 'Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Syrians.' So we are living in Jerusalem.’”
Perhaps surprising to the reader, they answer, “No.” They will keep their vow that their family has kept now for nearly two and a half centuries. And obviously this did not catch the Lord off-guard. In fact, we find that the Lord’s purpose was to use the Rechabites as an illustration to his people, noting that the Rechabites obey the word of their ancestor for years, yet God has spoken persistently to his people, sending them prophets, and making clear his will, saying, “Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers” (35:15). Then the Lord notes, “But you did not incline your ear or listen to me.” For this reason, those in Judah will face disaster.
However, because the Rechabites have indeed obeyed, they will be blessed. In the final verses of the chapter, we read,
“Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me” (35:18-19).
And sure enough, we read in Nehemiah 3:14 that when the people had come back into the land and were rebuilding the wall of the city, there are the Rechabites. The verse reads, “Malchijah the son of Rechab, the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.”
So, I think you can see the perfect contrast these two chapter provide for us. A people who were unwilling to keep their vow, though they had every reason to keep it – being commanded by the Lord – and a people who kept their vow, though they had every reason not to keep it – it had been two and a half centuries and they were invited to drink wine in the temple by Jeremiah. Obviously the Lord’s people were to see this contrast and feel and see how evil their wickedness and rebellion against the Lord was. And I was to note a couple of lessons for us as well this morning. The first and most obvious one, I think, is that we are called to obey the Lord – whatever the circumstances.
One thing we notice in chapter 34 is that there was a reprieve in the attack on Jerusalem. Therefore, it was very likely that the people of Judah made the covenant to obey the Lord and release the slaves when it was quite convenient. If it was hard to feed them, and if they were willing to fight, then release them and let them fight with you against the Babylonians. However, once the siege lifted, the circumstances changed, didn’t they? All of the sudden, you could feed them again. All of the sudden, their ability to fight alongside you wasn’t that important, was it?
Again, these chapters not only form a contrast of promise-breaking versus promise-keeping but also reveal the importance of obeying despite the circumstances. Just as it would have gotten harder to keep the slaves free when the attack was withdrawn and it would have gotten harder for the Rechabites to keep their vow when Jeremiah offered them wine in the temple, so I believe that we are to see that circumstances should not affect whether or not we obey the Lord.
Even Satan’s temptation of our Lord warns us about the enemy capitalizing on our circumstances, doesn’t it? Satan tempts Jesus to turn the stones into bread after he had been fasting for forty days. He tempts Jesus to throw himself down and watch the Father’s provision when Jesus knows that in not many days he will desperately need the Father’s provision as he cried out in the garden. He tempts Jesus to serve him and have all the kingdoms of the earth in a time when the Son of God incarnate is walking around and people are not bowing down and worshiping him.
You see, the enemy is no moron. He, the Scripture tells us, is like a roaring lion. And our lustful appetites feed us the same lies. There can be a temptation, then, for example to make yourself look good before others. But it usually come to us bare like that does it? It’s usually something like, “No one’s noticing what you’re doing. Others are actually getting praised and you’re not. Make sure they know you’re worthy of praise.” And so we think to ourselves, “I wouldn’t normally do this, but these are crazy circumstances.”
I grew up in church admiring a man named Lonnie McReynolds. I admired him not because he was some public figure in the church. In fact, I don’t remember him ever speaking one time. Nor, did I see any service he did in the church for that matter, though I’m sure he did much. I admired him, however, because of his love for his wife, Mickey.
You see, Mickey had a disease that slowly took her life. When we first moved to the area and met Mickey, she’d just gotten to the point that she was having trouble moving around physically. Over the next five years, she slowly deteriorated to the point of not being able to move, talk, eat, or even make eye-contact. In the last year of her life, she was just there on a bed in their living room. Lonnie would have a nurse stay with her and care for her while he was at work, and as soon as he got home, he could take over her care until the next morning when the nurse would return.
Throughout those years, Lonnie loved his wife, cared for her, did everything for her, and got nothing in terms of response from her. Why? Because she was his wife, and he was called by God to love her as Christ loved the church. He had stood with her and vowed to love and cherish her, to be with her in sickness and in health, and to be faithful to her. And that’s what he did. To my knowledge, Lonnie kept himself sexually pure, did not neglect his wife, and as best he could lavished upon her the word of God.
And you know what? That’s exactly what he should have done – because that’s what God commanded him to do. The Lord doesn’t tell us to love our wives and devote ourselves sexually only to them so long as they are physically able to be intimate. He doesn’t tell us to be faithful to our wives only so long as they can actually have a conversation with us. He tells us to obey him, whatever the circumstances. This is one reason why I hate the title of a certain book that has some helpful tips on wives and husbands faithfully loving one another. The title is His Needs, Her Needs: How to Build an Affair-Proof Marriage. And the reason I hate that title is the underlying assumption there is, if he doesn’t meet her needs, then she has legitimate reason to go look for them elsewhere, or if she doesn’t meet his needs, then he has legitimate reason to go look for them elsewhere. The reality is, however, the only way to build an affair-proof marriage is for both spouses to know that they are going to obey their God whatever the circumstances.
So, perhaps today we find ourselves in a particularly weak time. Maybe obedience was easy for a while, but now the position we find ourselves in is just lasting too long. Surely God doesn’t want me to continue to walk faithfully this long, we might ask. Indeed, if that’s your circumstance right now, he expects you to obey him. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul tells the slaves who became believers while in slavery, that if they can be freed, great. But if they can’t, they can serve God faithfully right in their circumstances. He says the same with an individual who believes while the spouse doesn’t. He says that if the unbeliever is willing to stay with you, then you can serve God faithfully right where you are.
God doesn’t tell us, “Obey me, unless your circumstances are trying or things aren’t turning out like you hoped.” So, this morning, let us pray together and ask the Lord to give us consistency and persistence in obeying him, even as our trying circumstances continue. May our lives honor the Lord, even as Lonnie McReynolds taught me by example the reward that is found in obeying the Lord, even in the most trying of circumstances.
Second, these chapters remind us of the need to expose ourselves to God’s Word continually.
What’s interesting is that when God rebukes Judah for being less faithful in obeying him than the Rechabites were in obeying Jehonadab, he notes that he persistently sent the prophets to them. We find the word “persistently” mentioned in verses 14 and 15. Their problem was that they did not listen to God’s messengers.
But this reminds us, I think of the fact that we need persistent exposure to God’s Word so that we might have our hearts and minds correctly diagnosed and our hearts kept from becoming hard. That is, we need the Word of God to correct us as we slip into thinking something is acceptable. That’s how sin works, doesn’t it? To use the old illustration, it’s like a frog slowly heating up in water without noticing the slowly rising temperature until the water is boiling him to death. That’s how sin works.
So, we need to be exposed to the Word of God so that we are constantly lining our hearts up with what is right and true, seeing where we have slipped into accepting what the Bible condemns, and keeping our hearts from being hardened.
And I don’t envision limiting this to just hearing the Word preached or just having our quiet time or just having others speak of God’s Word with us. Rather, I think our need for exposure to God’s Word is so great that we cannot have enough exposure to it.
But there can be a temptation to forget how powerful it is. In fact, this morning, if you’ve found yourself wanted to repent in light of how the Bible has pointed to our need to obey despite our circumstances, then you’ve seen the power of the Word, diagnosing the heart. It is like a sword that cuts into and lays bare the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. God knows we need it. That’s why he persistently sent his Word to his people through the prophets, and it’s why he has left us with his Word now. So, let us find ourselves hearing God’s Word, and as James reminds us, doing it as well.
Finally, I want to remind us that the gospel can bring forgiveness and transformation to a people who have broken their promises.
It’s hard to read these chapters and forget what we just say in Jeremiah 30-33, especially 31. And I don’t think we’re supposed to forget it. These people who violated God’s covenant and sinned despite having every reason to obey, God was promising to bring these people forgiveness and transformation of heart. So, to us this morning, I want to remind us of the forgiveness that is ours in the gospel, of the righteousness that is ours through the gospel. You see, though we have all failed to live up to our Word, God sent one who never failed in this way. He obeyed perfectly and died to pay for our sins. He was raised so that we who have violated our word and broken our promises might be forgiven and declared righteous.
But that’s not all the gospel does. The gospel transforms hearts. That’s why, this morning, my assumption is that I’m speaking to a group of people who want to obey like the Rechabites did. You long to walk in faithfulness and mirror before the world the kind of obedience that was seen in Lonnie McReynolds. And if you do, it’s because God has transformed your heart through the gospel and put his Spirit within you.
So, don’t be afraid of the struggle of obedience in your circumstances. Rather, recognize that the God who has forgiven you of sin has already given you a new heart, put a new Spirit within you, and will strengthen you to obey him. All the grace that you need to persevere in obedience, he will provide for you. That is why he reminds us again and again that he is the faithful God. So, let us repent and walk in holiness, confident of the Lord’s faithfulness to supply us grace in order that we might obey him throughout all of life’s circumstances. Amen.