A Family's Example

October 19, 2025 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 35: 1 - 19 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 35:5 - 11 We have learned that the human brain receives and processes information from different sources. Some things we hear and learn, some things we see and learn, and some things we touch, or experience, and learn. Although we tend to be biased towards one of these modes of learning, the human brain receives and processes information from each mode. God uses all these modes to communicate with His people. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. That reflects the power of visual learning. God sometimes uses role models as visual examples to be followed. It is rare for an individual to be chosen by God for such a privilege. It is even rarer that an entire family is identified as role models. In today's lesson, God used a family of Rechabites as a demonstration of loyal behavior to the instructions of a father. After giving a series of verbal messages to Jeremiah, God arranged a visual message for him. God used the example of a family that was committed to following the instructions of their patriarch. God told Jeremiah to go to the family's home and invite them to the temple. God told him to take the family into a room inside of the temple. Following God's instructions, Jeremiah had prepared a bowl of wine and some cups. Jeremiah told the family to drink some wine. They were steadfast in their refusal to do so because of the past instructions of the family's patriarch. Their patriarch had given instructions to his family to abstain from drinking wine forever. They were told to not build houses or plant fields or vineyards, but they were to remain nomadic. They were to live as foreigners and not homesteaders. They were given instructions to live in a manner that reinforced the temporary nature of life in this world. However, they were living in Jerusalem at the time Jeremiah received these instructions. They were living in Jerusalem rather than as nomads because they fled there from the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, when he invaded Palestine. Jeremiah took the family into a very private area of the temple. Their reaction to Jeremiah's invitation for them to indulge in the wine he provided was instructive. This was the heart of the message: Even in a private environment where no one could see what they were doing except Jeremiah, that family steadfastly obeyed the instructions of their father. God contrasted their obedient behavior to their patriarch to the disobedience of His people who have received His commandments. God challenged Jeremiah to go tell the men of Judah to receive instructions to obey God's words with that same type of fidelity to God's word that the Rechabite family had to the instructions of their patriarch. This was a human family obeying the instructions of their forefather, but God's family refused to obey His divine instructions. God reached out to His people many times; including through many prophets. God warned them to obey His commandments and avoid idol gods so they would be allowed to remain in the land of promise. However, the people of God refused to listen to God's warnings. And because they refused to listen to God's instructions, neither did they obey them. Therefore, the doom prophesied against His people would happen. They would not be allowed to remain in the land but would become slaves in a foreign land. The Rechabite family, in contrast, would be rewarded with a servant standing in God's presence forever because of their example of obedience to their father. Rarely do individuals receive such an honor; and here the Rechabites were used by God as a family's example of obedience to their father. Robert C. Hudson September 26, 2025