A Principled Life | Jeremiah 35 | Gary Hamrick

Jeremiah 35 I'm gonna read all of it starting at verse 1 this is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah go to the wreck abite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink so I went to get jazz and I a son of Jeremiah this is a different Jeremiah the son of habit I have as an ayah and his brothers and all his sons the whole family of the wrecker bites I brought them into the house of the Lord into the room of the sons of hainan son of Dalia the man of God it was next to the room of the officials which was over that of Messiah son of shaloom the doorkeeper and then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the men of the rekha bite family and said to them drink some wine but they replied we do not drink wine because therefore father jonadab son of Ray kab gave us this command neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine and you must never build houses so seed or plant vineyards you must never have any of these things but must always live in tents and then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads we have obeyed everything our forefather John a DAB son of Ray Kappe commanded us either we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine or built houses to live in or had vineyards fields or crops we have lived in tents and if fully obeyed everything our forefathers John a DAB commanded us but when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded this land we said come we must go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and aramean armies and so we have remained in Jerusalem and then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying this is what the Lord Almighty the God of Israel says go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will you not learn a lesson and obey my words declares the Lord John Adams son of Ray cab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been kept to this day they do not drink wine because they obey their forefathers command but I have spoken to you again and again yet you have not obeyed me again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you and they said each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions do not follow other gods or serve them and then you will live in the land I have given to you and your fathers and you have not paid attention or listen to me the descendants of John Adams son of Rey cab have carried out the command of their forefather gave them but these people have not obeyed me therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty the God of Israel says listen I'm going to bring on Judah and on every one living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them I spoke to them but they did not listen I called to them but they did not answer then Jeremiah said to the family of the wrecker bites this is what the Lord Almighty the God of Israel says you have obeyed the command of your forefather jonadab but have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered and therefore this is what the Lord Almighty the God of Israel says John Adams son of Jacob Rey cab will never fail to have a man to serve me I want to talk today about living a principled life in an unprincipled world living a principled life in an unprincipled world let's start with prayer father in heaven were grateful for the opportunity here to gather together to open your word the same songs of praise to worship you and we trust that you will also be glorified now as we study your word and as we apply it to our hearts give us understanding Lord and may we see this ancient text as timeless truth even for our day even for this generation and we love you Lord and we thank you for your word I thank you for all those who are here and all those who are watching online may it bring you much glory today Lord we pray in Jesus name and everybody said amen well probably if I ask for a show of hands there would be little to no people here who would say yeah I've heard a sermon on the rekha bytes before but you're gonna get that today all of chapter 35 an entire an entire chapter of Jeremiah chapter 35 is devoted to this group of people known as the rekha bytes and so here's the framework for our teaching today I'm going to break it down in these in these ways we're gonna talk about who the rekha bytes were and by the way some of your translations have an H after the C rekha bytes same it's just a different way of spelling the name we're gonna talk about who the rekha bytes were we're gonna talk about what the record bytes were known for and then finally we're gonna talk about how their story applies to our lives today so let me start first place first let's talk about who the record bytes were we actually have very little information in the Bible about these people in fact the most information we have about them is what you just read with me here in Jeremiah chapter 35 and this is the last information we have about them in all of the Bible but trying to piece together other little different references through the Old Testament let me give you the backdrop of our story the rekha bytes are named after their ancestor ray kab it's not that difficult friends the rekha bytes are descendants of a guy by the name of Ray kab that's the way they did it back in those days the descendants of a person just got ite gasps after their name so my kids are Gary ice all right I don't know the name you know you just put itës after your name those are who your kids are I'm thankful that nobody here I'm sure is named term think about it you'll get it on the way home but anyway the people here are rectified cuz they're named after a guy one of their ancestors named Drake cab now the Bible tells us in first chronicles 255 that Ray cab was a guy who was a descendant of a larger tribal group of people called the Kenites kan ITES the Kenites and so whenever we talk about the rekha bites we're also talking about the Kenneth's because Rek cab was a part of the tribal group known as the Kenites the Kenites were not Jewish they were not Israeli the Kenites however were longtime friends of the Israelites they had long-standing good relationship with the Israelites we see them throughout the Bible not only being friends of the Israel Israelites but actually assimilating into the Israelite clan and and and the the Jewish people they assimilate they integrate with the people they live among the Israelites and so they're more than just allies they actually have become in some ways like distant cousins who have assimilated into the Israelites themselves King Saul in 1st Samuel 15 6 commends the Kenites again that's the larger tribal group that the rekha bites belong to he commends the Kenites for being favorable towards the Hebrew slaves when the Hebrew slaves were making their exodus from Egypt up to the promised land in fact the Bible says in judges chapter 116 that the Kenites actually accompanied the Israelites into the Promised Land that's how much they had assimilated with the Israelite people and they settled with the Israelites and they live among them and by the time we get to the period of the monarchy during the period of the kings which is the time that we're reading here the tail-end of the monarchy in the Book of Jeremiah the rekha bite people the Kenites are living in Judah which is the southern province here that is now being besieged by the Babylonians some historians even believe that the Kenites again the rekha bites belong to the Kenites we're part of the temple servants mentioned in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah who were part of doing menial tasks to assist the Levites in the temple that's how much they had become a part of the Israelite clan that the Levites in the temple were responsible for the sacred duties alone but that the Kenites and also another group called the Gibeonites had a role and responsibility in some of the menial tasks in the temple service so that's a little bit about who they were and the question becomes how did they become so favorably disposed with the Israelites and how how is it that they became assimilated with the Israelites and the answer to that question is you got to go back to Moses and what we find out in the Bible is that Moses's father-in-law was aconite Moses married aconite girl who was from Midian her name was Zipporah and thus by virtue of the marriage of Moses with the can Knight the can Knight people became closely aligned with and assimilated with the Israelites everybody with me so far so that's who the record bites were underneath a larger tribal group called the Kenites very favorable friendly assimilated with the Israelites we're never at odds were never at war they were together and we see them throughout Scripture in this very close relationship now what were the rekha bites known for well the wrecker bites were known for first of all as being metal Smiths in fact again the larger group that they descend from the Kenites the hebrew word the root word for ken night is a hebrew word that means smith if you are here today and your last name is Smith you can probably trace your lineage to people who were metal Smith's or blacksmiths people who worked with metal that's the Kenites here that's the Rekha bites they were metal workers from that root word ken night which means Smith so that's a little bit about what they did which meant that they also had an industrial value to the Israelites living among them being metal workers the other thing that the record bytes were known for is being tent dwellers we read that here in the texture in Jeremiah 35 these people lived in tents they were nomads they never built houses they never planted vineyards they never had crops it was part of the way they lived as nomads now that was due in large part to the fact that they just were not attached to geography and and and because they didn't own land they couldn't work the land and so they were ten twelve they were nomads and we'll talk about that a little bit later and then the third thing that identifies them they were metal workers they were tenth well and the third thing is that they adhered to a strict policy on the abstinence of alcohol and we see that here in this chapter as well now we don't know exactly why all we know is that they trace it back to one of their ancestors the son of Ray Cab whose name was John a DAB and that Java dab just basically imposed this among his own people and said you know it's not good for us to drink wine and he asked that every succeeding generation would avoid alcohol and so they complied they were compliant for centuries in this regard it was probably something more akin to a Nazarite valve those of you who understand a little bit about your Old Testament Scriptures you know that that and we see this reflected even in the New Testament - sometimes Jews would take a voluntary Nazarite vow and part of the Nazarite vow included the abstinence from anything of the grape or the vineyard and including alcohol and it was basically a statement that one did not want to be under the influence of anything other than God and so it's probably something similar to that where Jonah dabbe one of their ancestors here within the rekha bite said I don't want us to be drinking alcohol and so nobody did and they were faithful to that throughout all the following generations so this is who they are and this is what they were known for but before we talk about how their story applies to our lives today I just want to kind of recap what's going on here in Jeremiah chapter 35 since the Babylonians have been besieged Judit now for 20 years Jerusalem has not yet fallen because we're reading here this is during the reign of King Jehoiakim okay so still there's a king of Judah in place in Jerusalem and since the rekha bytes lived among the people of Judah when the Babylonians are besieging Judah the rekha bytes are looking at their living conditions and they're realizing probably not the best to be living in tents while bombs are welding that bombs but you know Wow while warfare is going on around us right and so they realize this is not good shelter so they roll up their tents and they go to the city of Jerusalem which was a fortified city still had not yet at this time been taken by Nebuchadnezzar they knock on the door they say hey listen we've been good longtime friends we're kind of kissing cousins we like to find refuge here in the fortified city of Jerusalem and the Israelites are like very accommodating they're like yes of course come in and so the wrecker bites come into Jerusalem we find out there in verse 11 by their own testimony this is why they're in Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar is besieging Judah it's unsafe it's warfare we rolled up our tents we sought shelter here within the fortified city of Jerusalem that's why they're there and so God tells Jeremiah in the first two verses of this chapter I want you to gather all the rekha bites together here in Jerusalem into one of the side rooms of the temple now the temple had different side rooms and typically it was for the Levites to have housing and also for there to be storage for the temple so when the rekha bytes are gathered by jeremiah into one of the side rooms of the temple it means there weren't that many of them in fact it tells us in verse 3 that jeremiah invited a guy one of the recombines by the name of jazz Anaya his brother and all their sons so how many would that number we have two brothers and we have their sons talking maybe a dozen people maybe a little bit more give or take and and so this group gathers in one of the side rooms here at the temple by instruction of the Lord Jeremiah Smith we'll put out the call the recombines come they gather together in this room and then God makes a very unusual request he tells Jeremiah to give them some wine now I say that this is an unusual request because as we've just read here in chapter 35 the reco bites don't drink wine they don't drink wine and yet God is saying to Jeremiah pull them all together put them at a table and put wine in front of them alright they don't drink wine this is like putting a coke in front of a Mormon they don't do that alright and so this is what God is instructing now a couple of things to clarify this scene here first is this don't get sidetracked by the side issue the issue here is not alcohol and this is not going to be a sermon on alcohol and some of you are relieved about that I'm sure but you know don't look at this story and say okay well the message is alcohol the rekha bites didn't drink and so we shouldn't well if you share that conviction then you shouldn't but also don't read this and think well God served up a little Merlot to go so we can do you know what's good enough for God good enough for me alright red red wine make me feel so fine I get it Bob Marley but listen to me this is not about the subject of alcohol not per se this this is just a it's a side issue but it's not the issue the other thing I want to point out here in this story because it looks a little unusual God is doing here he is not tempting the rekha bytes he's not tempting the rekha bytes how do we know for two reasons number one James 1 verse 13 tells us when tempted no one should say God is tempting me for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone so God's not tempted them well then what is this well what we learned here is that God is not setting the record bytes up for failure God is setting them up for success by that I mean God knows their character and their principles and he knows that they will refuse the wine and so God is going to use the rekha bytes as an example of principled people who live by their convictions and it'll be a sharp con to the people of that day who had no regard for God or for God's commandments so God is actually putting them in a position not to tempt them but to prove them to show them faithful to use them as an example a good example of people who will live by their principles in a very unprincipled world and so let me recap the events here look again at your Bibles verse 5 this is jeremiah he says then I set before then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the men of the rekha bite family and said to them bottoms up yes that's the modern translation that's what he does says drink some wine he puts out some cameras of why he puts out some wine glasses you said all right guys I know you've probably been wondering why I've gathered you here I just want you to do a little wine sampling for me go ahead drink up and they they look at him they got that deer in the headlight look and they're like excuse me you you know about us this is verse 6 they replied we do not drink wine because their forefathers John adapt our forefather John adapts son of Ray Kappe gave us this command neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine and then they they just go on to kind of review their own history with Jeremiah they restate their principles and they politely refused so no we're we're not going to drink this and so God commands down in this story as people of principle who obeyed the commands of their forefather at a time when God's own people were not obeying the commands of their Heavenly Father to see what's going on here God is intentionally using them as a good example he's using the record bytes who were people of principle they were like okay we're we're obeying the command of our forefather we're not drinking wine here today and we never have and we never will and God is saying to the people of Judah you see these people see these people you could avoid the Babylonian onslaught if you would obey my commands the way that they're bei vayne the command and their forefathers not to drink wine but because the people of God refused because they rebelled against God because they rejected the commands of God they're gonna suffer the consequences for it and so God is actually using the rekha bytes like a mirror for the for his own people say I want you to look at them I want you to realize how it's possible in your day to be living with principle while everybody else is not to be people who honor God with conviction and and who stand for for what you know is right and honorable and good and true and God uses the rekha bytes as a model example in this regard look further here in verse 12 then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying this is what the Lord Almighty the God of Israel says go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will you not learn a lesson and obey my words declares the Lord John Adams son of Ray cab ordered his sons not to drink wine and this command has been capped to this day they do not drink wine because they obey their forefathers command but I have spoken to you again and again yet you have not obeyed me and so God goes on to talk about how the the record bytes are a good example of people who were principled in a very unprincipled world and here's how their story applies to our lives three three simple points the first one when we look at what they're known for the first one that applies to us is this they were tent dwelling nomads without a real attachment to this world and it's a picture for us it's a reminder to us we're only passing through friends we are not to get too attached to this world or seduced by it this is not our home we only are temporarily occupying it we have temporary citizenship for a purpose for a reason but the Bible reminds us Paul says in Philippians 3:20 that our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly a way to save you from there Lord Jesus Christ and Peter would say to us in his epistle 1st Peter 1:17 that we should live our lives as strangers here in reverent fear the fear of God and Peter adds in 1st Peter 2:11 we are aliens and strangers in the world and we should abstain from sinful desires which war against our souls so because we're aliens and strangers in this world because we're only passing through because our ultimate citizenship is in heaven and we await a savior from there and that's going to be our ultimate reward we will at times feel strangely out of place in this world and for good reason we are aliens and strangers there's a reason we don't always feel like we fit in there's a reason why you will feel like odd-man-out at the Christmas party there's a reason that you're gonna constantly feel like man you know why is why is it such a struggle at times you know the values that I stand for and the standards of God's words such such conflict with the world it's because we're not meant to be here forever we're passing through our ultimate citizenship is in heaven however there's a reason why we are here and the whole life of a Christian can be summarized in three terms here they are occupy influence and evangelize while you and I are still here on earth though this is not our ultimate home we are supposed to occupy influence and evangelize let me just touch on these three things very very briefly the first word is occupy in in Luke chapter 19 there's a conversation that Jesus is having with his disciples his disciples actually start the conversation they want to know when the kingdom of God is going to come when's the fullness of the kingdom they want that ultimate reward and that ultimate Kingdom life and Jesus then launches into a parable called the parable of the 10 - in Luke chapter 19 and in that parable he teaches a very important point in its Luke 19 verse 13 he says to them it's King James but he says occupy till I come now new King James and ESV uses the word do business until I come and what Jesus was teaching was this that while we're still here on earth though this is not our ultimate destination our citizenship is in heaven we're passing through we still nevertheless to occupy to do business until Jesus comes we're to live out our lives we're to get jobs we're to raise families we are to enjoy life and enjoy what God has given us and be good stewards of what God has given us but don't check out you know live your life to the fullest for the glory of God and be good stewards of all that he's blessed you with and occupied till he comes do business till he comes that's the first word the second word there is influence and it's out of Matthew 5 13 and 14 where Jesus says about us you are the salt of the earth and you were the light of the world and he tells us that we are salt and light now time doesn't permit me to do a whole teaching on that but basically salt has three main aspects its flavoring it is as preserving it's a preservative and it's an antiseptic and light of course is what penetrates darkness and so the idea behind sight and assault and light in general is just simply this weird to be flavoring and illuminating our world for the glory of God and we should be constantly doing that salt and light flavoring and illuminating our world for the glory of God not hiding our lives not not you know hiding that light under the bushel but but giving glory to God and being an influencer in our world wherever we go and then the third word that defines us is evangelized this is part of the Great Commission out of Matthew 28:19 and 20 is where Jesus commanded us you go into all the worlds teaching them to obey what I have said and and making disciples of all men baptizing them and in other words bringing people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ that's that's our joy and privilege to occupy to influence and to evangelize so while we're here on earth though this is not our ultimate home we were to be about these things and and yet we are to be mindful that we're only passing through and the rekha bites remind us of this they were tent dwelling people they were nomads they they were not attached to a geographical location be very careful friends don't get too attached to this world and don't be seduced by it we're only passing through the other similarity here that I see with the Rekha bytes number two is that they remain true to their principles and values despite what was set before them again the Rekha bytes were principled people living in an unprincipled world people were doing all kinds of things in violation of God's commands all around them and yet God holds the record bytes up as great examples of principled people and I just want to remind us in an encouraging way that God sees the simple ways that we hold true to our convictions even if they are not specific commands of the Bible here's what I mean by that there's going to be different choices and decisions that you and I have to make that there may not be a specific chapter and verse in the Bible concerning and there will be many choices in the course of life that we will have to decide as Christians based on the overall counsel of God's Word and how we personally feel convicted about certain things and the ultimate desire of course in our lives should be to give glory to God what is it about our lives that constantly should be giving glory to God and so we'll be confronted with some things set before us from time to time and we'll have to be making decisions about those things and again there may not be a specific verse dealing with that particular decision or that particular behavior and so it's in those moments that we have to really rely on the Holy Spirit and the overall counsel of God's Word God did not command the rekha bytes not to drink alcohol this was a self-imposed kind of a family thing that they voluntarily took on and they complied with it because one of their ancestors Jonna dev had said so that's it it was not a command of God they were doing this as a personal conviction you will have plenty personal convictions in your life about certain things that you should abstain from because you want to honor God and certain things that you do because you want to honor God don't let anyone dissuade you otherwise you be true to those principles it may not be principles that other people share it's okay if that's your principle you stick to that because you know that as far as it concerns you it honors God in a way so you have to be careful to be people of principle and don't let other people talk you out of it and say otherwise Paul would say in 1st Corinthians 6:12 everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial and he adds everything that's permissible but I will not be mastered by anything and that's an important verse for all those all those situations that have no particular verse and then we're wondering what should I do about this what should be my conviction about this which should be the standard for my life the standard for my family well find out what that is as far as it depends on you between you and God and then live that principled life be principled in your life even though other people in the world may not share a similar conviction and then the third thing is this they were set up by God for success I understand I know you do too that we face temptations every day all of us will face temptations every day temptations of the flesh our own flesh temptations of the world temptations of the devil all three of those things are constantly working in concert against you and me we're constantly being faced by temptation somebody once said you know the old saying opportunity knocks well somebody once said I beat opportunity knocks once but temptation bangs at your front door forever and we have to be aware of this but is it possible that sometimes sometimes what we perceive as temptation is not temptation at all but could very well be an opportunity that God has set before us to prove us to prove to ourselves and to others who are watching then we can be faithful and true to our principles and convictions I think that's what's happening in this story again God does not tempt anyone so what he was doing for the wrecker bites I think is possible that he sometimes does for us he's setting them up for success he knows I'm gonna place this before you because in responding to this you're gonna have the opportunity to see that you indeed are a person of principle and you are a person of conviction and you're gonna live out your principles and your convictions for the glory of God despite what other people say or think or how they live and God will sometimes give us opportunities not to tempt but to prove to prove to ourselves and to others that we actually can be principled people in an unprincipled world there is nothing quite as strengthening to our faith as in those moments when we resist those potentials for compromise when we stand strong and we don't yield to compromise man that has an intrinsic strengthening effect in our lives and in our faith and I think at times God gives us that opportunity and that's what he's doing here and the record bites past the test and for that God commended them and He blessed them look at how the chapter ends verses 18 and 19 then Jeremiah said to the family of the rekha bites this is what the Lord Almighty the God of Israel says you have obeyed the command of your forefather John a DAB and if and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered therefore this is what the Lord Almighty the God of Israel says John Adams son of Rahab will never fail to have a man to serve me it reminds me of the words of Jesus of Matthew 25:21 when he said well done good and faithful servant come and share your masters happiness may we all be men and women who are principled people living in an unprincipled world Amen let's pray together father in heaven thank you for your word and for the example of the rekha bites we pray that we would be principled people we would stand by our convictions that we would honor you Lord you took note of how the rekha bites were faithful to the simple commands of their forefather how much more should we be faithful to the commands of our Heavenly Father and may we persevere Lord so that at the end of our days we can hear well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your masters happiness thank you Lord for our ultimate reward and until that day when we realize our ultimate citizenship in heaven find us faithful here on earth to occupy to influence to evangelize to be people of principle in an unprincipled world we give you glory praise and honor in Jesus name and everybody said amen god bless you

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 5,823

Rating: 4.8928571 out of 5

Keywords: compromise, principle, conviction, Calvary Chapel, Jeremiah, Cornerstone Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Recabites

Id: glut5tgGpZo

Length: 34min 12sec (2052 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2019