Legacy of an Unsung Hero

How Jonadab, Son of Rechab, Exemplifies True Godly Headship

Do you have any Biblical heroes? Do you have any fathers that you consider a Biblical hero? Do you have any fathers that you consider a Biblical hero that are largely unknown to the average Christian, and pretty much completely unknown to the average man on the street?

Introduction

So, I got an invitation from Stoic Christian, who writes a stack called ‘The Inklings’, to write a ‘guest post’. He states as his goal or theme for his stack:

Thoughts on Biblical masculinity to edify Christian men in taking dominion for our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, when I started thinking about what to write I decided to focus on a story that illustrates a Godly man, in Scripture, taking dominion… but one who is largely unknown.

But not one who is insignificant! If you were to make a list of the top ten blessings given to fathers, as fathers, Jonadab, the son of Rechab, makes the top ten.

Conclusion

Starting his story at the end, we come to the blessing that God gave him:

…thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

Jeremiah 35:19b

Translating the King James for modern readers, we get “This is what the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says: Jonadab, the son of Rechab, will always have someone standing in my presence (ie doing my will)… for ever.

That’s the end of the story. This guy you’ve probably never heard of, and have no idea what he did, that somehow never managed to find his way into your Sunday School curriculum, gets one of the best ‘father’ blessings in the entire Scripture. How did that happen?

Context

So, this story is found in the book of Jeremiah, and Jeremiah wasn’t have a very good time. Israel was in flat out rebellion against God. You couldn’t walk down the street without tripping on a sin. And Jeremiah had the uneviable task of calling this rebellions people back to obedience, and watching them ignore him again and again:

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

Jeremiah 35:17

A Lesson

So God sets up a lesson for them. He has Jeremiah call this family to the temple. And sets everything up for a test:

Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
Jeremiah 35:2

The Test

So Jeremiah does it. He gets everything all set up and runs the test:

Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.

Jeremiah 35:3-5

The Answer

Now, unless you are a strict Baptist or whatever, this seems like a pretty easy test. Called by a prophet, in the temple, told to drink wine… you drink the wine, right?

Well, no. And not because they think Jesus turned the water into grape juice:

But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.

Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;

Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

Jeremiah 35:6-10

The Contrast

And God was not shocked with this answer. This was why He had called them. Generation after generation these men and their families had obeyed the commands of their long, long dead great, great… grandfather. Meanwhile, Israel was flagrantly disobeying God:

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.

The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.

I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

Jeremiah 35:13-17

The Legacy

Who was this Jonadab guy? What parenting techniques did he use? Did he write any books on ‘Biblical Manhood’?

We don’t know. We know nothing about him except what we read here. That he was the father of a line. That he gave commands, not just to his minor sons living in his house, but to his whole line. And that they were still obeying him generations later.

And that God used those commands, and his sons obedience, to accuse a whole nation of disobedience. And that the results of those commands, and that obedience, was:

And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

Jeremiah 35:18-19

Any Road

It has been said that if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there. Contrariwise, if we see our goal, or a goal, we can at least judge our methods against the goal. God said, of Abraham:

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Genesis 18:19

If our goal is to receive the blessing of Jonadab, then I believe we must follow the path of Abraham. We must be ready to command our children and our household after us, so that, generations from now, God will still see them acting in obedience.

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This post is a guest post written by

Von of Von’s Substack.

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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,

Von