Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 35

Verses 1-19

The last of these prophecies of the siege consists of telling the story of the Rechabites and applying it to the existing conditions. Jeremiah told how in the days of Jehoiakim he had been charged to bring the Rechabites into the house of Jehovah and test them in the matter of drinking wine. This he had done, but they, in loyalty to the command of their father, refused. They declared that they had been true to the instructions of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, taking no wine, sowing no seed, and dwelling in tents until the armies of Nebuchadnezzar had come into the land. On account of their presence, they had come into Jerusalem, but still refused to drink wine.

Jeremiah then placed the loyalty of these men to the commands of Jonadab in contrast with the disloyalty of his people to Jehovah. He had spoken the word of Jehovah to them with perpetual earnestness, but they had refused to listen or obey. Therefore Jehovah had determined judgment against them for their disobedience and persistent rebellion.

The prophecy ends with a promise made by Jeremiah to the Rechabites on behalf of Jehovah that because they had been true to the commandment of Jonadab they would have continued representation before Jehovah.