Jesus spoke of a future time when He would come in glory and all people would be gathered and judged. After commending them for feeding Him when He was hungry, giving Him a drink when He was thirsty, visiting Him when He was sick or imprisoned, housing Him whilst a stranger, and clothing Him when He was naked, He said to the wondering chosen who would enter into eternal rest in Matthew 25:40, "...Assuredly, I say to
you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you
did it to Me." There is an example of this in the book of Jeremiah with the Rechabites.
In Jeremiah 35 God used the house of the Rechabites as an object lesson for His erring people. The patriarch Jonadab the son of Rechab gave his sons clear commands: they were not to drink wine, build houses, plant vineyards, sow seeds in a field, and were to only live in tents for all their generations. Generations later the family members faithfully heeded the words of their grandfather Rechab and passed down the commands and prohibitions to their children. Jeremiah 35:18-19 reads, "And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever."
The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab would be established before God forever, and God ascribed their obedience as unto Him. Paul lays out this principle of those who live by the grace of God in Romans 14:6-8: "He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's." We are to be intentional in living for the glory of God, and God also credits us with obedience to Him when we do so unto the least of these.
The Rechabites honoured their father and God would fulfil His promise to those who do so, proclaiming they would not lack a man to stand before Him forever! Pretty awesome how God rewards eternally those who honour the authority He has ordained in our lives.
In Jeremiah 35 God used the house of the Rechabites as an object lesson for His erring people. The patriarch Jonadab the son of Rechab gave his sons clear commands: they were not to drink wine, build houses, plant vineyards, sow seeds in a field, and were to only live in tents for all their generations. Generations later the family members faithfully heeded the words of their grandfather Rechab and passed down the commands and prohibitions to their children. Jeremiah 35:18-19 reads, "And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever."
The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab would be established before God forever, and God ascribed their obedience as unto Him. Paul lays out this principle of those who live by the grace of God in Romans 14:6-8: "He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's." We are to be intentional in living for the glory of God, and God also credits us with obedience to Him when we do so unto the least of these.
The Rechabites honoured their father and God would fulfil His promise to those who do so, proclaiming they would not lack a man to stand before Him forever! Pretty awesome how God rewards eternally those who honour the authority He has ordained in our lives.
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