The Rekabites were a nomadic tribe who lived among the Israelites. The Lord told Jeremiah to invite them to the Temple and take them to side room. In the room was wine and Jeremiah invited them to drink the wine. Now the Rekabites had taken a vow never to drink wine. This had been a long standing tradition for the tribe and they believed that because of it they would live long and prosper. So they refused to drink the wine.
All this was set up by the Lord as a demonstration and a rebuke to Israel. Israel had received commands from God, along with the promise of blessing and prosperity, yet they had repeatedly ignored the command. In contrast the Rekabites had faithfully and assiduously followed their command. So disaster would come upon Jerusalem.
In the Bible Israel is God's special nation, yet they often portrayed as disobedient, indeed usually were disobedient. In contrast, people of other nations are often portrayed as faithful, as here and as with Ruth. In Jesus day similar things happened, Jesus finding more faith in a Roman centurion than He had ever found in Israel. The Bible is not a racist book in any way. We need to carefully understand the significance of Israel. They demonstrate vividly the plight of all mankind and God's working of salvation.
No comments:
Post a Comment