Jeremiah 35:18-19

Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want. man to stand before me forever.

The Jews are condemned for their unfaithfulness to God; but the Rechabites are commended for their fidelity to the pledge made by all their house to keep the command of Jonadab. Though mighty enemies were crushing the land under the iron heel of invasion, and it would soon be depopulated, they are assured that their society shall not cease and that Jonadab shall never want. man to stand before the Lord. It is somewhat uncertain just what this remarkable prediction means. If it means that he shall have spiritual descendants in every age who shall preserve his principles, it has certainly been remarkably fulfilled. There are millions of the human race now who will not touch wine. The Arabians still practice total abstinence, and in Christian lands almost all Christian people refuse to touch intoxicating drinks. The number of those who are Rechabites in spirit increases with every generation.

If the passage means that his descendants shall not be destroyed from the face of the earth, there is reason to believe that the prediction has received. remarkable fulfillment. Though they are not mentioned again in sacred history, several travelers have declared that they have met with them in recent times in the Arabian deserts. Benjamin of Tudela,. traveler of the twelfth century, narrates that he met near El Jubar Jews who were called Rechabites, who kept their flocks, abstained from wine, paid tithes, and supported teachers who devoted themselves to studying the law and weeping over Jerusalem. He says that they numbered about 100,000.. much later traveler, Wolff, in 1839, came in contact with. tribe not far from Mecca, who claimed to be the descendants of Jonadab. One of them with whom he conversed showed him these very verses in an Arabic Bible, and said, "You see that these words of the prophet have been fulfilled that 'Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want. man to stand before me forever.'" There were said to be 60,000 of them. An Italian traveler, Pierotti, in. paper read before the British Association in 1862, narrates that he had met with them not far from the Dead Sea. They also made the same claims, had the same habits, and had the Hebrew Bible. Whether they are lineal descendants or not there is no doubt from these and other testimonies that there are scattered through the Arabian deserts. numerous body who practice the abstinence principles of the ancient, and refer to the example of, Jonadab.

PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.

1. Fidelity to principle builds. monument to one's name more enduring than brass or marble. The world can never forget Joseph, or Jonadab, or Daniel, or the Hebrew children.

2.. conscientious regard for obligations is praiseworthy before God.. covenant breaker is condemned. When one covenants to abstain from any vice, or to live. Christian life, it is unmanly and. proof of. moral break-down, that the pledge should be broken.

3. Intemperance is associated with almost every other sin. The worship of Baal or Bacchus becomes. drunken service. When Jonadab would pledge his people to keep from idolatry he began by taking. temperance pledge.

4. The evils of wine drinking were manifested in the earliest times. In the case of the people before the flood, one charge against them was drunkenness. Then we have the fatal drunkenness of Noah. year or two after the flood; then the case of Lot after his escape from Sodom. Absalom took advantage of Ammon's drunkenness to put him to death. Amon, king of Judah, was murdered in. drunken frolic.

6. From the earliest times God has borne witness against intemperance. Aaron and his sons were commanded, under pain of death, not to drink wine when they went into the tabernacle of the congregation, so as to show to the people the difference between holy and unholy, between unclean and clean; teaching that. man drinking wine was spiritually unclean (Leviticus 10:9). In the case of the Nazarites, men who made vows of holiness and dedicated themselves to holy purposes, they were prohibited from drinking wine (Numbers 6:3). The mother of Samson was commanded not to drink wine previous to the birth of her son, as he was to be. servant of God, and the drinking of wine would defile him (Judges 13:4-14). Solomon declares: "Wine is. mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1.) "He that loveth pleasure shall be. poor man; he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich." (Proverbs 21:17.) Isaiah testifies: "Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink." (Isaiah 5:22). "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment." (Isaiah 28:7.) Ezekiel adds: "Neither shall any priest drink wine when they enter into the inner court." (Ezekiel 44:21.) Paul declares: "No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God.". 1 Corinthians 6:10.]

6. The example of faithful, earnest worshippers of God is. powerful rebuke to the wicked.. righteous life is. sermon more powerful than the eloquence of the pulpit.. true saint is. shining light. An infidel, who had once live in Washington, Illinois, returned after living several years elsewhere, and declared to. church member that he had become. Christian. Said he: "John J----- and his wife," referring to two old members of the congregation, "convinced me.. could never answer such holy lives as they lived." An ancient Grecian philosopher, who at one time wrote against Christianity, was converted. He explained that the convincing argument was the pure lives of Christians. "Let your light so shine before men that they, seeing your good works, will glorify your Father in heaven."