Blessing in Obedience

In Jeremiah 35 we learn of the Rechabites. Tempted to disobey, they hold firm. They choose to obey the directives of their father.

The Lord uses their obedience to contrast the lack of obedience of His people. He has instructed them over and over, sending prophet after prophet, but they have stayed consistent in their rebellious path.

As a result, the Lord promises to bring them into judgment. He says in verse 17, "Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened; I have called to them and they have not answered.

In contrast the Lord tells the house of the Rechabites that for their obedience they would "never lack a man to stand" before the Lord. He commended their obedience.

One would have thought that God's people would have learned from their history. They had many accounts from their forefathers which clearly taught that the way of disobedience is a way of destruction. No where can that be more clearly seen then in the book of Judges. Over and over the author says (21:25), "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." The king Israel was missing was not a human king, but the King of heaven. And becasue they rejected the king of heaven, their lives, individually and corporately, turned dark. Reading through the closing chapters of Judges makes one weep (which is actually what the people did in the final). This is not what the Lord wanted for His people. He had so much better in store for them. But their stiff-necked behavior brought all kinds of harm to themselves until the Lord in Jeremiah's day "gave them what they wanted".

How we need to pursue the vision encapsulated in Psalm 7:7. The psalmist writes, "Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about You (the Lord); over it (the assembly) return on high.' What is needed in every generation is that we enthrone the King of heaven. What is needed is that we submit to His rule. It is a benevolent rule. Under His mastery there is blessing! To do what is right in our own eyes is folly, but commit to the way of the Lord is THE way of blessing.

Can we do this on our own? The history of the people suggests not. But when Jesus rose from the dead and ascending to the right hand of the Father, He sent us a gift. That gift is the Holy Spirit, who gives us a heart to walk in all of God's ways.

May we all who have enthroned Christ in our hearts, listen to His Spirit, and walk in His ways. That is the way to a blessed life, and a blessed eternity.