“Go to the Rekabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the LORD and give them wine to drink.” – Jeremiah 35:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 3, 2020): Jeremiah 35

The Amish live in communities, mainly in the Eastern portion of the United States and Canada, that are shut off from the rest of the world. These people are often viewed with curiosity by those on the outside. And Amish often consider the outside, or the English, with suspicion. The Amish are related to, but a distinct branch off of, the Mennonite Church. And a quick view of some YouTube videos reveals that they are widely misunderstood.   

The Amish are disciples of Jakob Ammann, a Swiss Anabaptist leader who lived during the 17^th and early 18^th centuries. Ammann believed that the Christian Church had to separate itself from the world to “conform to the teachings of Christ and his apostles.” He believed in a simplicity of life, avoiding pride in any form, and that the behavior of a person revealed the spiritual reality for a person.

His disciples have continued to separate themselves from the culture; they often view the technological advances and beliefs of society with suspicion. One video on YouTube details “ten things about the Amish that will make your skin crawl” and then judges them primarily for not accepting what is our cultural norm. But the reality is that the same things that make “your skin crawl” about the Amish are the exact same things that would make “your skin crawl” about the way that your great-grandparents and their parents lived their lives. Amish behavior is often a direct result of their refusal to accept the technologies and beliefs of the English, and their commitment to live according to the social norms that were shared more than a hundred years ago.

The Biblical Rechabites (Rekabites) were disciples of a man named Jonadab or Jehonadab, a compatriot of Jehu in the purge of the House of Ahab that is described in 2 Kings 10:15-28. Jonadab taught his disciples that they needed to live lives that were free of idolatry. They also despised the idea of living in cities or on farms. Instead, the Rechabites adopted a simple nomadic life.

What is interesting about this passage is that God tells Jeremiah to invite the Rechabites present in Jerusalem, probably not the place where a group of anti-urbanites would really want to be, and offer them wine. The Rechabites were teetotalers; they would not drink wine. One has to imagine that part of the experiment on the part of God was to see what would happen when you took a group of people, who were in unfamiliar surroundings, and offer them something which went against their beliefs, with the offer being made by a recognized spiritual leader. Could the Rechabite family pass the test?

And if they did pass the test, following the instructions Jehonadab passed down through the generations, then why had the Israelites failed so miserably to follow the teachers that had been repeatedly given to them? The inhabitants of Jerusalem probably viewed the Rechabites with curiosity and suspicion because of the way that they lived their lives. Still, at least the Rechabites were true to what they believed, something that Judah had seldom been.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 36