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Judah’s Amazing Stubbornness
The first years of Jehoiakim’s reign were filled with warnings
of approaching doom. All of a sudden a new world power, the
Babylonian empire, was rising in the east and swiftly overshadowing
Assyria, Egypt, and all other nations.
The king of Babylon was to be the instrument of God’s wrath on
unrepenting Judah. Again and again the armies of Nebuchadnezzar
would enter Jerusalem. Tens of thousands would be taken captive in
forced exile. One after another, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah
were to become vassals of the Babylonian ruler, and all in turn were
to rebel. Severe punishments would be inflicted on the rebellious
nation, until at last Jerusalem would be burned, the temple that
Solomon built destroyed, and Judah fall, never again to occupy its
former position among the nations.
Through Jeremiah, many messages from Heaven marked those
times of change. The Lord gave the children of Judah ample op-
portunity to free themselves from alliances with Egypt and to avoid
controversy with Babylon. Jeremiah taught the people by acted para-
bles, hoping to awaken them to a sense of obligation to God and to
encourage them to maintain friendly relations with the Babylonian
government.
To illustrate the importance of obedience to God, Jeremiah gath-
ered some Rechabites into the temple and set wine before them. As
expected, he met with absolute refusal: “We will drink no wine, for
Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You
shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever.’” “Then came the
word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,
... “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded
his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink
none, and obey their father’s commandment.”’”
Jeremiah 35:6, 12-
14
. But the people of Judah had not obeyed the words of the Lord
and were about to suffer severe judgments.
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