35 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” 3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites, 4 and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. 5 Then I set before the [a]men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!” 6 But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. 7 You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but in tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons or our daughters, 9 nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we do not have vineyard or field or seed. 10 We have only dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem before the army of the Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans.’ So we have dwelt in Jerusalem.”
I’ve purposely not read ahead to know what God was going to say about these Rechabites, but two things become plain. First, God wanted Jeremiah to test them by offering them wine. And second, God wanted to use them to drive home a point. And perhaps a third, they were obedient, which was a rare commodity in those days.
I’d like to say something about whether a test is from God or not… But there are no accidents with God, everything is on purpose. If you or I go through a hard time, or a temptation, or anything we might call a “test”, then God wants to use it for some purpose in our life. We might not like to think of certain things as “from God”, but they are allowed by Him, because nothing happens without Him knowing.
I was thinking last night even of the temptations that come our way, and how especially sexual temptation seems pervasive. It isn’t just in our day either, but all throughout history, for Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their extreme sexual immorality. There are indeed spiritual forces of darkness that seek to corrupt that which God has meant for good.
Yet even the efforts of those rebellious angels play a part in God’s plan. So whatever is happening in your life, whatever your struggle, give it to God and seek how He wants to use it in your life. The Rechabites were compelled to come to Jerusalem by foreign invaders, where the temptations were all around, and immorality was the norm. They still stayed faithful, and with God’s help, so can you and I. When trouble comes our way, look to the One who has the plan firmly in grasp, our Maker, Redeemer, and the author of our story. He will make a way, find it and follow it.