35:12-13 After this experience, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to speak to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. He was to ask them if they would not receive instruction from Him.461
35:14 The Rechabites had faithfully obeyed their ancestor, but the people of Judah and Jerusalem had not obeyed the Lord's instructions even though He had spoken to them repeatedly. Jeremiah was not expressing approval for the nomadic life and ascetic convictions of the Rechabites, only their faithful obedience to their forefather.
"Nor is it [this story] per se a temperance lesson, despite its use for that purpose by some Sunday school quarterlies."462
35:15 The Lord had also sent His servants the prophets to His people again and again urging them to repent, to change their deeds, and to stop worshipping idols. If they did, they could continue to dwell in the land the Lord had given their forefathers. But the people had refused to listen.
35:16 The Rechabites had obeyed Jonadab's instructions, but the Judahites had not listened to Yahweh (cf. 7:24-28; 11:1-17; 13:10; 25:4-8; 26:2-6; 29:17-29). The Lord used the Rechabites as a clinching argument in His "trial"against Judah.
35:17 Therefore, the Lord was going to bring on the people all the disaster that He had previously warned them about. They had not listened to Him when He spoke to them or answered Him when He called to them.
"Notice the telling contrasts between the Recabites and Judah.
"1. The Recabites obeyed a fallible leader (v. 14); Judah's leader was the eternal God (cf. Mal 1:6).
"2. Jonadab gave his commands to the Recabites only once; God repeatedly sent his messages to his people (v. 15).
"3. The restrictions that bound the Recabites did not deal with eternal issues; God's messages to his people had eternal as well as temporal implications.
"4. The Recabites obeyed the commands of Jonadab for about three hundred years; the Lord's people constantly disobeyed (v. 16).
"5. The loyalty of the Recabites would be rewarded; for their disloyalty God's people would be punished (v. 17)."463
