Daily Devotional – MARCH 20 (“Who Are The Sons of Jonadab?” Part 1)
By admin On January 20th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional – MARCH 20
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“Who Are The Sons of Jonadab?”
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Part 1
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“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father,
and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab
shall not want (lack) a man to stand before Me for ever.”
Jeremiah 35:18, 19
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In the 35th chapter of Jeremiah is a somewhat strange story, in which Jeremiah brought the Sons of Jonadab into the temple, as they passed through Jerusalem, and commanded these visiting nomads, saying… “Drink ye wine!” (Jeremiah 35:5).
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“WE WILL DRINK NO WINE!”
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Now, the wine and cups were all provided by Jeremiah for these nomads.
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But the sons of Jonadab refused Jeremiah’s offer, saying…
“We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us,
saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any:
but all your days ye shall dwell in tents;
that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.”
Jeremiah 35:6, 7
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Hands Toasting Drinks – Cheers! cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
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A REBUKE TO GOD’S PEOPLE
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And so, after hearing this faithful testimony by the sons of Jonadab, Jeremiah replied…
“Thus saith…the God of Israel; Go and tell the…inhabitants of Jerusalem, The words of Jonadab…
that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed;
I have sent also unto you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them,
saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way…
and go not after other gods to serve them…
but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto Me.”
Jeremiah 35:13-15 (condensed)
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And so, this story from Jeremiah stands as a rebuke to the people of God.
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Yes, God’s people were neck-deep in idolatry of various forms. And God contrasted His disobedient people with those faithful Sons of Jonadab!
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Cry of prophet Jeremiah on the Ruins of Jerusalem – Wikiart – US Public Domain
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OLD TESTAMENT STORIES FOR US
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But does this story from the Old Testament have any relevance to the Church today? Of course it does!
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Listen… “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples:
and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
1st Corinthians 10:11
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Yes, these Old Testament stories were written more for the Church, than they were for ancient Israel.
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APOSTASY NOW!
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But how in the world does this story apply more to us today?
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Well, it is Satan’s desire to entwine God’s people in as much of this world as he possible can!
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And so, Satan, “the god of this world” (2nd Corinthians 4:4), has filled this present-day world with as many interesting and alluring attractions and pursuits as he possibly can!
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People on Times Square – cropped image – Wikimedia Commons – Share-Alike License
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THE CARES AND PLEASURES OF LIFE
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And then, this master-deceiver has surrounded God’s people with all these things, and has infiltrated the Church with false shepherds and false parishioners who have encouraged the true sheep to go after these seemingly harmless pursuits: television, secular Internet and radio, newspapers, magazines, books, novels, plays, clubs, parties, holidays, vacation resorts, expensive cars, boats, expensive RV’s, time-consuming hobbies, energy-sapping careers, endless-maintenance-house-ownership, games, sports, expensive church buildings, idolatrous music, politics, ethnic traditions, and countless other time-consuming, spiritually-debilitating pursuits which bind up God’s people, rendering us useless and irrelevant, to a great extent!
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MODERATION TO BE EXERCISED
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It’s not that an occasional vacation is a bad thing! A much-deserved vacation is wonderful! And a few hours a week with a hobby can be a great diversion from the pressures of life! And to own one’s home may possibly be a good thing. And to work at a job is a requirement for many or most! To celebrate birthdays is wonderful!
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Individually, these diversions may be just fine!
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But Satan’s desire is to fill up and complicate the life of Christians, to the point that the Gospel and the sanctification of the heart gets set aside…for the pursuit of all these earthly endeavors!
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Mall Market culture – Jakarta – Wikimedia – share-alike-lic.
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STRANGERS & PILGRIMS
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Their father, Jonadab reminded his sons to live, “in the land where ye be strangers.”
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And we too must remember that the Bible addresses God’s people as… “strangers and pilgrims, (who are to) abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;” 1st Peter 2:11
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And so, God was using these Sons of Jonadab as living portrait of what we Christians should be!
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Upward Pathway – by böhringer friedrich for – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
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PEACE LIKE A RIVER
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Now the Devil would like us to think that God just wishes to take away all our fun.
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And so, the Devil will whisper in our ears these kinds of accusations against the Lord!
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But God’s true desire is to replace our frivolous earthly pleasures and lusts with something far better: with the everlasting, “peace like a river…which surpasses all understanding”! (Isaiah 48:18 & Philippians 4:7)
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And besides that, God wishes to fill us with the kind of brotherly love, that the world cannot have, much less even comprehends! And to walk in this kind of peace and love and knowledge brings the true happiness that never ends: flowing like a never-ending river!
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“Thou wilt shew me the path of life:
in Thy presence is fulness of joy;
at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Psalm 16:11
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Give me the mind-set of a Stranger & Pilgrim! Let me not become entwined with the tendrils of this present world! But keep me from getting too involved in the pleasures and pursuits of this world…
Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…April 4 (PAUL’S FUN & RECREATION), or you can also read… “June 9th (The Power of Positive-Thinking Gospels!)”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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REVELATION 12 WOMAN
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WOMAN ROTATES THROUGH THE SEASONS…
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This page is about the Big Dipper, also called the Great Bear constellation (Ursa Major ). However, the ancient pagan cultures did not see this constellation as God intended it to be seen. It is actually a headless woman in childbirth. This is seen in springtime. It is seen in the northern skies.
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But as the seasons progress, this travailing woman flips upside down, now appearing as a woman with upraised arms like eagle wings who is running (eventually flying, as shown in sketch on right) into the wilderness (westward). The single star representing her birth-child (Christ) now becomes her head (“Christ is the head of the church.” Ephesians 5:23
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The 7 Stars (Big Dipper) is easy to see with its very bright 7 stars. But the Revelation 12 Woman (Ursa Major) must be seen on a dark starry night, away from city lights.
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These are star charts from Wikipedia, with sketches of the Woman added.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Revelation 12 Woman & The Narrow Gate Stars (Orion’s Gate to Heaven)”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
“MARCH 21 (The City of Morality, Part 2: Raising Children) “
Babysitting – Cassatt – Mary-Nurse-Reading-to-a-Little-Girl-1895-Wikiart – US-Public-Domain
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH
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ALL‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS STUDY #443 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING, FORMER CEO OF FAMILY RADIO…
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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain