Difference between revisions of "Rechabites"

<p> The Rechabites, though they dwelt among the Israelites, did not belong to any of their tribes; for they were Kenites, as appears from &nbsp;1 Chronicles 2:55 , where the [[Kenites]] are said to have come of "Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab." These Kenites, afterward styled Rechabites, were of the family of Jethro, otherwise called Hobab, whose daughter Moses married; for "the children of the Kenite, Moses's father-in-law," it is said, "went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah, and dwelt among the people," &nbsp;Judges 1:16; and we read of "Heber the Kenite, who was of the children of Hobab, the father-in- law of Moses, who had severed himself from the Kenites," or from the bulk of them who settled in the tribe of Judah, "and pitched his tent in the plain of Zaanaim," &nbsp;Judges 4:11 . They appear to have sprung from Midian, the son of [[Abraham]] by Keturah, &nbsp;Genesis 25:2; for Jethro, from whom they are descended, is called a Midianite, &nbsp;Numbers 10:23 . Of this family was Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, a man of eminent zeal for the pure worship of God against idolatry, who assisted King [[Jehu]] in destroying the house of Ahab, and the worshippers of Baal, &nbsp;2 Kings 10:15-16; &nbsp;2 Kings 10:23 , &c. It was he who gave that rule of life to his children and posterity which we read of in &nbsp;Jeremiah 35:6-7 . It consisted of these three articles: that they should drink no wine; that they should neither possess nor occupy any houses, fields, or vineyards; that they should dwell in tents. This was the institution of the children of Rechab; and this they continued to observe for upward of three hundred years, from the time of Jehu to that of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, when [[Nebuchadnezzar]] coming to besiege Jerusalem, the [[Rechabites]] were obliged to leave the country and take refuge in the city. In Jeremiah 35, there is a promise made to this people, that Jonadab, the son of Rechab, should not want a man to stand before the Lord; that is, that his posterity should not fail: and to this day this tribe is found among the [[Arabians]] of the desert, distinct, free, and practising exactly the institutions of Jonadab, whose name they bear, and of whose institutions they boast. This is a remarkable instance of the exact fulfilment of a minute and isolated prophecy. See [[Beni Khaibir]] . </p>

<p> [[Rechabites]] (''Rĕ'Káb-Îtes'' or ''Rĕk'Ab-Îtes'' ). A [[Kenite]] tribe descended from Rechab. Jonadab, one of their chiefs, laid an injunction on his posterity to drink no wine, to build no houses, but to dwell in tents. This injunction they obeyed fully for 300 years; but upon the [[Chaldean]] invasion they were forced to quit the open country and live in Jerusalem. &nbsp;Jeremiah 35:1-19. [[Afterwards]] they probably withdrew into the desert. For their obedience a promise was given them that their family should never be extinct. And accordingly, at the present day, there is an [[Arabian]] tribe who claim a descent from Rechab, and profess a modified Judaism. </p>

&nbsp;2 Kings 10:15-17&nbsp;Jeremiah 35:1 <p> Ricky L. Johnson </p>

<p> A tribe of [[Arab]] origin and Bedouin habits who attached themselves to the [[Israelites]] in the wilderness and embraced the [[Jewish]] faith, but retained their nomadic ways; they abstained from all strong drink, according to a vow they had made to their chief, which they could not be tempted to break, an example which Jeremiah in vain pleaded with the [[Jews]] to follow in connection with their vow to the Lord (see Jer. xxxv.). </p>