Jer 35:1-19 The Obedience of the Rechabites

[Study Aired April 10, 2022]

Jer 35:1  The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
Jer 35:2  Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
Jer 35:3  Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
Jer 35:4  And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
Jer 35:5  And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
Jer 35:6  But they said, 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:
Jer 35:7  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.
Jer 35:8  Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
Jer 35:9  Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
Jer 35:10  But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
Jer 35:11  But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
Jer 35:12  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 35:13  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
Jer 35:14  The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.
Jer 35:15  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 amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
Jer 35:16  Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:
Jer 35:17  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
Jer 35:18  And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, 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:
Jer 35:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

Our study today takes us back over eleven years to the time of King Jehoiakim, the son of King Josiah, and contrasts the obedience of the sons of Rechab to the commandments and precepts of their patriarch, to the disobedience of Judah and Jerusalem to the commandments and precepts or the Lord who had supernaturally delivered them from the bondage of Egypt:

Jer 35:1  The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
Jer 35:2  Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

The Lord places great value on us keeping our word. He puts so much value on it that even if we commit ourselves to a situation which will cost us dearly, He will bless us simply because we gave our word and kept it even to our own hurt. This is the mind of the Lord concerning what we are to do under such adverse circumstances:

Psa 15:4  In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

“A vile person is condemned; but… them that fear the Lord… sweareth to his own hurt, and changes not”. The Lord speaks to us through contrasts. A person who swears to his own hurt and changes not is contrasted with “a vile person” who swears to his own hurt then changes his mind rather than absorb the loss or the pain of keeping his word. “A vile person” who does not keep his word is a self-centered, always self-righteous person who will always justify the need to tell a blatant lie. We self-righteously call our lies ‘white lies’. We reason that we had to tell a lie, therefore it is ‘a white lie’, and if we had kept our word or if we had told the truth, it might have been worse and it might even have cost us our lives and who in this world wants to die???

Exo 20:19  And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

The death of our old man should be the goal of every one of us so our new man can increase in us as John the Baptist told his disciples:

Joh 3:30  He [Christ, the new man within us] must increase, but I must decrease.
Joh 3:31  He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

It is not natural for us to see Christ as coming from heaven. It is certainly not natural to see Christ within us as coming from heaven. We all just naturally prefer hearing a sermon with smooth words to hearing the judgment of the Word of God upon our self-righteous old man.

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

‘Smooth things [are] deceits’ and that is what we all just naturally prefer to hear from those who minister to us.

That is why this chapter concerning events that took place well over eleven years earlier is being brought up at this juncture in this prophecy of Jeremiah. In our previous chapter, in the last year or two of the reign of King Zedekiah, who was the last king of Judah, Jerusalem and Judah were being besieged by the king of Babylon. Under the pressure of such severe judgment, which judgment was prophesied to come upon them by the prophet Jeremiah, the people of Judah and Jerusalem went into “the house of the Lord” and made a covenant with the Lord to let their Hebrew servants and handmaids go free, and as long as the siege endured they actually kept their word and granted their Hebrew servants their liberty, as we read in the previous chapter about the siege of Jerusalem under King Zedekiah by King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon:

Jer 34:8  This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
Jer 34:9  That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.

The people of Judah and Jerusalem had given their word while under the siege to let their bondservants go free. However, immediately after the siege was lifted because the Lord had sent the king of Egypt to help Judah fight against the king of Babylon, the people of Judah and Jerusalem no longer felt the need to keep their word to those servants, and they demanded that they continue serving them, and went back on their oath and brought their Hebrew servants back into bondage.

Jer 34:11  But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.

All of this is an actual historic fact which happened to Judah and Jerusalem, and it all “Happened to them and it is written for our admonition…”:

1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things,

1Co 10:11 Now all this befalls them typically. Yet it was written for our admonition, to whom the consummations of the eons have attained. (CLV)

This whole story of the fidelity of the Rechabites, contrasting their fidelity to the commandment of their father with the infidelity of Judah and Jerusalem to the commandments of the Lord, is a type of each of us. We all agree to serve the Lord when He puts a heavy trial upon us, but as soon as the trial is resolved and our lives return to their normal state, we immediately and conveniently forget the covenant we made with the Lord to submit to His Words, represented by the covenant Judah made with the Lord to let their Hebrew servants, their own brothers and sisters, go free. The “Hebrew servants” represent each of us whom the Lord Himself has moved heaven and earth to deliver from the heavy oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Jer 34:10  Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.

Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

When we grant liberty to our Hebrew servant, we are typically being set free from our own bondage. That bondage is our own righteousness “which is of the law”:

Php 3:4  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5  Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

“The righteousness which is of the law [is] mine own righteousness which is of the law.” “Mine own righteousness” will rob me of my salvation “if [I] trust in [my] own righteousness, and commit iniquity” as opposed to “the righteousness which is through the faith of Christ”:

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
Eze 33:14  Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
Eze 33:15  If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity [“trust in his own righeouness” (vs 13)]; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

The Lord delivers us from the bondage of our own self-righteousness, and we still struggle to give Him the credit for all we do, good or evil. Nevertheless, that is what the scriptures teach consistently:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

I have emboldened all the evil which the Lord is working in the kingdom within us because every verse quoted is telling us what the Lord is working within each of us. We have all sold our brother into the slavery of the self-righteous sins of this world. We are all King Saul who is sent an evil spirit from the Lord. We are the wicked whom the Lord has created for our own day of evil. It is the Lord who hardens our hearts so He can make us err from His ways. We are the city in which the Lord has worked so much evil.

Place any of these verses outside of yourself and you have self-righteously attempted to reprove, contend with, and condemn the Lord for His sovereign position:

Job 40:1  Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2  Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that  reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3  Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5  Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

None of these things surprise our Lord because He is the One conducting all the affairs of this age:

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

The Lord was not unaware of what would happen when He sent the armies of Egypt to help Judah to fight against the king of Babylon. He knew what He had “written in [their] book, even the days He had ordained for [them] before there were any of them”:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

Jer 35:3  Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
Jer 35:4  And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
Jer 35:5  And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
Jer 35:6 But they said, 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:
Jer 35:7  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.
Jer 35:8  Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
Jer 35:9  Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
Jer 35:10  But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

These Rechabites typify those who live by the faith of Jesus Christ as typified by all the Old Testament principles named in Hebrews 11:

Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

The Rechabites lived the lives of ‘strangers and pilgrims on the earth’, and they are commended of the Lord for being faithful to their father Jonadab’s covenant to live that kind of life.

Jer 35:11  But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.

These Rechabites who are faithful to their covenant with their patriarch Jonadab to live as pilgrims in the promised land and to refrain from drinking wine and keeping that covenant even when tempted by the Lord’s certified prophet Jeremiah to drink wine, typify the Lord’s elect who are faithful to the covenant they have made with the Lord. In contrast to this spirit Christ poses this question to you and me:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

The Lord knows that He Himself has made us all to err from His ways. He knows that He made us wicked first to endure our own day of evil, yet He poses this question to us, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things I say?” He gives us the knowledge of the benefits of being obedient to Him, and then He contrasts those blessings with the curses which come upon us as “the wicked” who He first made us to be for our own “day of evil”:

Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

What the Lord does not tell us right here is that He first gives every man “an experience of evil, [and He then brings every man] to his wits’ end”. What the Lord does not tell us right here is that all men must first “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, including these words:

Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

The scriptures reveal that we all call Christ “Lord, Lord” and do not the things He says, and we build our houses on the earth without Christ as our foundation before we hear and do His Words and build our house on Him as the Rock of our foundation:

Psa 107:25  For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Therefore, because the Lord Himself is orchestrating all we do, good and evil, these next verses are referring to our old man who is being brought to his wits’ end before he can be brought to his desired haven:

Jer 35:12  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 35:13  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
Jer 35:14  The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.
Jer 35:15  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 amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
Jer 35:16  Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:
Jer 35:17  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
Jer 35:18  And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, 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:
Jer 35:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

These obedient Rechabites typify the Lord’s faithful elect who “tremble at [His] Words”:

Isa 66:1 thus saith the lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2 for all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Before we do what the Lord says, and before we are given to “tremble at [His] Word”, the Lord always first provides Himself “an occasion” to destroy our old man and all the self-righteous pride of His kingdom.

Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

As Samson later demonstrated, it is the Lord’s own elect who first after being cleaned return to their own wallow in the mire. It is instructive that the Proper Names Bible renders this verse in these words:

Jdg 14:4 but his father and his mother knew not that it was of the lord, that he sought an occasion against the (wallowing) for at that time the (wallowing) had dominion over (he will rule with god)

Only “then”, after returning to our wallowing in the mire, after bringing us to our wits’ end, does He bring us to our desire haven. That method of operating is the “means” the Lord has “devised [by which] His banished be not expelled from Him”:

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

“God so loved the world” is not in contradiction to the admonition to us to “Love not the world”. The Lord, and the Lord alone, is able to ‘gather up ‘the world as a “new heavens and a new earth”. He certainly is not in the process of ‘gathering up again’ our disobedient, self-righteous, old first man Adam.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

At this time, we are in “corruptible, marred, vessels of clay”, and while in this state this is what the Lord Himself, through this same apostle John, admonishes us:

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

After healing the man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years, this is what Christ told Him and what He is telling us:

Joh 5:14  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

Because the Lord loves us, “a worse thing” is in the aorist tense and is ‘coming unto us’ when we return to ‘our own vomit or our wallow in the mire’. The very fact Christ admonished the infirm man ‘sin no more’ was done because He knew that was exactly what would take place in that man’s life and in our lives. When we think that Israel was incredibly forgetful and disrespectful and just plain stupid for accusing the Lord of bringing them into the wilderness to slay them with thirst after a mere three days without water, try going three days without water and see how grateful you feel. All of Israel’s rebellions typify us:

1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things, (CLV)

We are not the spiritual giants we might think we are when the flesh acts like flesh, and the fiery trials of life are sent to try our faith:

1Co 10:7  according as they also lust. Nor yet be becoming idolaters, according as some of them, even as it is written, “Seated are the people to eat and drink, and they rise to sport.
1Co 10:8  Nor yet may we be committing prostitution, according as some of them commit prostitution, and fall in one day twenty-three thousand.
1Co 10:9  Nor yet may we be putting the Lord on trial, according as some of them put Him on trial, and perished by serpents.
1Co 10:10  Nor yet be murmuring even as some of them murmur, and perished by the exterminator.
1Co 10:11  Now all this befalls them typically. Yet it was written for our admonition, to whom the consummations of the eons have attained.
1Co 10:12  So that, let him who is supposing he stands beware that he should not be falling. (CLV)

If we think we are ‘standing’ in our own strength, we are “falling”, and we aren’t even aware of our own iniquity. The Lord wants us to know that we ‘stand’ only in Him and He is the only sovereign:

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

The Lord wants us to know that He is working both the good and the evil “after the counsel of His own will” having devised means to bring even His banished to Himself (2Sa 14:14) thereby saving all men of all time:

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isa 45:8  Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

The Lord wants us to know that all the days of our lives were determined to be as they are “before there were any of them”:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

The Lord even wants us to know that our sins are not really our sins at all. Rather, our sins are His work in our lives, hardening our hearts against His fear… after the counsel of His own will:

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

He even anticipated our natural reaction to being informed of all of this:

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

When facing the far superior numbers of troops of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, and Syrians united to fight against Judah and Jerusalem, King Jehoshaphat prayed this prayer to which Paul refers when he asks, “Who has resisted His will?”

2Ch 20:4  And Judah was gathered to inquire of Jehovah; also they came in to seek Jehovah from all the cities of Judah.
2Ch 20:5  And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, at the front of the new court,
2Ch 20:6  and said, O Jehovah, the God of our fathers, are not You the God in Heaven? Yea, You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is power and might; and there is none able to withstand You.

As little as it appeals to our flesh, this is the answer Paul was inspired of the holy spirit to give us to his rhetorical question, “Why does He yet find fault [when it is He who is working all things after the counsel of His own will]?”

Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

The Lord wants us to know that we have no right to be questioning our Creator, asking Him “Why have you made me thus?” He does go on to explain that the Potter is making one vessel to honor and another to dishonor. Then, lest any of us think that because we are the vessel made unto honor, therefore ‘enduring with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction’ has nothing to do with the vessels made unto dishonor, the Lord informs us that both vessels come from “the same lump”. Another way of making this statement would be to tell us that our new man comes out of the same lump from which our old man was made. This same apostle was inspired to inform us that all men are “sown in corruption [and] dishonor”:

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

The revelation “That was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” lets us know that the Lord makes both the vessel of honor and the vessel of dishonor of “the same lump”. The scripture is not referring to one individual versus another individual. Rather, the reference is to our old man, a “vessel… unto dishonor”, versus our “new man… [a] vessel unto honor… Christ in us… this treasure in earthen vessels… of the same lump”. All these references to being a vessel made unto honor reveal that we are one and all first the old man, first an earthen vessel, first a corruptible vessel of clay before “of the same lump” being “made unto honor”.

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

That is part of the hidden wisdom found throughout scripture. Our old man is decreasing daily as our new man increases. Those two men are the basic subject of every story in scripture. That includes this story of the Rechabites who remained faithful to the covenant they had made with their father, Jonadab, the son of Rechab who had commanded them, saying, “Ye shall drink no wine.” Abstaining from wine is not the point being made. Fidelity to the Lord and our covenant with Him which He is working in us is the point being made by this story:

Jer 35:18  And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, 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:
Jer 35:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

These faithful Rechabites typify all who are given to repent of their self-righteous rebellion and disobedience and return to the Lord. They typify the “few… chosen” while Judah and Jerusalem in this story typify our self-righteous, rebellious old man who is still refusing to repent of his transgressions and his iniquity.

There are “great and precious promises given to our new man which make any suffering endured in this present time unworthy of being compared to the glory that is to be revealed in us:

2Pe 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

This world doesn’t know it, but the fact is that all men of all time are awaiting the appearing of our Lord when He will make manifest to all men those who are His obedient sons in this age.

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.