Learning From the Rechabites

There is a record in the Bible that God Himself asked Jeremiah His prophet to gather the Rechabites into one of the chambers of the temple and to give them wine to drink. “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” (Jeremiah 35:6).

The Rechabites had access to wine, they were brought into the house of God, and, moreover, they knew Jeremiah very well as a prophet of the Most High God. But simply because their grandfather had told them that it was wrong to drink wine was enough on making them decide to refuse to drink it.

“The Rechabites were commended for their ready and willing obedience.”—Conflict and Courage, p. 238.

“God might have created man without the power to transgress His law; He might have withheld the hand of Adam from touching the forbidden fruit; but in that case man would have been, not a free moral agent, but a mere automation. Without freedom of choice, his obedience would not have been voluntary, but forced. There could have been no development of character. . . . It would have been unworthy of man as an intelligent being, and would have sustained Satan’s charge of God’s arbitrary rule.”—Ibid., p. 13.

“As a shield from temptation and an inspiration to purity and truth, no other influence can equal the sense of God’s presence. ‘All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.’ He is ‘of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity’ (Hebrews 4:13; Habakkuk 1:13). This thought was Joseph’s shield amidst the corruptions of Egypt. To the allurements of temptation his answer was steadfast: ‘How . . . can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’ (Genesis 39:9). Such a shield, faith, if cherished, will bring to every soul.”—Education, p. 255.

God Himself does not force anyone against his or her will. Hear what He said, “Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Samuel 2:30).

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

“God cannot save man against his will from the power of Satan’s artifices. Man must work with his human power, aided by the divine power of Christ, to resist and to conquer at any cost to himself. In short, man must overcome as Christ overcame. And then, through the victory that it is his privilege to gain by the all-powerful name of Jesus, he may become an heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ. This could not be the case if Christ alone did all the overcoming. Man must do his part; he must be victor on his own account, through the strength and grace that Christ gives him. Man must be a coworker with Christ in the labor of overcoming.”—God’s Amazing Grace p. 254.