Metaphysical meaning of Rechabites (mbd)
Rechabites, re'-chab-ites (fr. Heb.)--of or belonging to Rechab.
Descendants of Jonadab, son of Rechab. They were a Kenite tribe, or family, who adhered to certain principles or habits of life because they had been charged to do so by Jonadab (Jer. 35:2-18).
Meta. That in consciousness which stands for logical reasoning, level-headedness, faithfulness, and good judgment.
Jehovah caused Jeremiah to tempt the Rechabites because Jehovah counted the Rechabites (logical reasoning) worthy of a test. Through trial of our spiritual strength our real worth is established. Sometimes when man is in an exalted state of consciousness he will for the time being lay aside his better judgment and do (in a spirit of jollity) that which he would not do otherwise; hence the need of being tested.
An explanation of the words of Jonadab, as given in Jeremiah 35:6, 7, is that this was Jehovah's way of working to keep these thoughts of logical reasoning from settling down into a crystallized, fixed state of consciousness. It was Jehovah's way of keeping these thoughts of level-headedness in a quickened, alert, energizing state of activity, where they would move about from place to place in the soul consciousness, yet retain their substantialness and reliableness.
Jeremiah 35:19 means that, through obedience to the things of Spirit, new strength, new power, and new courage are added. Logical reasoning stands the test, and thereafter operates from the eternal spiritual plane of consciousness, the kingdom of heaven within man.
The Rechabites can also be explained as representing the faithfulness of the intellect to ancestral laws and habits of thought.
History says that the Rechabites were a religious order in ancient Israel, whose rule in some respects was like that of the Nazirites to which John the Baptist belonged. Like the Nazirites, they were bound by vow to abstain from the use of wine. They lived in tents and refused to plant vineyards or sow seed. Their ideal was the nomadic, patriarchal life amid their flocks.
The object of these rules of life was to prevent the Rechabites from becoming attached to things of sense.
Jeremiah was appealing to the Children of Israel (who represent our spiritual thoughts, or our understanding of Truth) that they should be as faithful and obedient in following the commands of Jehovah as the Rechabites had been in following their father Jonadab.
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Preceding Entry: Rechab
Following Entry: Red Sea
