Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap.

Today we have another flashback to a previous king.

In fact, much of the rest of Jeremiah will take us back and forth in the timeline, so try

to hold the order loosely.

I know that can be chronologically frustrating, but the commentaries assure me that all of

this is actually intentional.

For instance, the last thing we read about yesterday was Judah's unfaithfulness, and

today we open with a story about the strict obedience of the Rehobites.

Commentators think God really wanted to highlight the contrast between the two, so he had

Baruch put the story side by side.

If you don't recognize the name Rehobites, don't worry, we haven't met them before.

Technically we've met their ancestors though.

They're descendants of the keynites.

They're all nomads, and even though they're not technically part of the Israelites, they've

lived alongside the Israelites for a long time, and some of them seem to be followers

of Yahweh.

God tells Jeremiah to invite them to the temple and offer them wine, but they all refuse,

because a long time ago, one of their ancestors commanded that their family limit their possessions

and avoid alcohol altogether, and they'd been honoring this command for over 200 years.

They have a heritage of obedience that puts Israel's to shame.

God tells Jeremiah to point this out to both groups of people.

To let the Israelites know they'll be punished for their rebellion, and to let the Rehobites

...