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 Rehabites.

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

so he had Baruch put the stories side by side.

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

Technically, we've met their ancestors, though.

They're descendants of the Keenites.

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 Rehabites

know, he will preserve a remnant from among them too, because of their faithful obedience. This is a big

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