Page 87 - Evidence of Things Unseen

Jekyll Island

t was a great feeling to be heading down the road in our motorhome, towing our car
Ibehind us. I had a sense of tremendous freedom. God had taken us through our year of
Jubilee, releasing us from all financial bondage, and all attachments to this world, which
had tied us down to one location. I felt a tremendous liberty to go wherever God would lead
us.
In the depths of my heart there has always been a part of my being that wanted to be
free from the material possessions of this world. Christ commanded His disciples, “lay not
up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break in and
steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” A part of me wanted to know the
freedom of “having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (II Corinthians 6:10).
Purchasing a motorhome was not a new thought to me. It was a desire that had come
to me a couple years earlier, and the Spirit had led me to a passage of Scripture that greatly
encouraged me in this way. This Scripture is found in the 35th chapter of Jeremiah, and it
recorded an event that occurred just prior to Judah being taken captive by Babylon.
Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah and instructed him to invite a family known as the
Rechabites, or the sons of Jonadab, to a room prepared near the Temple. Jeremiah was
commanded to set pitchers of wine before them and invite them to drink. The response of
the Rechabites was amazing.

Jeremiah 35:6-7
But they said, "We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father,
commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. You
shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard
or own one; but in tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many days
in the land where you sojourn.’”

Jonadab’s instructions to his children revealed a heart that was passionate for God.
Jonadab did not want the future generations of his family to become attached to the world
and the things in it. He did not want them to live for personal pleasure, as signified by the
vine and the fruit of it, but he wanted them to live for the will of God. What Jonadab chose
for himself, and his offspring, was actually the priestly portion. God had told the tribe of
Levi that they would have no inheritance in the land, for God would be their portion.
There is tremendous freedom and liberty described in this story, for this family dwelt
in tents and were able to move at will whenever God said they were to move. Nothing
hindered them from following the Lord. They had no attachment to a piece of land, to a
house, a vineyard, or a field. They also would not accumulate a lot of worldly possessions,
for it would prove too much of a burden to transport such things each time they moved.
The Rechabites obeyed the command of Jonadab, and because of their obedience they
received a blessing from God that was only spoken to two people in all of Scripture.

Jeremiah 35:18-19
Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the
God of Israel, ‘Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept
all his commands and done according to all that he commanded you; therefore thus