Page 94 - The Remnant Bride

a progression. Wine is mentioned first. Wine represents pleasure. Those who drink wine do

so for the enjoyment of the taste and of how it makes them feel. In abstaining from wine,
this family was declaring that the pursuit of pleasure would not be the focus of their lives.

The next thing the sons of Jonadab would not do was plant a vineyard. Those who
drink wine must have a source for their wine. The logical thing for those who wish to enjoy

the fruit of the vine is to plant a vineyard, ensuring a constant supply of that which their
heart craves.

Many Christians, while confessing Christ, are pursuing the world and the pleasures
it offers. Having become addicted to its pleasures, they seek to ensure that their pleasure

will be uninterrupted. This takes commitment and work. Even as a vineyard must be tended
and watched over to ensure a steady supply of the grapes needed to produce wine, the

worldly pleasures that the children of God seek after require devotion and attention.
Many Christians see God as just another means by which they can pursue their carnal

dreams. There is nothing wrong with having a nice house or nice automobiles. There is
nothing wrong with providing good things for one’s family, but when the pursuit of these

things becomes the focus of life, we have crossed the line into idolatry.

Many families today are investing inordinate amounts of time in pursuit of the things
the world offers. Men and women are spending more and more hours working, hours that
take them away from their families and from God. The saint who is passionately pursuing

Christ will not accept any worldly commitment or entanglement to interfere with his

pursuit of the One he is devoted to.

II Timothy 2:4

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that

he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

Jonadab instructed his sons, even as Paul instructed his spiritual son Timothy, not to
become entangled with the things of the world. He instructed them to not pursue pleasure,

nor to make provision for it. The reason was so that they might live long in the land of
promise. Jonadab realized that those who esteemed enjoyment and pleasure had a tendency

to forget God. He wanted his sons to always remember Yahweh that they might be partakers
of the favor and reward of God.