I. Thbib nomadic habits. It is refreshing to meet these quiet, simple people after wearying ourselves with sickening sights of the vice and hyprocrisy of the court and city life of Jerusalem. We are inclined to think too much of external civilization. Making allowance for exasgerations and eccentricities, we may find some much-needed lessons in the protest of Mr. Ruskin against the industrial ideal of the age. Inventions, commerce, wealth, — these are but means to an end. What is the use of the working ol wonderful machinery if the outcome is poor and profitless? Many a man's business is a Frankenstein which becomes a tyrant to him. By others the science and resources of the age are only used as ministers to selfish pleasures. Thus the men and women may be none the better for all the advance that is made in the material appliance! of the most complex civilization. Yet the personal condition of these men and women, ann
9« THE BOOK OP THE PEOPHET JEEEMIAH. loh. xxxv. 1—1*
not tliat of the machinery of life, is the one matter of final importance. The quieter, simpler life of the Eechabites had many points which it would be instructive for us to consider. It was out of all tlie rush and worry of town life. It was calm and compa- ratively free from care. With few wants, the Eechal)ites had few anxieties. Are we so much better oflf than they in this respect? Then, as a wandering life, it was a reminder of the truth, so often forgotten to our serious harm, that all men who live a life higher than the earthly must be pilgrims and strangers here, and must " seek " a better country, that is, a " heavenly." The man of the world is rooted to the earth ; and is there not a danger lest many of us should be so absorbed in the busy pursuits of the world as to neglect greater interests, or so satisfied with earthly possessions as to forget that this is not our rest ?
II. Their abstemiousness. These Eecliabites were the prototypes of the modem teetotalers. They were no ascetics. They made no pretence to the peculiar holiness of the "self-imposed worship" of "dealing hardly with the body" (Col. ii. 23). On the contrary, they were probably a cheerful and unpretentious people, finding more human happiness in a simple abstemious life than the citizens of Jerusalem could ever dis- cover in the unwholesome luxuries of a corrupt civilization. They teach a lesson which our age greatly needs. We may differ as to the necessity or desirability of total absti- nence from wine and such things. But all of us should feel the terrible danger that comes from the enervating influence of luxury. In the present day we see little ol "plain living and high thinking." Life is both eager and materialistic. It wovdd be well if we could deny ourselves more, that there i<hould be less grossness about our habits, dragging us down from the calm heights of spirituality.
III. Theib chanoelessness. The Eechabites are like the Arabs of the desert who were contemporaries of the Pharaohs, and who live now just as they lived in the days of Abraham. Where shall we find such staunch conservalives? Now, of course, we Western Christians believe in a principle of progress, and rightly set ourselves to realize it. But in the pursuit we may lose something that tlie Eechabites retained. Mere change is not progress, and a restless love of change endangers the fruitfulness of measures which take time to ripen. On the other hand, there is a true loyalty to the past, a just fidelity ta our forefathers. At all events, it is grand to see a people inde- pendent of passing fashions, bold to resist the spirit of the age when they think that wrong for them, and firm in their own convictions and determinatious. Such conduct is bracing to witness ; unhappily it is not common.
Vers. 11 — 17. — Filud obedience. The filial obedience of the Eechabites is here adduced as a rebuke to the people of Israel for their disobedience to their Father in heaven.
I. We owe a duty of filial obedience to God. Obligation corresponds to privi- lege ; peculiar relationship involves peculiar duties. If God is our Father, we owe special obedience to God on account of our relationship with him. The doctrine of the fatherhood of God is no excuse for the relaxation of the fidelity which we felt to be obligatory so long as he was regarded only as our supreme Euler. Instead of making us more careless, this doctrine should increase the assiduity of our devotion. Strict religionists who dread the moral effects of the modern broad enunciation of this great truth, and lax self-indulgent people who fancy it will allow them to defy the Law of God at pleasure, both fall hito a grievous mistake. The father has rights over his children possessed by no one else, and they owe obedience to him as to no other person. This was recognized and carried out much further in the ancient world thwx it is among us. 1. It is based on nature; the child naturally belongs to the parent. 2. It is increased by experience. For years the child is wholly de[)endent on his parents. Helpless, and needing constant attention, he finds in them sustenance, protection, and happiness. Parental anxiety, labour, and sacrifice should bind the children by ties ol deepest gratitude. Eepayment is impossible, nor is it expected ; but the least that can be done is to offer obedience. 3. It is recognized by law. The old Eoman law gave the father absolute power over the life of his child. Modern law, though it interferes more with the relations of the family, sanctions wide parental rights. Now, if God is our Father, similar obligations bind us to filial obedience to him over and above the obligation we may feel to his Law, his holiness, and his supremacy (Mai. i. 6).
n. TbI mCOLKCT OF FILIAL OBEDIENCE TO GOD IB BEBUEED BY THE NEOUEOT 01
OH. XXXT. 1— 19.J THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 97