The passage ends with a word from the Lord for the Rechabites. It may be that Jeremiah spoke to them before leaving the room in Jeremiah 35:11. The blessing the Lord gives them is delayed in the narrative to highlight the strong contrast with the words of judgment he has spoken against the people of Jerusalem in Jeremiah 34:17–22.1 The Lord promises the Rechabites that, because of their obedience to Jonadab, they will never lack a man to stand before me.
The words stand before me
are used to describe someone serving the Lord, normally as a priest or a prophet (see Jeremiah 15:1,Jeremiah 15:19). The promise is also very similar to the one the Lord makes regarding the descendants of David and Levi in Jeremiah 33:17–18. There is, however, no evidence in Scripture of how this promise to the Rechabites was fulfilled.2
There are a number of questions regarding the Rechabites and their links with the Lord’s covenant and Scripture is silent on most of them. It is important to remember that the main purpose of the narrative in Jeremiah 35 is to simply draw a contrast between the unfaithfulness of the people of Jerusalem to the Lord’s covenant, as displayed so clearly in Jeremiah 34:1–22, and the faithfulness of the Rechabites to the traditions of their founding father. There is no suggestion at all in the passage that not drinking wine and not building permanent homes is part of being faithful to the Lord’s covenant with Israel. The passage does also not say that the Rechabites were considered part of the Lord’s covenant people. What is shown by the narrative in Jeremiah 35:1–19 “is not a full-blown treatment of a historical group of people; rather, it is a powerful word of rebuke and challenge by means of a clear message about obedience. The Rechabites, whatever their specific identity or heritage, represent a symbol of faithfulness to prior commands that is not to be found in Judah and her relationship with the LORD”.3
18 Et Jérémie dit à la maison des Récabites: Ainsi parle l'Eternel des armées, le Dieu d'Israël: Parce que vous avez obéi aux ordres de Jonadab, votre père, parce que vous avez observé tous ses commandements et fait tout ce qu'il vous a prescrit;