Are you a Seventh-day Adventist? Or a Rechabite?

Are you a Seventh-day Adventist? Or a Rechabite?

By: WLC Team

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A person can be sincere, but sincerely wrong. The example of the Rechabites reveals the Christian’s duty is to always obey Yahuwah first, even when a true prophet of Yah unknowingly contradicts the Word of Yah.

Never trust a prophet (above the Bible)


The word of Yah must always come first: before your personal opinions, before anything your pastor says, before anything a prophet or even an angel has to say!

Paul understood this point. His strongly worded warning to the Galatians holds true today: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8 and 9, NKJV)

One group of people that understood this point was the Rechabites.


Faithful to the word of Yah


The Rechabites were descendants of Jonadab ben Rechab. They had taken a vow before Yahuwah to never drink alcohol and they took this vow so seriously that Scripture presents them as an example to all peoples, for all time.

Yahuwah told Jeremiah the prophet: “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of Yahuwah, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” (Jeremiah 35:2, NKJV)

So that’s just what Jeremiah did: “I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, ‘Drink wine.’ ” (Jeremiah 35:5, NKJV)

Picture this: Jeremiah, a true prophet of the Most High, asked the Rechabites to come to the temple where he then served them alcohol and told them that they were to imbibe.

What would you do if a person you knew to be a true prophet told you something that contradicted the word of Yah?

Well I’ll tell you what the Rechabites did: they refused.

We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever.’ … Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days ... (Jeremiah 35:6 and 8, NKJV)

The Rechabites refused to obey a command given through a recognized prophet of Yah! They did this, because they had been taught that the truth of Yahuwah never changes. This is a lesson Yah’s people today need to learn.


Are you a Rechabite … or an S.D.A.?


Earth’s final days are a dangerous time in which to be living. Every wind of doctrine is blowing and Satan’s delusions are increasingly powerful, as well as subtle.

Ask yourself: What would you do if someone you knew to be a true prophet, told you something you also knew contradicted the word of Yah? Whose word would you take?

This isn’t some make-believe scenario. It has happened and it continues to happen within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Ellen G. White is the prophet to the final generation. However, truth is progressive. Daniel 12:4 declared “knowledge shall be increased.” Not all light was available in Ellen White’s day (19th century). Consequently, some of the things she taught (such as Saturday being the Sabbath of the Bible) were incorrect.

In such circumstances, believers are never to put the word of anyone above that of the word of Yah. Our ultimate safety is in believing that which comes directly from Yahuwah, not through teachings that come via Yahuwah’s prophets.
Yahuwah knew such situations would develop. In Hebrews 13, He warns:
Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of Yahuwah to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Yahushua Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace ... (Hebrews 13:7-9, NKJV)
The Rechabites knew from Scripture that all who are truly dedicated to Yahuwah will abstain from imbibing alcoholic beverages. Even when a man they trusted to be a true prophet of Yah came to them and told them to drink, they had the courage and strength of conviction to refuse because they knew that Yahuwah never changes.
The reward of faithfulness
Yahuwah was so pleased with the Rechabites faithfulness that He gave them a blessing unprecedented in sacred history. He declared: “Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, therefore thus says Yahuwah of hosts, the Eloah of Israel: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.’” (Jeremiah 35:18-19, NKJV)

What a reward for faithfulness! The descendants of Jonadab ben Rechab would always have those who were faithful to Yah. The word of Yah has spoken and it remains true to this day. WLC honors the Rechabites who, even today, are scattered across Yemen, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The Rechabites did not reject Jeremiah as a prophet. They knew he was a genuine prophet of Yah. But they also knew for themselves what the Scriptures have to say about alcohol. Therefore, they took from Jeremiah’s ministry what was good, and laid aside the rest.

That is what Yahuwah expects us to do, too.

The Rechabites are a type of the 144,000, described in Revelation as: “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto Yah and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:4, KJV)

The 144,000, like the Rechabites, will obey the word of Yah. They will keep their eyes upon the Lamb of Yah and follow Him, not human prophets who are fallible.

You also have the chance to be a Rechabite. Certainly, take what is good from the ministry of others. But whenever it contradicts the word of Yah, like the Rechabites, you are to take what is good and lay aside the rest. When you do this, you, too, will be a faithful Rechabite.

The choice is yours: what will you decide?