In some respects, the dynamics of Jeremiah’s sixth century bce encounter with the Rechabites recorded in Jer 35:1–19 parallels those of the twenty-first century ce interaction between the Amish of Hanover County and popular culture in the wake of the October 2006 atrocity committed by gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV. God’s message for the Judeans first points out the stark contrast between the Rechabites’ zealous adherence to their ancestor’s instructions and the Judeans’ long history of continual disobedience to God. Not since Constantine has the Christian church in the West found itself at the margins of society. Taking the Rechabite example, the church should focus less on new ways of doing and more on old ways of being. Jeremiah’s message for today is, after all, the same as it was in the sixth century BCE: a call to return—to fidelity, to authenticity.
