The picture below portrays King Jehu inviting Jehonadab into his chariot when he was on his way to clean house (2 Kings 10:15-17 relates). Jehonadab is one of those fascinating, impactful, often overlooked, good guys, mentioned only briefly in the Bible, and was part of the Rechabite clan.

2 Kings 10 tells some of the story of Jehu getting rid to the false Baal worship in Israel, that had caused so much damage, which he did ruthlessly and with the assistance of Jehonadab: “And when he (Jehu) was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spake to Elijah … And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but the worshippers of Baal only” 2 Kings 10:15-17, 23.

I found that one of the helpful responses to the question I asked Google “Who were the Rechabites in the Bible?” (see here) was: “The Rechabites (also Recabite, Rekabite) were a nomadic people group known for their strict rules to abstain from wine, from building houses, from sowing seed, and from planting vineyards (Jeremiah 35:6–7). The Rechabites were faithful to abide by these rules through the generations, all the way from the time of Jehu (2 Kings 10:15) to the time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 35:8–10)—over 200 years. The Rechabites were descendants of Rechab (or Recab or Rekab), a Kenite and thus related to the Midianites and Moses’ family by marriage (see Judges 1:16). According to Jeremiah 35:6, the Rechabites’ strict rules were put in place by a son (or descendant) of Rechab named Jehonadab (or Jonadab). This is the same Jehonadab who helped Jehu rid Israel of Baal-worship after the time of Ahab (2 Kings 10:15–27). Scholars have differing opinions as to why Jehonadab implemented the rules, but many believe he sought to preserve the primitive lifestyle of his nomadic forebears. God used the faithfulness of the Rechabites to teach an important lesson to His people …”

One of the amazing experiences of being an assiduous student of the Bible, having read it in its entirety several times over, is every time I return to it, even familiar passages, I pick up some profound truth that I hadn’t quite seen previously. Jehonoadab and the Rechabites are two such. I would like to focus on the two main chapters of the Bible when these are both mentioned: 2 Kings 10 and Jeremiah 35, although there other not so clear references and part of the detective work needed to build up the bigger picture in order to connect the dots, is noting names when they crop up that can be spelt differently and could refer to different persons/families.

But we need to begin with King Jehu. After Elijah had fled from Ahab and Jezebel, his wicked wife, he eventually came to Mount Horeb, where God spoke to him in a still small voice. Part of the conversation was God telling Elijah to anoint three persons. One was his successor, Elisha, but the other two might have come as a surprise given that they were flawed characters and would not have fitted the expected profile of one anointed of God. One was Jehu: “And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room” 1 Kings 19:15,16. But each anointing was in accordance with God’s purposes. In Jehu’s case, his assignment was to undo the disastrous legacy left as a result of the reign of King Ahab and help to return people to God.  

If one checks out the whole 2 Kings 10 chapter, along with just before and just after, we will find that Jehu carried out his commission with fervent zeal and he did so with the assistance and approval of Jehonoadab. Tragically, upon getting rid of Baal worship, Jehu replaced this with another form of unacceptable false worship. We read: “Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.  Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan. And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin. In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel” 2 Kings 10:28-32. Interestingly, Hazael was the king of neighbouring Syria, the third, also unlikely, person that Elijah was told by God that he had to anoint.

The next reference to Jehonoadab (Jonadab), or rather concerning some of his descendants, was 200 years later when the legacy of adherence to true worship of God, exemplified by Jehonoadab, could be again seen, albeit in an usual way: “The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying, Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; And I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine. But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever: Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us” Jeremiah 35:1-10.

Refraining from alcohol and adopting a nomadic would have been uncomfortable, as it included not enjoying life’s luxuries many might want, and would unlikely come to mind as signs of one, or in this case a family grouping, being dedicated to the Lord. Yet this was something recognized and commended by God and was held up as an example of how Judah should operate rather than with their unfaithfulness which would eventually lead to them being taken into Babylonian exile as part of God’s judgement. When we study the Bible, we find that family and faithfulness are two things that are important with God and we end our chapter with a good example, how and why. Jehonoadab’s family response pleased God, whose reward was to bless their descendants as well as to judge Judah:

“Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me: Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered. And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever” Jeremiah 35:16-19.  

Those who follow my contributions to the blogosphere will note there are two important themes that I often write about: religion, in particular authentic Christianity, and politics, from the perspective of a political neutral, watchman on the wall on what is taking place in the world. I end with the sort of overlap that often arises when I write on either theme. It involves Donald J. Trump who I often return to when I add a new episode to my Trumpwatch series as being, possibly, the most significant figure on today’s world stage. I should add that what I am about to say is not an endorsement of DJT but rather how I see his avowed aim in his two presidencies to drain the swamp, as being not so dissimilar to that of King Jehu.

I have no doubt “the swamp” is deeper, dirtier and spread further worldwide now, in 2025, than I or anyone else come to that did see when DJT put his hat into the presidential race ring back in 2016. I have also stated that our hope when it comes to swamp draining must be in the Lord, which in accordance with his amazing providence might involve anointing a Jehu type figure. I see signs of today’s swamp now being drained, YET not without qualms. If indeed DJT is a modern-day Jehu, then we cannot ignore the salutary end to the promising start of Jehu’s reign. He replaced the globalist idols of his day (i.e. Baal worship) with his own nationalist idols (i.e. golden calf worship), and in effect he did replace the swamp Ahab and Jezebel created with his own. And it exacted a heavy price, and one to bear in mind looking at current events. Finally, wouldn’t it be lovely if we had more Rechabites today?