There has been renewed interest lately in the ancient tribes of Israel. In certain quarters, focus has been placed once again on the legendary “Lost Tribes of Israel”. These vulnerable families were, in fact, the historical and very real ten clans of the Northern Kingdom. Many centuries ago, at the time of the Assyrian invasion, they were deported from their Palestinian homeland and scattered abroad. According to a lengthy television documentary aired by a prominent cable network, there are vestiges at this present time of descendants of all these tribes still following rituals and displaying reminders of their remote Israelite origin. According to some experts, living relics of the dispersed tribes can be found on a Mediterranean island; in both prominent places and remote recesses of northern Africa; among many of the diverse cultures of the Near East; and, even as far removed from their Sinai and Canaanite origins as the far reaches of the Orient!

In numerous sections of the Bible God’s Word clearly and emphatically states that His separated people will one day be reunited. The southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin will once again be joined with the northern ten tribes of Israel. Excitement about “discovering” the Ten Lost Tribes and speculation by modern researchers of how and when the full and complete reunification of God’s ancient people will take place could quickly peter out and end up on the dust heap of religious sensationalism. But the reality of God’s promises will not pass away. And what He has said and what He has pledged will eventually be fulfilled. All this, in spite of the fact that we may not be able to foresee the details of the fulfillment nor even conceive of the intricate logistics involved.  The current surmising about “The Lost Tribes of Israel” have renewed my interest in and appreciation of another biblical group distinct from the Chosen People but intimately associated with the earliest origins of the divinely appointed nation of Israel. The Kenites and, later, a branch of that tribe called the Rechabites, could accurately be styled as a peculiar people. I use that term, “peculiar”, not in the sense of odd or strange; but rather as denoting a singularly distinctive clan. This is the true biblical meaning of this word, as in 1 Peter 2:9 where the Holy Ghost refers to Christians as “…a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people…” The larger tribe was not Jews but Arabs who were originally connected with the Amalekites, the earliest and fiercest of Israel’s enemies. It seems, though, that God separated a portion of the Kenites to be used as an edifying example of utter consecration and complete obedience. In His mercy, this spared segment came under His blood covenant and embraced the practice of circumcision through Zipporah, their kinswoman and Moses’ wife. Jethro, Zipporah’s father and an Arabian priest, was the prominent patriarch in their native area. God used this godly father-in-law of His great deliverer to assist Moses in organizing the twelve tribes of Israel. Some, perhaps a majority, of the Kenites remained behind when Israel moved out of the Sinai and headed for Canaan. Yet, a sizable contingent of these descendants of Abraham through his third wife, Keturah, escaped the Amalekite curse. These pious Arabs chose to accept Moses’ invitation to migrate to the Promised Land. Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, was given the privilege of being the scout and guide for God’s people through the treacherous desert wastes. In this honored post Hobab became the human complement to the Divine guidance of the supernatural pillars of cloud and fire.

Even before the pilgrims arrived in Canaan, God’s prophetic Word assured them that their enemies would be divinely dealt with. In general, the Kenite clan were destined to be destroyed by a future world kingdom called Assyria. In the meantime, a remnant was spared and God used a Kenite woman named Jael to deliver His people from the oppression of a relentless foe named Sisera. Little is said of the Kenites from the time of the Judges until the reign of the anointed Kings. By piecing together brief references to this people, we learn from the Bible that they left the region of Jericho, the entry point into the Promised possession. These select Arabs, all Hebrew proselytes, settled in the Wilderness of Judea. Their chosen habitation included the city of Jabez. At this place, named after a godly Judean prince, there arose a colony of scribes and teachers. We know that these particular Kenites continued in God’s favor. When God commanded Saul to fully extirpate the remaining Amalekites, he first warned and protected this spiritually sensitive group. Again when David, still in hiding on the borders of Judah, divided his spoils among the Judean cities, the Kenites were singled out as worthy of his benefits. These faithful friends were given a fair share of the captured booty.

The spiritual affinity between these distinctive Arabs and God’s unique nation is highlighted by the final two scriptural references to members of the Kenite tribe. In the sweeping aftermath of the great revival under the prophet Elijah, Jehu is commissioned by God to destroy totally the house of Ahab. He was to eliminate from the land every remnant of the perverted Sidonian idolatry introduced by Jezebel, Ahab’s scheming consort. On the road to godly vengeance, Jehu urges Jonadab, son of Rechab, to accompany him in the mopping-up operations. As with one hand and one heart, Arab and Jew- Jonadab and Jehu – join forces to thoroughly cleanse their common land from the hideous worshippers of Baal.

In the closing days of the Kingdom of Judah, a select branch of the Kenites came up to Jerusalem to avoid entanglement with Nebuchadnezzar’s invading army. This devout, somewhat ascetic, group was called the Rechabites in honor of the father of that valiant hero, Jonadab. Like his ancestor, Jethro, Rechab must have been an outstanding spiritual leader and a highly revered patriarch. He set high standards of holiness for his followers. They were forbidden to drink wine. The Rechabites could not really settle down in the way some of their kinsmen did, but were permitted to live only in tents. Whether these religious practices were mandated by God or merely distinctive requirements, the Rechabites were applauded by God Himself for their dedication to the wishes of their earthly father and for their unwavering obedience. Through the ministry of the prophet Jeremiah, God commended the Rechabites. He contrasted their sincere submission with the rebellious disobedience which characterized the more privileged tribes out of which He had formed His special nation.

Although the Rechabites portray a seemingly insignificant role in the story of salvation, I feel they loom quite large on God’s scale of spiritual values. The final biblical promise given by Jeremiah speaks for itself:

“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 35:18

Such a powerful pledge as this is comparable to the regal Messianic promises called “the sure mercies of David!” However inconsequential others may regard them, for me, the Rechabites represent the forerunners of truly Spirit-submitted believers. Led only by the One who leads into all truth and brings to remembrance all that the Lord Jesus has taught and modeled, modern Rechabites strive for the spirit of wholeheartedness and utter consecration shown by their “separated brethren” of earlier times. Those of us who are fully Pentecostal in the broadest and deepest Full-Gospel sense of that term, will often appear to be, like these ancient people, merely on the fringes of Christendom. Yet, in all spiritual reality, Holy Ghost surrendered worshippers; those aspiring to practice the kind of faith represented by the Church in Philadelphia are intimately involved in Christ’s Kingdom. This class of believers is like their Old Testament spiritual forebears and constitutes a remnant-like minority which displays “little strength.” Rev 3:8 Pentecostals of Philadelphian faith are often raised up in times of crisis and through their continuing yieldedness and submission to the Third Person of the Trinity afford sure guidance and real support to the true Church – that “blessed company of faithful people.”

FAITH

Faith is unique among the fruits because it’s the only characteristic that is common to the Scriptural list of both the gifts and the fruits of the Spirit. Faith is given by the Spirit and is grown in us. It is a two way street: the gift of God and a fruit that is cultivated through prayer and by asking God Himself to increase it in us. The Word itself is the food that supplies the energy that causes faith to grow in us; “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Since faith is either given to us by God or grown in us by the Spirit it is obtained in purely spiritual ways through our relationship with God and, therefore, has spiritual substance and reality. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” God sees to it that our faith is confirmed by evidence and that it takes on substance. Through faith we are told that we gain understanding of things which cannot be discerned with our physical senses of by the sciences of geometry and physics. By faith we gain victory over the world. (1 John 5:4)

GOODNESS

Goodness is simple godliness. Being a partaker of the Divine Nature means partaking of God’s character and godliness is fundamental to being like God. “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call not he Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Tim 2:22) Godliness is the forsaking of self. All selfishness, self-consciousness and self-pity. Godliness is the propensity to look to the things of other and come in the spirit of a true servant. Resisting all temptation fo the flesh makes room for the attitudes and actions of godliness. Godliness is the true positive outlook on life, “whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Phil 4:8 The spiritual fruit of goodness expresses the wholesome and clean spirit of God.