Two and a half centuries! That's a long time, isn't it?
Check out this amazing testimony! Jonadab gave certain commandments to his family that he wanted them to keep throughout ALL THEIR GENERATIONS AND FOREVER. Two and a half centuries later, the prophet Jeremiah tested Jonadab's family! After 250 years they were still keeping to the commandments of their father, to the absolute letter. Not just some of them, but every one of them--husbands, wives, sons, and daughters.
What a testimony! Can you imagine your descendants still talking about you and keeping to what you said 250 years down the line? God was so blessed with this family that He gave them a blessing that no one else in the Bible received apart from the patriarchs, "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 35:19, read the whole chapter).
It seems that we often fail in passing on God's ways to children in just one generation! I think of how the standard of holiness amongst God's people has degenerated even since I was a child! What about 250 years of generations?
May God help us to understand His plan. We can't be casual about being parents. We have a responsibility to keep God's Word continuing down the generations. Remember the FOREVER MENTALITY?
Love from Nancy