After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
8 “But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Jeremiah 24 ESV
Jeremiah 24 Good and Bad Figs
Taken into exile - Jeconiah's reign was very short and Zedekiah was put up as a puppet king in his place.
“After the exile of Jehoiachin and the leading citizens of Judah (2 Kings 24:10-17), those who remained seem to have been full of optimism for the future.” (Thompson)
Like these good figs - Those the Lord had sent away into captivity were the good figs. Those that stayed behind probably saw it the other way around, and naturally so, for being dragged off to a new land as captives in a place where you didn't yet speak the language, that would carry a lot of uncertainty.
I will set my eyes on them for good - The exiles will find hope, even separated from their home, as servants and slaves, and from them will arise Daniel and others the Lord has called and brought to faithfulness. They will bring honor and glory to the name of God, like Joseph did in Egypt.
…5And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 7Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?… Hebrews 12: 5-7
…38Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High? 39Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins? 40Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.… Lamentations 3: 38-40
…3He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. 4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.… Psalm 23: 3-5
I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord - Nicodemus, how can you be a teacher and not know these things? That always puzzled me, why would Christ ask him that? How could he possibly know these things, I mean Jesus just got there, where would he have seen the gospel before this and this teaching of being born again, a new creature with new desires?
…8The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things?… John 3: 8-10
…25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.… Ezekiel 36: 25-27
They shall return to me with their whole heart - The Psalmist David, long before this had come to ask God to create in him a clean heart and renew in him a right spirit. Why did the people who stayed not repent? Was it because of a lack in Jeremiah's preaching, maybe they weren't as smart, but would that still not fall on God Who made them that way? What brings men back to God, shows them their natural state, makes them broken over it, and yet fills them with hope everlasting? Have I ever convinced anyone to be born again, and does that weight really sit upon my shoulders? God told Jeremiah what to say and he said it.
i. There was a blessing for those first taken in exile and who did not remain in Jerusalem for the catastrophic end. “The captives, augmented by further deportations in 587 and 582 bc (Jeremiah 52:29 f.), turned to the Lord in repentance and under Ezekiel’s leadership, a new kind of faith, loyal to the covenant-relationship with God, was forged.” (Cundall)
…2You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4Such confidence before God is ours through Christ.… 2 Corinthians 3: 2-4
…15For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”… Romans 9: 15-17
…7in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not by works, so that no one can boast.… Ephesians 2: 7-9
Like the bad figs - A tree is known by its fruit, and this is the predicament that all are in under the law, it reveals that we are rotten to our innermost being, so rotten that we think the stench sweet. Faith that leads to salvation has to be a gift like the Scriptures say, for what corrupt thing ever rights itself, and what works could it ever produce that were not sin too? The bad figs get to stay in Jerusalem, and so they infer from their surroundings that they are the good figs, yet going to Babylon is like being raptured compared to what is coming.
…10Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac. 11Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand, 12not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”… Romans 9: 10-12
A byword, a curse and a taunt - How the mighty can be made so low, yet we should look at our brothers, the example that God has pulled from all of humanity and set before men. This is the story of His redemptive History, how He calls, and the eternally begotten Son justifies, and the Spirit convicts and points to the Son. There is no room for pride, self righteousness in our salvation, no, it is grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone. God is sovereign even here, most especially here, and He need not ask Lazarus permission to raise him from the dead, no, he declared it from before time, he made Lazarus, and so He says to His own, "Come Forth."
…3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. 5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.… Isaiah 53: 3-5
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