Jeremiah 24:1-10

It is not always fully evident to us exactly what God is doing in His dealings with men on the earth.  When things we consider bad happen God may be working through suffering to mold us into His image and make us more like Christ.  When things seem to be going well, it may simply be that God has become displeased and turned His back on us.  Time and eternity will reveal the truth about how God is using the circumstances of our lives to accomplish His will.  God reveals His perspective on the children of Israel and their circumstances to Jeremiah.  The first wave of captives has been taken to Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar but a large group of people remain in the land.  From our perspective the captives are the unfortunate and those who remain in the land are being blessed by God.  Jeremiah reveals that just the opposite is true.

GOOD FIGS: God shows Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs.  One basket is good the other rotten.  The good figs are beautiful, delicious and healthy.  God tells Jeremiah the good figs are representative of the children of Israel who have been taken into captivity in Babylon.  These are the officials and skilled laborers from the land who had apparently been faithful to the Lord which made them desirable targets for Babylon.  Certainly Daniel and his three friends were a part of this first partial captivity.  Our expectation would be for the faithful men to be spared taken into captivity and the evil men dragged off.  God’s plan is far different.  He compares these early captives to good and delicious figs that He is planning to restore to the land and do good to them.  God’s plan is to work in their hearts so they will recognize and repent of their sin so He can restore them to usefulness in His service as they follow Him with their whole hearts.  They key to being blessed by God is not comfort but whole hearted devotion to the Lord.


BAD FIGS: The second basket of figs are old, shriveled and rotten figs not fit for consumption.  These figs represent the people who remain in the land or have taken matters into their own hands and run away into Egypt in order to hide from the Assyrian invasion.  From our perspective these are the lucky and prudent ones but God’s vision is far different.  He sees these people as unfaithful and rebellious and He has turned His back on them.  They are about to suffer great horrors and will become the reproach of all nations.  They will experiences war, famine and pestilence to the point of total destruction and annihilation.  We must never become confident because of the comfort of our current circumstances.  The only true confidence comes from God to those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.

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