Baskets Before the Lord
24 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 24:1-10
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Baskets Before the Lord
Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs set before the temple. One basket held good figs; the other, rotten ones. The surprise is that the “good figs” were the exiles carried away to Babylon. Though their suffering was painful, the Lord was working for their good. He promised to watch over them, bring them back, and give them hearts to know Him. The rotten figs were those who trusted in appearances and remained secure in Jerusalem while rejecting the Lord’s Word. God’s discipline was not abandonment but mercy. The exile was a call to repentance and faith. So also the cross often enters our lives in ways we would never choose. Yet God works through suffering to drive us away from pride and into His promises. Christ Himself bore the exile of sin upon the cross. In Him, God gives you a new heart that knows the Lord and rests in His mercy forever.
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 24:1-10
+
Baskets Before the Lord
Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs set before the temple. One basket held good figs; the other, rotten ones. The surprise is that the “good figs” were the exiles carried away to Babylon. Though their suffering was painful, the Lord was working for their good. He promised to watch over them, bring them back, and give them hearts to know Him. The rotten figs were those who trusted in appearances and remained secure in Jerusalem while rejecting the Lord’s Word. God’s discipline was not abandonment but mercy. The exile was a call to repentance and faith. So also the cross often enters our lives in ways we would never choose. Yet God works through suffering to drive us away from pride and into His promises. Christ Himself bore the exile of sin upon the cross. In Him, God gives you a new heart that knows the Lord and rests in His mercy forever.
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