Jer 24:1-10 (NIV) After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah and the officials, the craftsmen and the artisans of Judah were
carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the
Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other
basket had very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
3 Then the Lord asked me, "What do you see,
Jeremiah?"
"Figs," I answered. "The good ones are
very good, but the poor ones are so bad they cannot be eaten."
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 "This
is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Like these good figs, I regard as
good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the
Babylonians. 6 My eyes will watch over
them for their 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 uproot them. 7 I will give
them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will
be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
8 "'But like the poor figs, which are so bad
they cannot be eaten,' says the Lord, 'so will I deal with Zedekiah king of
Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in
this land or live in Egypt. 9 I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all
the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, an object of ridicule and
cursing, wherever I banish them. 10 I will send the sword, famine and plague
against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their
fathers.'"
NOTE: Despite God's
discipline on the people of Judah for their sins, God does not give up on his
people. He is working on their hearts
even while they are in exile. He promises
to protect them and to bring them back to the land in the future. In the next recorded prophecy, the actual
time of 70 years is decreed for their captivity.
Jesus, near the end
of his ministry, curses a fig tree for not producing fruit, and then uses it as
an illustration of the end times. The
interesting point is that it was not the time for figs when Jesus curses the tree. So, Jesus knew it would not have figs on
it. But I think Jesus' point might be
related to this verse. God withdrew his
offer of salvations to the Jews and gave it to the Gentiles because they did
not recognize the time of their salvation.
But at some point in the future, God will save all Israel. He has never abandoned his people both in the
past and in the future.
What do I learn from
this verse? I think a good question to
ask is what kind of fruit am I producing in my Christian fruit? Is it useful or is it so poor that it has no
usefulness in the kingdom? I think our
fruit is more related to our relationship with Christ than to the amount of
time that we spend in ministry. Our core
strength comes from a deep walk with God.
Out of that relationship flows changes in our lives that can't help but
impact others for good.
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