©John Yerkes
Chapter 24 (ESV) - 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. 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. 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.”
Then the word of the LORD came to me: “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. 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. 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.
“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. 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. 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.”
Question to consider: Why were those brought into Babylonian captivity considered to be the ‘good figs’?
The vision of the figs in today’s passage occurred when the last descendant of Manasseh, Jehoiachin, was captured by Nebuchadnezzar. Although Jehoiachin was of the bad branch and would never have descendants to take the throne of David, those who were brought into captivity with him were associated with the good figs of this vision. Those who remained in Jerusalem led by Zedekiah, the uncle of Jehoiachin who was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar to keep the rest of Judah from rising up against Babylon, were associated with the bad figs.
At the time of this vision, Ezekiel started his dramatic presentations of the coming destruction of the city of Jerusalem under Zedekiah. Rather than two types of figs, Ezekiel was given a vision of two eagles but with the same message. Zedekiah would disobey the LORD’s command to maintain the peace treaty with Nebuchadnezzar and make an unholy alliance with Egypt. The LORD’s anger burned against Zedekiah for associating His holy name with a broken covenant, and Nebuchadnezzar acted against this betrayal by destroying the city and temple. While Nebuchadnezzar saw this as a war against the God of Judah for not upholding the treaty, we know from Ezekiel 10, that the glory of the LORD had left the temple desolate by then so the destruction happened against a worthless city and building and a people who had abandoned their LORD and worshiped the gods of the nations.
I’m sure that Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem thought they were “protecting” the city and temple for the sake of the LORD. This notion reminds me of the disciples of Christ (led by Peter) who ironically believed that they would die for Jesus in order to protect Him from His enemies. Jesus didn’t need their protection, and avoiding the cross was the devil’s idea, not Christ’s.
The LORD’s plan was to give the land a seventy-year rest to make up for all of the missed land Sabbaths that were supposed to have taken place. Those taken into captivity were to be the remnant (good figs) who would prosper in Babylon and eventually be brought back to the land. “He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.” (2 Chronicles 36:20-21)
Why did those who were led captive in Babylon receive the LORD’s favor and the ones in Jerusalem and Egypt did not? By faith! The good figs left the protection of the city walls and surrendered with King Jehoiachin because they followed the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah and not because of cowardice. Given the strength of the city walls and the preaching of the false prophets that Jerusalem would be protected, it actually took faith to follow the word given through Jeremiah when Nebuchadnezzar could have slaughtered them on the spot or tortured them as slaves.
Dear heavenly Father, help us to cling to the promise of Christ Jesus that He will be with us as we make disciples of all nations. May those who hear of what Christ has done for the world listen and turn to You in faith. Amen.