Chosen As His Good Fig for Restoration
Scripture Passage: Jeremiah 24:1-10 (NASB)
1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness. 3 Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad ones, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. 6 For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will also give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me wholeheartedly.
8 ‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness,’ indeed, this is what the Lord says, ‘so will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who live in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them an object of terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places where I will scatter them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the plague upon them until they are eliminated from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’”
SUMMARY
The Lord shows Jeremiah two baskets of figs in front of the temple – one basket of good figs and the other basket of rotten figs. He asks him what he sees and explains the significance of the figs in the two baskets. The good figs represent people who were taken captive to Babylon. They were sent out of Jerusalem to the land of Chaldeans. God promised to set His eyes on them, bring them back and build them up. He also promised to give them the heart to know Him and He will be their God. The bad figs are Zehekiah and those who stayed in Jerusalem. They continued with their evil ways and God will bring terror and a curse in all places they scatter to.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
Contrary to what they thought, those captive in Babylon were the good figs. They thought they were abandoned by God but instead God promised to set His eyes on them and build them up. Could you imagine how scared and in despair they must have been?
Ironically, it is times like this when we experience God’s powerful and overwhelming love. It is in these challenging times in life when we desperately seek him and cling on him tightly. I realized sometimes God puts us in these situations so that we can meet Him to experience the grandness of His love. He equips us during these difficult times to know Him more intimately and strengthen our relationship with Him.
APPLICATION
God is not interested in giving us temporary fix or relief but a complete restoration. At times when I feel defeated or like a failure, I will remember that this is an opportunity to experience God’s powerful love and reconnect with Him in a more intimate way. I will also remember to stay alert and not fall in the trap of feeling safe like the Zedekian and those who stayed in Jerusalem by being in the word and seeking God consistently.
PRAYER
Thank you for your amazing and infinite love for me. I fail you all the time, yet you continuously pursue me and are in the works to fulfill your promise for me. Help me, Jesus, to stand firm in my faith, seek you in all my activities and strive to be the good fig. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
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