Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 24

Verses 1-3

Jer 24:1-3

Jeremiah 24:1-3

Jehovah showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of Jehovah, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. Then said Jehovah unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.

Baskets of figs set before the temple...

(Jeremiah 24:1) The great lesson here, which is missed by many of the commentators, has nothing whatever to do with first-fruits The lesson that thunders from the parable is that proximity to the temple is no sign whatever of the holiness or acceptability of the people living in the vicinity of the Jewish temple. The people in Jerusalem were close to the temple, all right, but they were not close to God! They were exactly like that basket of rotten figs on the very steps of the temple.

The king. the princes ... the craftsmen and smiths .....

(Jeremiah 24:1). The cream of the nation had already been deported. All of the skilled artisans and craftsmen and presumably all of the people with special skills. The meaning of smiths is uncertain; but the general import of the verse is plain enough. Both Ezekiel and Daniel were also in that first group of captives. See 2 Kings 24:10-17 of the Biblical record of who went to Babylon. The teaching of the parable is that the people left in Judah were inferior to the captives who went to Babylon. Barnes stated that, Those left behind were not worth taking. ^F4

This estimate proved to be correct. Zedekiah surrounded himself with a group of citizens who persuaded him to form an alliance with Egypt and to resist any further submission to Babylon. That policy, of course, brought on the second siege of Jerusalem, the murder of the vast majority of the population, the destruction of the temple, and the reduction of the whole city to a ruin. In the long ran, the ones remaining in Judah would have by far the worst fate. The one and one half year siege they endured was one of the worst in history, the inhabitants even being reduced to cannibalism.

The good figs. the bad figs .....

(Jeremiah 24:2-3) It seems that so simple a vision should not need much comment; but commentators always find something to write about. We are told that the good figs came from the early crop of a variety that produced two or three crops a year, the first one being far superior to the other two. The bad figs were described as rotten by Harrison, and probably the sycamore fig by Smith. That variety needed to be pricked during the ripening process; and the failure to provide that treatment made the figs inedible!

This little parable is very much like that of the basket of summer fruit in Amos 8:1-3.

The Vision of the Fig Baskets Jeremiah 24:1-10

The terminology “the Lord showed me” or “caused me to see” introduces a prophetic vision. Chapter 24 contains such a vision. There are two types of prophetic visions in the Old Testament, the subjective and the objective. In the subjective vision only the prophet sees the object in question. In the objective vision the object is visible to the physical eyesight. The revelation consists of the significance of the object, not what the prophet sees but what the prophet sees in an object. It is sometimes difficult to ascertain whether a vision is subjective or objective. In the opinion of the present writer the vision of the two fig baskets falls into the category of objective vision. Chapter 24 describes the experience of the prophet in having his attention drawn to the two baskets (Jeremiah 24:1-3). Then the Lord explains to Jeremiah the meaning of the basket of good figs (Jeremiah 24:4-7) and the basket of bad figs (Jeremiah 24:8-10).

1. The experience of the prophet (Jeremiah 24:1-3)

Jeremiah 24:1-3 describe the time, place and contents of the prophetic vision. The vision is dated after the deportation of 597 B.C. In this deportation Jeconiah, better known as Jehoiachin (cf. Jeremiah 22:24), was taken captive along with all the artisans of the land. Jeremiah seems to have been outside the Temple at the time of the vision. God directed his attention to two baskets of figs which had been left for some unexplained reason near the entrance of the Temple (Jeremiah 24:1). Jeremiah noticed that the first basket contained good figs which were a delight to the eye. Small figs which appear along with the first leaves of spring after ripening are called “first-ripe figs.” The first-ripe figs are considered a delicacy (cf. Hosea 9:10; Micah 7:1). The prophet noticed that the other basket contained bad figs, so bad that they could not possibly be eaten. Jeremiah does not say why the figs were bad. Most commentators speculate that they were spoiled and hence worthless, fit only to be thrown away. Another suggestion is that the second basket contained figs which had been allowed to remain too long on the tree. Such fully mature figs taken from the tree late in the season are untasty. As is frequent in prophetic visions the Lord asked Jeremiah to relate what he had observed and the prophet quickly does so, anticipating the interpretation of these symbols which follows (Jeremiah 24:3).

Verses 4-7

Jer 24:4-7

Jeremiah 24:4-7

THE PARABLE EXPLAINED

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

The captivity in Babylon, in some ways, was like the long sojourn of the children of Jacob in Egypt which also ended in the captivity of the nation. In the days of Judah, the son of Jacob, there was grave danger of the Israelites becoming amalgamated with the citizens of Canaan; but God transferred them to Egypt where the whole nation was despised and where any amalgamation with Egypt was virtually impossible. Their sojourn in Egypt kept them segregated and enabled them to develop into a powerful people. So here, the captivity in Babylon would finally eradicate idolatry from the preference of the Hebrew people. This and many other things were meant by the Lord’s word that he was sending Israel into Babylon "for good."

"Green spoke of the exiles thus: They were the hope of true religion in the future; they had endured the shock of deportation; they had been stripped of their false securities; they were undergoing the discipline of Divine love. Some of them would respond to their suffering in a right spirit and return to God with their whole heart."

It is sad indeed that the subsequent history of the returnees did not exhibit such desirable results in all of the people. Ash’s comment on this is accurate.

"Post-exilic sources from Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi show that the real situation was something less than the expectation mentioned here."

Despite this truth, however, there were indeed those who waited for the kingdom of God; and, in the fullness of time, Mary would wrap her babe in swaddling clothes; and the Redeemer of Mankind would be cradled in a manger in Bethlehem! From people like Mary and Joseph, and Zacharias and Elizabeth, and Simeon, and Anna, and Nathaniel, and Zacchaeus, the holy Apostles, and that handful of 120 people in the upper room on Pentecost, from people like that and a few others, the New Israel of God was formed; and the kingdom of heaven on earth was launched when the Word of the Lord went forth from Jerusalem on Pentecost! Without the hard discipline of the Baylonian captivity, not even this humble beginning could ever have been achieved.

2. The meaning of the good figs (Jeremiah 24:4-7)

The good figs represent those who had been taken captive in 597 B.C. God is smiling upon those who have been carried away to Babylon. One might think just the opposite, that those who were allowed to remain in the homeland were God’s favorites while those who were taken away were in His disfavor. But God saw in those captives who were in Babylon the nucleus of the New Israel. Perhaps the trip to far off Babylon had brought a change in the attitude of those Jews (cf. Jeremiah 24:7). While those who remained behind were still belligerent and rebellious the exiles were beginning to show signs of repentance. At any rate God regarded with more favor those who had been deported than those who had been left behind. Though far from home and loved ones, from the Holy Land and the Temple, yet they were not beyond the tender and loving watchcare of their God, As long as they were in captivity God’s eye would be upon them. In His own good time He will bring them back to Canaan and will bless their efforts to rebuild their land (Jeremiah 24:6). This restoration will be possible because they shall get acquainted with God all over again. When they return to God with all their heart they shall be reinstated as the people of God and the Lord will give them a heart and mind to truly know Him (Jeremiah 24:7). Repentance precedes restoration. Only those who come to the Lord through faith, repentance and obedience are part of the people of God. The idea that the nation Israel, the biological descendants of Abraham, are still the people of God is an idea foreign to the prophets of the old Testament and the teachings of the New Testament as well. Salvation is by grace, not race. The fulfillment of the promises of restoration made here concerning the captives is recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Verses 8-10

Jer 24:8-10

Jeremiah 24:8-10

REGARDING THE BAD FIGS

And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus saith Jehovah, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt, I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

The bad figs...

(Jeremiah 24:8) These are identified here as Zedekiah the king of Judah and his princes, along with all of the rest of the people who remained behind in Judah after the deportation of the first wave of captives. Note also that even the Jews who had fled to Egypt or other nations are also included among the bad figs. Only the people who suffered the discipline of the captivity would be used by God in his future plans for Israel, and not all of them, but only those who with a whole heart would repent and turn to the true God.

"Green’s word on the bad figs: They were the self-righteous remainder of the people in Jerusalem and Judah who had a spirit of arrogant superiority, scorn for their less fortunate countrymen in captivity, and a superstitious reliance on such sanctified shams as the inviolability of Jerusalem and the Temple, and a trust in the efficacy of empty, formalistic worship."

These verses, of course, prophecy another invasion and destruction of Jerusalem, which indeed came to pass about a decade after the first invasion. There would be other captives to join their countrymen in Babylon; and the Jews would be totally rooted out of the land that God had given to them and to their fathers.

Among all the kingdoms of the earth...

(Jeremiah 24:9) This is a reiteration of the Mosaic curse of Deuteronomy 28:25; Deuteronomy 28:37, the fulfillment of which is witnessed by a Jewish settlement in practically every city on the face of the earth.

There is, of course, far more in this prophecy than the transport of Jews to Babylon. "The prophecy of Jeremiah 24:10 was partly fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, but more so in the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans under Vespasian and Titus in A.D. 70." It was upon that occasion that the status of racial Israel, already long reduced, was at last terminated, as regards any racial consideration whatever having any bearing whatever upon who is saved or not saved.

3. The meaning of the bad figs (Jeremiah 24:8-10)

The basket of bad figs is symbolic of those who had not been taken into captivity in 597 B.C., those to whom Jeremiah was to proclaim the word of God for yet a decade. God would “make” Zedekiah the king, his princes, and those who remained in Jerusalem like the basket of bad figs. This probably means that in His permissive will God would allow these hardened sinners to continue in their course of obstinacy and rebellion until they finally were fit for nothing but destruction. The phrase “who dwell in the land of Egypt” (Jeremiah 24:8) refers to those who were taken captive by Pharaoh Necho in 609 B.C. when king Jehoahaz was deported and sent to Egypt in chains. It may well be that other Jews fled to Egypt during the Babylonian invasions of 605 B.C. and 597 B.C.

The future of those rotten figs, those who remained in Judah, was far from bright. God will give them over to all kingdoms of the earth i.e., they will be scattered far and near. But wherever they flee they will be in constant fear of being delivered into the hands of their enemies. These fugitives would be ridiculed and mistreated by foreigners. They would be so low and despicable that wherever they go men will refer to these Jews in their reproaches, proverbs, by-words and curses. Whenever one might wish to pronounce a curse against another he would say, “May you become like the accused Jews” (Jeremiah 24:9). Those who were not able to flee the doomed land would die by the sword of the enemy and by the famine and plague which were the direct results of enemy invasion. Thus by one means or another the nation Judah would be utterly consumed from upon the land which God had given to their fathers (Jeremiah 24:10).

Two Baskets of Figs - Jeremiah 24:1-10

Open It

1. When has some ostensibly "bad" news turned out to be good news in disguise?

2. Why do you think many people find it difficult to make a sincere apology?

Explore It

3. Which of the inhabitants of Judah were taken into exile in Babylon? (Jeremiah 24:1)

4. What historic event coincided with Jeremiah’s word from the Lord? (Jeremiah 24:1)

5.What was the vision with which the Lord instructed Jeremiah? (Jeremiah 24:2)

6. How great was the contrast between the two batches of figs? (Jeremiah 24:3)

7. How did God look upon the people who went into captivity in Babylon? (Jeremiah 24:5)

8. What was God’s intention with regard to the exiles from Judah? (Jeremiah 24:6)

9. What gift did God promise to the exiles? (Jeremiah 24:7)

10. How were Zedekiah and the survivors like poor figs? (Jeremiah 24:8-10)

11. How would the rest of the world come to view Zedekiah? (Jeremiah 24:9)

12. What did God intend to send against Judah? (Jeremiah 24:10)

13. How long would God’s opposition to the exiles from Judah last? (Jeremiah 24:10)

Get It

14. How is this passage a demonstration of both God’s mercy and His righteous judgment?

15. How is God Himself involved in producing a people fit to worship and serve Him?

16. What was the key inward difference between the exiles and the people who fled to Egypt or remained in the land?

17. How does a person develop a heart to know God?

18. When has God’s discipline in your life brought renewal to your spiritual condition?

Apply It

19. How can you prepare yourself to see God’s goodness in your next trying circumstance?

20. How can you thank God for allowing you to know Him?

Questions On Jeremiah Chapter Twenty-Four

By Brent Kercheville

1 Jeremiah 24:1 sets the date at 597 BC. What happened in this invasion?

2 What prophet was carried away into captivity during this attack?

3 What is the message concerning the good figs (Jer 24:4-7)?

4 Please note: who are the good figs in the vision?

5 What is the message concerning the bad figs (Jer 24:8-10)?

6 Please note: who are the bad figs in the vision?

4 What is the surprising message about who is God’s remnant from this vision?

TRANSFORMATION:

How does this relationship change your relationship with God?

What did you learn about him?

What will you do differently in your life?