Two Baskets of Figs

Jeremiah 24:1-10 

1 The LORD showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD, after Nebuchadnezzar 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. 2 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. 3 Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"

And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad."

4 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, 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; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 7 Then I will give them a heart to know Me, 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 'And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad'—surely thus says the LORD—'so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.'"

The picture of two baskets of figs was shown to the prophet Jeremiah by the LORD as an explanation of good and bad to be dealt with.  They were significantly set before the temple where God was to be worshiped after the king and his entourage, along with skilled workers, were taken captive to bondage in Babylon as foretold because of their continuing sin of rejecting the word of the LORD.  The two baskets set before there were completely opposite to each other; one was very good, ripe and good for eating, while the other was completely rotten to the core.  One was eatable and the other repulsive.  The good ones were those accepting their correction for sin by willingly being taken captive to Babylon while the rotten ones refused still to listen to the corrective discipline of the LORD in humility and submission.  Yes, the good were made to leave while the bad refused to leave the land or who had run to hide under the skirts of Egypt where they once were delivered from bondage through Moses.  The good figs were sent away by God for their good (Romans 8:28) with a promise to be returned in the fullness of time to Jerusalem to worship in spirit and truth.  They would be firmly planted once more as His people and not be uprooted again.  They would know He was their God as they turned back in repentance with all their hearts.  The rotten ones, however, would be handed over to their enemies for punishment and all sorts of trouble.  They would be talked about badly, taunted and cursed, and find only death and defeat until they all were taken out of the promised land.  This is an allegorical account of the final judgment as if a parable Jesus would tell His apostles and disciples.  There are those told of their accountability for sin (Romans 3:23, 6:23) who repent and are restored as good figs and there are those who continue to reject the gospel of forgiveness and grace by faith in the work God does to rescue and redeem His own.  The bad figs find only eternal punishment for refusing God’s work (John 6:29) to deliver them because of their unbelief and disobedience to the good news of God’s deliverance (Mark 16:15-16, Hebrews 3:18-19) like that of the inhabitants of Jerusalem who refused and rejected the message to face their accountability for judgment and endure the corrective discipline of Babylon needed here for salvation promised to follow.  May all who read the examples of God’s working in His word in this parable of two baskets of figs take heed and trust the grace offered instead of rejecting Jesus Christ as their Deliverer.