Jeremiah 24

After the first deportation to Babylon, Jeremiah sees two baskets of figs, one very good and one rotten. God says the exiles in Babylon are the good figs, whom He will protect and bring home. Zedekiah and those who stayed in Jerusalem or fled to Egypt are the bad figs, headed for judgment.

Jeremiah 24:1

This vision comes after Nebuchadnezzar deported King Jeconiah, the leaders, and the skilled workers around 597 BC. Jerusalem’s best-known people were gone, and those left behind may have thought they were the favored ones. Then God shows Jeremiah two baskets set before the temple.

BSA: craftsmen (“skilled artisans, workers”): Babylon took the people who could build and make things, which left Jerusalem weakened.

See also: 2 Kings 24:10-16.

Jeremiah 24:2

The two baskets are a plain contrast. One holds figs as sweet as the first ripe ones of the season, which people prize. The other holds figs so spoiled that no one could eat them. The picture sets up a sharp division between two groups of people.

BSA: ripen (“are first-ripe”): Early figs were a delicacy, so the good basket stands for something precious to God. bad (“evil, greatly corrupted”): The rotten figs picture moral ruin as well as spoiled fruit.

See also: Hosea 9:10.

Jeremiah 24:3

God asks Jeremiah what he sees, and the prophet answers simply. He describes only what is in front of him: very good figs and very bad ones. God often draws a person into a vision with a question before He explains it.

See also: Amos 8:1-2.

Jeremiah 24:4

Then God speaks and explains what the baskets mean. A picture alone can be misread, so the word of the LORD gives its true meaning. God does not leave His people guessing about what He is doing.

BSA: word (“message from God, divine communication”): What follows is a message from God Himself, not Jeremiah’s opinion.

Jeremiah 24:5

God calls the exiles the good figs. This is surprising, because exile looked like punishment and loss. God says He Himself sent them away, and that He regards them with favor. Being cast out was not the same as being cast off.

BSA: exiles (“captives, those carried away”): The people who seemed to have lost everything were the ones God favored. good (“for their welfare, with favor”): God’s view of them is kind, even while they suffer.

Hebrew: טוֹב (ṭov, H2896) — “good.” This is the same word used for the good figs and for God’s good purpose toward them. The quality of the fruit and God’s kindness to the exiles share one word.

Jeremiah 24:6

God promises three things: watchful care, return to the land, and a new start. His words echo Jeremiah’s own calling to uproot and tear down, then build and plant. For the exiles, God’s final word is to rebuild and plant.

BSA: eyes (“upon them with care”): God’s gaze here is the watchful care of a shepherd, not the stare of a judge. plant (“establish, settle”): God means to settle them securely, as a gardener sets a tree for good.

See also: Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 29:10-11.

Jeremiah 24:7

The greatest gift is inward. God will give them a heart that knows Him. Their return to the land follows from a return to Him with their whole heart. The old covenant promise, that they will be His people and He their God, is restored.

BSA: heart (“feelings, will, and intellect”): In Scripture the heart is the whole inner person, so God’s gift reaches thought, desire, and choice together. return (“to turn back, to repent”): Coming back to God is a turning of the whole life, not only a change of place.

Hebrew: לֵב (lev, H3820) — “heart.” In Hebrew thought the heart is the center of mind and will, not just the feelings. God promises to renew the control center of the person.

See also: Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26-28.

Jeremiah 24:8

Now the rotten figs are named. They are King Zedekiah, his officials, those left in Jerusalem, and those who fled to Egypt. They thought they had been spared. But refusing to listen to God left them with no real safety.

BSA: remnant (“what is left, the surviving ones”): Being left behind was not a sign of favor here, but a setup for further judgment.

See also: Jeremiah 42:15-17.

Jeremiah 24:9

God describes what will happen to them in many words, each heaping on the last. Wherever they are scattered, they will be a horror, a shame, and a curse that other nations point to. Rejecting God leaves people exposed to every kind of ruin.

BSA: disgrace (“a byword, a curse”): Their fate would become a saying, so that people would use their name as an example of ruin. banished (“driven away, expelled”): They are driven out, not simply moved, which contrasts with the exiles God sent for their good.

See also: Deuteronomy 28:37.

Jeremiah 24:10

The chapter closes with the three old agents of judgment: sword, famine, and plague. The judgment continues until they are gone from the land God gave their fathers. It is a sober reminder that the gift of the land was held on God’s terms, and that faithfulness mattered.

BSA: gave (“bestowed, entrusted”): The land was a trust from God, not a possession they could keep regardless of how they lived.

See also: Leviticus 26:25-26; Deuteronomy 28:21.