24:1In 597 B.C. Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon, and Zedekiah became king. Often royai officials were exiled to keep them from exerting power and starting a rebellion. Skilled craftsmen and artisans were taken because they were valuable for Babylon's buildihg program. Jeremiah foretold this event in 22:24-28.
Life Application Study BibleJeremiahChapter 24
Jeremiah 24
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original page: 1244
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24Jeremiah 24
Good and Bad Figs
12 After King Nebuchadnezzar* of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin* son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the officials of Judah and all the craftsmen and artisans, the LORD gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the LORD’s Temple in Jerusalem. 2One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with bad figs that were too rotten to eat. 3Then the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I replied, “Figs, some very good and some very bad, too rotten to eat.” 4Then the LORD gave me this message: 6“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians.* §I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. 71 will give them hearts that recognize meas the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly. 8“But the bad figs,” the LORD said, “represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like bad figs, too rotten to eat. 9I will make them an object of horror and a symbol of evil to every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed, wherever I scatter them. 10And I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and their ancestors.”
Textual footnotes
- 24:1b Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin.
- 24:5 Or Chaldeans.
Life Application Notes 3 notes
24:2-10The fresh, ripe figs represented the exiles to Babylon, not because they themselves were good, but because their hearts would respond to God. He would preserve them and bring them back to the land. The bad, rotten figs represented those who remained in Judah or ran away to Egypt. Those people may have arrogantly believed they would be blessed if they remained in the land or escaped to Egypt, but the opposite was true because God would use the captivity to refine the exiles. We may assume we are blessed when life goes well and cursed when it does not. But trouble is a blessing when it makes us stronger, and prosperity is a curse if it entices us away from God. If you are facing trouble, ask God to help you grow stronger for him. If things are going your way, ask God to heip you use your prosperity for him.
24:6The exiles in Babylon were cared for by the LORD. Although they were moved to a foreign land, their captivity was not enslavement. The people could function in business and own homes. Some, like Daniel, even held high positions in the government {see Daniel 2:48).