# Jeremiah 24 📖: Two Baskets of Figs [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Jeremiah Overview]] | [[Jeremiah 23]] | [[Jeremiah 25]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Good Figs and Bad Figs [[#Verse 01.]] The Lord showed me two baskets of figs sitting before his temple. This happened after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deported Jehoiakim’s son, King Jeconiah of Judah. He deported him and the leaders of Judah from Jerusalem, along with the craftsmen and metal workers, and took them to Babylon.  [[#Verse 02.]] One basket had very good-looking figs in it. They looked like those that had ripened early. The other basket had very bad-looking figs in it, so bad they could not be eaten.  [[#Verse 03.]] The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” [[#Verse 04.]] The Lord’s message came to me,  [[#Verse 05.]] “I, the Lord, the God of Israel, say: ‘The exiles of Judah whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon are like those good figs. I consider them to be good.  [[#Verse 06.]] I will look after their welfare and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land and will not uproot them. [[#Verse 07.]] I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I am the Lord. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly return to me.’ [[#Verse 08.]] “I, the Lord, also solemnly assert: ‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who remain in Jerusalem or who have gone to live in Egypt are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.  [[#Verse 09.]] I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them.  [[#Verse 10.]] I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. This vision came after Nebuchadnezzar took King Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) to Babylon in 597 BC (24:1). 2. The craftsmen and metalworkers were taken too (24:1), leaving Judah weakened. 3. The prophet Ezekiel was among those taken in this deportation (Ezekiel 1:1-3). 4. The baskets of figs were set before the temple (24:1), perhaps as firstfruit offerings. 5. Early figs (24:2) ripened in early summer and were considered a delicacy (Isaiah 28:4; Hosea 9:10). 6. The bad figs represent King Zedekiah, his officials, those left in Jerusalem, and those living in Egypt (24:8). 7. Many in Jerusalem assumed the exiles were the cursed ones. God says the opposite. 8. "Build, not tear down... plant, not uproot" (24:6) echoes Jeremiah's call (1:10). 9. "They will be My people, and I will be their God" (24:7) is the heart of the covenant formula. 10. Jesus cursed a fig tree with no fruit as a picture of judgment on fruitless religion (Mark 11:13-14, 20-21). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who gives a heart to know God (24:7). Through the new covenant in Jesus, God writes His laws on our hearts and we become His people (Hebrews 8:10). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. God called the exiles "good figs" (24:5). Why might God's people in exile be the ones He was blessing? 2. God promised to give them a heart to know Him (24:7). Why is a new heart a gift and not just an achievement? 3. Those who stayed in Jerusalem assumed they were the favored ones. How can outward circumstances mislead us about God's favor? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 5: God regards the exiles sent to Babylon as good figs. - 📖 verse 6: God will watch over them for good, build them up, and plant them. - 📖 verse 7: I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they will return with their whole heart. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Hebrews 08#Verse 10.|Hebrews 8:10]] - God writes His laws on our hearts. - 🔗 [[Ezekiel 11#Verse 19.|Ezekiel 11:19-20]] - One heart and a new spirit. - 🔗 [[Jeremiah 29#Verse 10.|Jeremiah 29:10-11]] - God's plans for the exiles. - 🔗 [[Mark 11#Verse 12.|Mark 11:12-14]] - Jesus and the fruitless fig tree. - 🔗 [[John 15#Verse 01.|John 15:1-2]] - Fruitful branches. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Jeremiah 24 - SOAP|God Never Gives Up On Us]] ## 📂 Internal Notes