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Atomic Bible
Jeremiah

Chapter 24

The Good and Bad Figs

Jeremiah 24 presents a symbolic vision of two baskets of figs set before the temple after Jeconiah and other leaders have been taken to Babylon. In the LORD's interpretation, the good figs represent the exiles whom He will watch over, restore, and renew in heart, while the bad figs represent Zedekiah and the remnant left behind or fled to Egypt, who will become a horror under sword, famine, and plague.

This chapter reverses ordinary assumptions about exile and safety. Those who seem lost in Babylon are actually the objects of God's redemptive purpose, while those who appear to have remained secure in the land are marked for judgment because they persist in rebellion.

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Jeremiah 24

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vv. 1-10

The Good and Bad Figs

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A1fter Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. 2One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten. 3“Jeremiah,” the LORD asked, “what do you see?”

4Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.

8But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem— those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. 9I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them. 10And I will send against them sword and famine and plague, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’”

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  1. 01vv. 1-10The Good and Bad FigsAfter the first major deportation to Babylon, the LORD shows Jeremiah two baskets of figs standing before His temple: one full of very good early figs and the other filled with rotten fruit that cannot be eaten. The vision becomes an interpretation of Judah's future, dividing the people into those whom the LORD will restore through exile and those whom He will expose to ruin despite their remaining in or near the land.
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