Jeremiah 24:1-10 "Good and Bad Figs"

[Music] let's turn together in God's Word to Jeremiah 24 Jeremiah 24 Jeremiah 24 is what we're studying together tight it's 10 verses Jeremiah 24 beginning in verse 1 where it says after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah together with the officials of Judah the craftsmen and the metal workers and had brought them to Babylon the Lord showed me this vision behold two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord one basket had very good figs the like first ripe figs but the other basket had very bad fing so bad that they could not be eaten then the Lord said to me what do you see Jeremiah I said figs the good figs very good and the bad figs very bad so bad that they cannot be eaten then the word of the Lord came to me thus says the Lord the God of Israel like these good figs so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans I will set my eyes on them for good and I will bring them back to this land I will build them up and not tear them down I will plant them and not avert them I will give them a heart to know 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 but thus says the Lord like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah his officials the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and those who dwell in the land of Egypt I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth to be a reproach a byword a taunt and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them and I will send sword famine and pestilence upon them until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them their fathers so far the reading from God's Word this evening may he add its blessing to our hearts it's amazing how people from the same families from the same home raised by the same parents can turn out so very differently another way of saying that is last name in common doesn't assure being identical and that right when we come from families we look at our siblings or we look at our children and we see that they all turn out somehow differently in some cases they may look very similar on the outside for example with identical twins win and and John I still can't really tell them apart right they they look very similar they have the same physical appearance and as is the case in my own family when I grew up all the my older brother and my father and I we seem to when we answer the telephone all sound the same so we were always cutting people off when they were about to tell us about their pastoral problems when we answered the phone so you can sound the same you can have the same mannerisms but the way we respond to and approach things often is very differently even when we are raised in the same families and it's that kind of dynamic that's being displayed in this chapter of Jeremiah's prophecy today it's seen in the vision of the figs among the people of God the people of God are being addressed here in Jeremiah the family of God it's the same family and among this family there are those who are truly his sons and those who upon further examination actually are just his enemies and based on that analysis what Jeremiah sets before us today is a very different treatment of these two different kinds of people within the family of God and what we see in this chapter is that God chastises and and disciplines his children for their good but his enemies are judged for their destruction for their condemnation and those are the two kinds of things that we see in this prophecy and so we're gonna look at those two kinds of things the good FIGS the bad fix we want to see those two kinds of things so that we can learn this lesson that God chastises and disciplines his children for their good but his enemies he judges for their condemnation so let's begin by thinking about the vision of the good figs or the the part of the vision that deals with the good figs anyways the context of this vision is immediately following the deportation that comes with Jeconiah or jeho akin as he's described in second Kings 24 Joachim is carried off into exile and so the the the broader context is that Josiah he's king he reigns he's the last good king of Judah and and he is carried off into or actually he's not carried off into exile he's slain in battle by Pharaoh Nico in 609 BC and after Josiah becomes king then we have Shalom as we refer to him in a previous prophecy or Jehovah has who is only King for three months and after three months he is replaced by the Pharaoh with Alaia Kim his brother who has renamed Jehovah Kim now Jehovah Kim reigns for eleven years and and he is a wicked King and eventually in 597 BC he is carried off by King Nebuchadnezzar in the first wave of exiles from the land of Judah and he is replaced by jeconiah jeconiah who is also called Jehovah king he reigns for three months after this initial deportment and then Nebuchadnezzar returns he collects jeconiah who surrenders to him and this is the context of that prophecy this prophecy comes right after jeconiah has surrendered himself to Nebuchadnezzar and he's taken off into exile this first deportment of the people of Judah now during the reign of all these kings that we've just mentioned and during the reign of many who preceded them there were many prophets who came and warned the people of Israel about their sin it's not like only at the reign of Josiah did the people of Israel become aware of their sin their sin were announced to them by the prophets of God for many years they had called Judah to repentance and yet what had happened is that Judah had ignored the calls of the prophets and Judah had continued in persisted in her sin now that's important to point out because what we're dealing with here in this chapter is not a warning of judgment to come Jeremiah is not saying watch out judgment is coming or consequences are coming from the Lord rather what Jeremiah is doing in this chapter of his prophecy is helping the people of Judah to understand the judgment and consequences that have already come so Jeremiah is not predictively prophesying not completely Enya's he is in part but he is also speaking of what has happened and how should the people of God understand what God is doing in this season of their lives it's an it's an explanation of something rather than prediction it's a chapter that explains to Judah how they are to interpret what has happened to them as part of them has gone into exile now Judah has gone into exile but not every person who goes into exile should be viewed with the same lenses according to this chapter and what God does in this vision is he he devised the people of Judah into two two groups and that's what's summarized in this vision two groups of the people of Judah there are the groups that are represented by the basket of good figs and there are the people of Judah who are represented by the basket of bad figs the figs that are so bad that they cannot be eaten these two baskets they're set before the temple and and God uses these baskets of figs as a as a picture to help the people of Judah understand exactly what is going on and so in verses 4 through 7 you see the meaning of the good figs which are given the good figs they are a defined for us they are the exiles from Judah who are already sent away from this place to the land of the chaldeans so this is the group of people who were deported with jeconiah are the people who are already in exile these are the people who are who are considered the basket of good figs and so it's exile to be sure there is a consequence that comes from God to the people of Judah exile comes to them it's a it's a predicted consequence that God gave to his people he said this would happen if they continued in unfaithfulness as they if they continue to break the law of God but this exile is different than the Exile as we will see later on is different than the exile for the basket of bad figs this is exile but this exile is for discipline now discipline has a different purpose for it than judgment does in our families we we discipline our children and we don't do that perfectly but for the main when we discipline our children we don't do it so that we would be cruel to them rather we discipline our children so that they would be trained in righteousness a parent a godly parent who sees sin in their children's lives should be influenced and instructed by God's Word to deal with that sin and the way they that you deal with that sin in the lives of your children is is to bring discipline into their lives with the hope that through that discipline God would work change and so biblical parenting it requires that appropriate discipline to train our children to to correct bad behavior sinful behavior and to instruct them in godliness to instruct them in in righteousness and we don't make that up on our own that's what God teaches us that's what God teaches us in his word that we as parents are to train our children to discipline them so that they would so they they would walk in godliness so a couple of verses that will help us to understand what God is doing that's that's the point here in proverbs 13 and verse 24 it says whoever spares the rod hates his son but who loves him is diligent to discipline him so here we see in that if we just hole with whole discipline from our children if we don't discipline them according to the Word of God it says in a matter of fact what we're doing is we're hating our children that we're not loving them by letting them do whatever they want that they want we're hating them when we let them do whatever they want so that's one thing to understand about the discipline that we bring us as as fathers and mothers but there's another person proverbs 22 in verse 15 where it says folly is bound up in the heart of a child but the rod of discipline drives it far from him so discipline not only does it show our love for our children but it drives folly far away from it folly is the opposite of wisdom folly is the opposite of that which is right and good it's it's foolishness well what God instructs to us as earthly parents and we do it imperfectly God does perfectly for his children God disciplines his children because he loves them and God disciplines his children because he seeks to drive folly from their hearts and so that's what God's doing here when he and when he is taking these people into exile these these ones who are being disciplined by him they're taken into exile because God loves them and because God would drive the folly from their heart so God is doing that in in with the purpose of calling his his people back he he loves them enough to send them away because of their sin to discipline them so that he would be able to bring them back and you see that in verses 4 through 7 as as God is describing what will happen to these these good figs he he doesn't send them away and then turn his back on them that's not what he does look in verse 6 it says that those who are in exile the good figs that they are being watched by God God's eyes are set on them for good for good God desires the good of his people who have been sent into exile and beyond that he also promises in verse 6 that he will bring them back to this land so he's watching over them he will bring them back to this land bring them back from exile and that's a promise that that we know that is fulfilled we know this promise is fulfilled in it it takes place during the first year of the reign of Cyrus the Persian King we can read about it in second chronicles 36 but during those seventy years of Exile that God had set apart for the people of Judah God's intention was clear he sent them into exile and you can see his intention in verse six look there again there in verse six as he sends them away from himself even though he's watching them even though he has promised to bring them back they don't know that he says I will build them up and not tear them down I will plant them and not uproot them so the words that are used to describe what God is doing here to this good basket of figs the people of Israel the people of Judah carried off into exile are actually positive words they're descriptions of God who is nurturing a crop that he wants to grow in a sense he he wants to build them up he wants to plant them he doesn't want to tear their roots out of the ground so that they die and shrivel up he he wants them to be healthy he wants positive things for his his children now the the opposites the negatives that are also described in those verses the the uprooting and the tearing them down it's common that when we're under discipline that we might misunderstood the discipline to be for that purpose we might think that the person who was disciplining us or if God is discipline disciplining us that that he actually wants our harm that he's trying to destroy us that he he's trying to dry us up that he's trying to uproot us but though that would be a misunderstanding of the goal of God's discipline and God here in this chapter makes sure that he clarifies that when these hardships came to Judah when they were carried off into exile it was an act of discipline it was an act of love it was an act that sought to drive the folly out of the hearts of his people and so God in intending they're building up and intending they're being strengthened he does that through this exile and then bringing them back and it says in our verses that when he brings them back that they will receive a new heart and in verse seven that they will know that he is the Lord that they will be his people and he will be their god and and they shall return to him with the whole heart this is the promises it's a promise that sounds very much like the promise of the New Covenant that God will give in Jeremiah 31 verse 31 through 33 this very this language very similar God's description to return to himself repentant people and that does take place for a season but what do you see almost immediately after the Israelites come back after the Exile well from the accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah we know that the returning exile say they struggle from hey guys prophecy we know that they fail to build the temple from Ezra Nehemiah we know that they intermarry with foreign wise they neglect the Sabbath they neglect to provide for the Levites so that the Levites don't even stay and fulfill their ministry in the temple they return to their fields to provide for their families beyond that from the first chapter of John's Gospel we know that that Christ came to his own and his own people didn't receive him so here we have a picture of a people that's returning with their whole heart and and yet in the fullest sense we see that there is a sizable element that actually doesn't return to consistency why does God say this then why does God go through this of saying that he will bring them back well beyond looking just to the people of Israel he is he is speaking of the radical change of those who will dwell in the land and and in fact anticipate the new covenant community of faith he's he's anticipating those who who will follow after him as it says in John's first chapter again but for those who did receive him who leaved on his name he gave the right to become children of God these are the ones who will cling to God with a whole heart and yet for the time being he's he's disciplining Judah as a son as it says in in Hebrews 12 and in verse 5 where it described for us what God does in his discipline my son do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor be weary when reproved by him for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives that's the work that God is doing in the lives of the good FIGS in verses 4 through 7 it's a work of discipline it's not the same thing as judgment it maybe looks the same thing as judgment but it's not the same thing as judgment it's the discipline of the Lord in the lives of his people in discipline there's something very different from a legal judgment in discipline there is no legal exchange discipline is actually the compassionate work of a father who is seeking to protect his children from something far worse he's trying to bring his children to godly right behavior and that's what God's doing to the exhales that's what God is doing to his children he's disciplining them so that they would be built up he's disciplining them so that they would be planted so that would they would be healthy so that they would be strong now it's interesting in this chapter and I hope you picked up on this but as you're reading through this chapter the the good figs are the ones who are actually experiencing the exile right now the bad figs are the ones who stayed in Jerusalem the bad fakes are the one who are still the ones are who are still free and so it's a it's a it's a different approach to see that even though they're in exile they are the ones who are favored by God because he is disciplining them as sons the good figs are the ones who are experiencing the hardships from God's and now what do we do when we experience got hardship from God's hand what is our our first response often our first response is to think that he's punishing us that is something negative it's not something to be seen as an expression of God's love for us but God's Word teaches us that the Lord disciplines his son for their building up so that he can plant them in the promised land now granted this is not the only cause of hardships that come our way there are other hardships that are come to our come to us for different reasons maybe to grow our dependence on the God make on God maybe to help us to see the futility of our lives there are many reasons that God could send hardships into our life but in this case in Jeremiah 24 God is calling his people back from their sin he is disciplining them as a father he's chastising his true sons within his family for their own good and he does that today among his people as well so that's what God's saying when it comes to the good face let's also consider what he's saying when it comes to the bad fix the second basket of figs of course is different from the first starting in verse 8 you see this second basket of figs examined and it says in verse 8 that they are so bad that they cannot be eaten and it doesn't say it explicitly in that text but it sounds to me like these are rotten Fay's these are figs that stink the juice is running out of the basket there's flies all around them it's rotten you don't want to go near them with a ten-foot pole they're not fit for consumption which is the very purpose of figs figs are here as far as I'm concerned to be eaten I know if you're a fig farmer you also use figs to get more seasoning you plant them but as far as I'm concerned the only purpose for figs is that they can be eaten and if if they cannot be eaten they're not good for anything and so the bad figs are opposite to the good ones and and yet they're in the same family aren't they they're both within the family of the people of Judah God is talking not to Judah and then to the nations around Judah God is talking to Judah in both cases this passage it has abundant clarity there is nothing external that shows who we are because God may treat us in the same way there's nothing outside of ourselves that shows we are better than another and so when you look at these bad figs it says in verse 8 that the bad figs are is that acai of the King his officials the remnants of Jerusalem who remained in the land and the the Jewish people who had fled to the land of Egypt probably in the onslaught of the armies of the Babylonians so the good figs are in exile and the rotten figs they remain in the land now we have to note of course that the remnant remains a remnant only for 11 years right in 586 BC that remnant also is carried away by Nebuchadnezzar after Zedekiah rebels they also are carried off to Babylon but their exile is different it's not different in the appearance of things both groups are carried off into exile but the purpose behind their exile is very different so notice both of them are carried away so look in verse verse 5 it says that the good exiled are sent away from this place and in verse 9 it says that that the Lord will drive them from from Judah to all sorts of other places so they're both sent away from the land of Judah but there's a vital missing part when God describes what he's doing in the in the lives of the bad figs there's no there's no hope for the bad figs the good figs will go into exile and then they will return but for the bad figs none of those terms are used the good things their return is described in tender turns but the the bad figs it says that they're going to be quite different it says in verse 9 that God will make them a horror to all the kingdoms a reproach a byword a taunt a curse there is no hope for the second basket of FIGS and so when God and through his prophet says that they will be a horror reproach a bi were to taunt a curse that describes how the nations will view them but there's something else that's used to some some more words that are used to describe them not only will the nations view their them a certain way but there are is also description in this prophecy of what God will do to them and it says in verse 10 that God will send sword famine and pestilence upon this basket of bad figs now sword famine pestilence is a common way that God uses to describe his judgment in scripture certainly in Jeremiah's prophecy this this phrase is used 17 times in Jeremiah's prophecy alone to signify the judgment of God and in this judgment of God this this the shorthand for the judgment of God you see a progression right you see the sword the famine and pestilence well the sword comes the sword comes from an invading army so an invading army is going to come to the people of Judah and what are they going to do they're going to retreat into the walls of their city and within the walls of their city as the enemy as the sword surrounds their city they're going to have famine so they're going to have sword and famine and as they remain in this city and as food becomes scarce ER and as cleanliness goes down the drain then there will come pestilence there will come disease so through sword and famine and pestilence God's saying my judgment will be carried out it might not be on day one but if you are in that second basket of figs my judgment will come to you and it is unavoidable it's a progression that God uses that says you might flee to the cities but it's pointless and you might stay in the cities but it's pointless because wherever you are there will not be any escape for Zedekiah his officials and the remnant they will face God's judgment in sword and famine and pestilence and that's how God speaks of what he will do to the godless you see it also in a place like revelation 6 revelation 6 verse 8 is that section that deals with the seven seals of course the six seals have have gone before or it's in the section of the seven seals and and this is the fourth seal but as God is dealing with these seals he's he's dealing with all sorts of judgments that he will pour out on the world as he as he judges them and so in verse 8 of chapter 6 you see after the fourth seal is open I there the Apostle John says I looked and behold a pale horse and his rider's name was death and Hades followed him and they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with a sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth it's a common expression of the judgment of God against his creation sword and famine and pestilence and so God judges the people of Judah because of their unrepentant it's not a discipline which would lead to up building it's a judgment which leads to destruction it's a different purpose the appearance of it will be the same the the land will be invaded and a portion of the people will be carried off but the first basket of FIGS will be returned after they've been built up and planted whereas the second basket of figs it says in verse 10 will be utterly destroyed and taken from the land that I gave to them and to their fathers so there's a difference between the first basket and the second basket there's no up building all the positive aspects that come from discipline are missing for the bad figs why does God bring sword and famine and pestilence to destroy them and that's not should not be surprising for us if we're familiar with Scripture because we know there are God's children and there are God's enemies and God's children will be spared out of grace and God's enemies will be condemned out of his justice so for example in Romans 1 verse 18 you see that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth God's wrath rests on his enemies those who refuse to bend their knee before him in Ephesians 5 and verse 6 it says this that no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience it comes on the rotten FIGS those who would not be his sons in truth but would be his enemies now the reality of a chapter like Jeremih 24 is to recognize that we're all deserving of that kind of judgment if left to ourselves we would all be the enemies of God we have to recognize that that all of these things that that Jeremiah describes in this chapter this grace of God and bringing some of the exiles back and this wrath of God against the sons of disobedience all of this it draws our attention to God himself it helps us to recognize who is the author of redemption so think about it with me who calls Abraham out of the land of ur of the chaldeans God does who leads Israel out of Egypt God does who gives to Israel a spacious land God does who leads them out of that land into exile God does who brings the first basket of figs back from exile into the promised land again God does who is the one who is the one who has identified as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world God is so God is central to all the parts of the redemption of his people his sons those sinful against them he works their Redemption by the power of his own hand right at the heart of all of man's resolve a ssin is God himself but this is not just a neat theoretical idea this is not something fun to talk about around the table to make ourselves feel better God takes action to remedy sinners God takes action so that we can be called his sons so that we could be those who receive discipline and not judgment you see the Father loves us enough that he would send his son into the world to bear our punishment and the son loves us enough that he would go and hang on the cross and endure the shame of the cross and receive the wrath of God so that we would not have to and the Holy Spirit loves his children enough that he would come and fill them and be their intercessor and be the one who would comfort them and encourage them to teach us what it means to act as sons to respond to the discipline of the Lord all of these things are are God's workings in us all of these things are the guarantee that we will be disciplined and and not judged in a sense where passengers aren't we in this journey of being reconciled from our sins were we're just passengers we don't bring anything to it he gives all of it to us so as God's people when we consider Jeremiah 24 we should notice that we should that we are exhorted that we should never despise the discipline of the Lord as we've seen in Hebrews 12 already the discipline of the Lord is a sign of his love for us and so we must welcome God's discipline God's discipline is a manifestation of his love for you and when you experience his discipline you're experiencing his love the reason for God's discipline is that you might share in his holiness to receive God's discipline is a privilege that's only available to his sons that means--it's that means it's only available through Christ we must be adopted in Christ in order to be disciplined and if we're not adopted in Christ it won't be disciplined but it will be judgment that we face if Christ is our is not our mediator we won't receive discipline but that judgment that should be dreaded so it takes a little bit of adjustment because the reality is in discipline we don't need to fear when children are disciplined by their parents which they should not fear it doesn't mean it's pleasant if it was pleasant then it wouldn't be disciplined God disciplines us and he does it in such a way that it's not pleasant but to draw our attention to the predicament that we're placing ourselves in when we discipline our children the goal is what this is how I think of it maybe you think of it in a different way maybe this makes me sound cruel but my approach to discipline is this I want my children to stop a certain behavior that I think is sinful and the way I try to convince them to do it is I make them pay more than they get out of it right that's what it is you're trying to help them to see this behavior is not worth it I have to give more than I'm getting out of it I the the the pleasure I might get for sin is not worth the consequence that I'm getting from the guy that pays my bills so it's not worth it for me I don't want to do that anymore well that's what God's doing in our lives as well he's he is helping us to show that the fleeting pleasure of sin is not worth it that living in the peace of God is much more beautiful I want my children when I when I'm finished disciplining them I want them to know that I love them and I want them to know that it's much better to live at peace under the roof of dad Gleeson than it is to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season discipline it says in in Hebrews 12 again the eleventh verse discipline is a painful thing the process isn't pleasant but the result of it are what the peaceable fruit of righteousness that's the goal of God's discipline that's what we're to pray for when it comes to our relationship with God there's a scary prayer isn't it to pray that God would discipline you why is that a scary prayer because we all need discipline that's why it's scary we all need discipline because we all sin it's a prayer that acknowledges that we don't want our sin but that we want the holiness of God that the holiness of God is more important to us than the sinful pleasures of the day and that's a fruit of the indwelling of Christ so how do you know what you're experiencing how do you know if you're experiencing judgment or discipline how do you know that God isn't just handing you over to destroy you how do you know that God is trying to build you up well you can know when you look into your own heart and if you see the presence of faith you know that you're a son of God a daughter of God if you believe in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ if you place your trust in him then whatever is happening in your life is not for judgment whatever is happening in your life is being done for your discipline well we see in our lives as believing people is a God who loves us and who's seeking to have us be refined and reformed it's an evidence of his work when hardships come our way and so we trust in Christ he is our only hope if you do not have faith you will not have discipline you will have judgment if you have faith you will be in the first basket fixed like we said this morning believe and you will be saved in the vision of the figs there's a picture of God's working the external results are the same exile for both baskets of figs but the reasons for them happening is is quite different the good figs receive the discipline of the Lord they received the discipline of the Lord for their upbuilding and they received the discipline of the Lord for their planting the bad fig his righteous judgment will fall on him God's righteous judgment will fall on the bad figs and so the bad fig is not built up and planted the bad fig is torn down and uprooted so when you are in Christ there will be times when the Lord disciplines you thankfully so because as a demonstration of his love for you and when he does you thank him you thank him for the discipline that he brings your way because he is treating you like a Sunny's treating you like a daughter it's a sure sign that you are spared from judgment it's a sure sign that you will dwell with Christ forever let's pray together

Channel: Cliffwood Presbyterian Church

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Keywords: Cliffwood Presbyterian Church, bible, sermon, reformed theology, family integrated worship, preaching, augusta, presbyterian, Theology (Field Of Study), Religion (TV Genre), Pastor, repentance, Old Testament (Religious Text), jeremiah, reformation, idolatry, God's covenant, the gospel

Id: mKnVjqQZBs0

Length: 38min 8sec (2288 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 17 2018