Good Figs
Sometimes God gives us examples to follow.
The LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. This was after King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the artisans, and the smiths, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. And 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 upon 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 pluck them up. 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. - Jeremiah24:1-7
Jeremiah is shown two baskets of figs which had been placed before the temple, one filled with good figs and one filled with bad.
I can see why someone would offer the first fruits to God at the temple, but why would anyone offer up bad figs to God?
As it turns out, that is the point. The figs represent God's people, those who have been faithful and those who have led them astray.
The Lord tells Jeremiah He will reward the good and punish the bad. But the good are the ones who were sent into captivity and the bad are the ones who stayed.
The ones who left remained faithful, while the ones who stayed adopted other ways, combining their faith with the ways of others, creating a hybrid, something different, not what God desires.
I guess the lesson for us is to take a close look at how we follow our faith. Are we true to God or do we let other gods seep in?
Have we made idols of the good things in this life, and filled our baskets with bad figs?
The thing is, if we are surrounded by bad figs, we might actually think we look pretty good.
Maybe we should check out the good figs.
More to come,,,