Jeremiah 24:1-10 | After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. Then the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.” Then the word of the LORD came to me: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their 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 uproot them. I 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. “ ‘But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt. I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them. I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.’ ”
I know a couple who share freely about a devastating time in their marriage. But the focus of their story isn’t the hurt or the wounds they inflicted. Instead, they talk about how God used that experience to reveal deep-seated issues that needed to be addressed and dealt with. As a result, they emerged from the painful pruning closer to each other and to Him. Amazingly, they’re grateful for it and the good that has come from it.
Speaking of good and bad things, God once asked, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” The prophet replied, “Figs, some very good and some very bad, too rotten to eat” (Jeremiah 24:3). The people of Judah who remained after Babylon’s first Judean raid were the bad figs. Rather than choosing to heed God’s warnings, they turned to Egypt for help. But all of pharaoh’s horses and all of his men couldn’t save Judah from utter destruction. Instead, Egypt too was judged. By the time Babylon was through, Egypt would never again be a major world power.
What about the exiles? At first, they “sat and wept” by the rivers of Babylon (Psalm 137:1). But then a new perspective emerged. Jeremiah proclaimed that they were the good figs, who God “sent out of [Judah] for their own good” (Jeremiah 24:5 NKJV). God promised them a future and hope—including the restoration of their homeland.
Sometimes life’s challenges and difficult days are actually blessings in disguise. As we go through hard seasons, God can use them to mold and grow us. He told the exiles that He would “build them up and not tear them down” (v.6). It wasn’t a time to weep, but one to rejoice. God took something meant for evil and turned it around for good. He does the same for you and me today! —Remi Oyedele
MORE: Read Genesis 50:19-20 to see Joseph’s perspective on his brothers’ brutal betrayal.
NEXT: Are you currently in a situation you desperately want to escape? How might it be used to glorify God and eventually bring about joy?