Jeremiah (1-31) 24:1 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Jeremiah (1-31) 24:1

Comments

In this chapter we see something of the mechanics of a change in fortunes and a restoration and renewal among the people of God. Jeremiah sees a vision consisting of two baskets of figs. One basket has figs such as are picked at the beginning of the harvest and taken ripe off the tree at the ideal time, sweet and soft. The other basket has ‘very naughty figs’, bad figs which nobody would want to eat. They are the same fruit, but one is optimally ripe, and the other is inedible: either overripe or perhaps not ripe enough. If they were overripe then what had been a delicacy to eat became something repulsive. What was best and most attractive to eat easily became something unpleasant when left too long. The picture is of something valued for its delicacy, something that is put in the mouth and either tastes good or is disgusting. The mouth is such an organ of the body that men do not place anything in it that is unfit to eat. They smell it first to see whether it is healthy and fresh. The illustration is of different individuals among the Jews. It is used to setup a comparison between those who find favour with God and are blessed by him, and others who are rejected by him. The comparison is not between people who are naturally good and others who are naturally bad. In the sight of God all are fallen and sinful and come short of his glory. It is his grace alone that makes it possible for him to take some near to himself and make them his children, otherwise all would be rejected. It is a comparison between those who obey God in going willingly into exile in Babylon, and those who refuse to accept this judgment and try to remain in the land. One sector of the population is going to have to face the discipline of being removed from their beloved land and taken into exile. This will not be easy to bear, but God promises to be with them there. But another sector, those who try to remain in the land, is going to be totally cast off. God is going to reject people. There is a whole company of people who are fruitless to the Lord, and he is not going to revive them; he is going to bypass them and raise up a new generation. This prophecy of Jeremiah was given ‘after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah’ in fulfilment of Jeremiah 22:24.

Application

So it was in the great reawakening of the 19th century, that many evangelicals were passed by, and many others were renewed. There were many Baptist churches, and many Independent churches, and interestingly enough, Methodists too who were largely passed by. A hundred years and more before, it had been the early Methodist preachers who were the instruments of revival. By 1859, they were passed by. Good figs, bad figs. Here is the principle: ‘You see the people who are going to be carried away into captivity?’, says God to Jeremiah; ‘I will bring out of them a remnant and bring them back. But the bad figs, I'm just going to let go. I'm not going to revive them.’ When we look at evangelicalism today, and we pray for revival, and we are concerned to see a resuscitation of things and restoration and renewal in our time, let's make no mistake: it won't be after the principle of God's way of working to restore everything. It will be after the principle of God's working, that there will be a new generation or a remnant used, if there is to be restoration and renewal to bring in a fresh tide of blessing. But even though they may be born again and their redemption will not be lost, and they may go to be with Christ forever, it may well be that a whole generation of lethargic, unappreciative Christians, who have been party to the great decline, are not used in the restoration and in the renewal. If they prefer compromise to standing for the Lord; if they prefer accommodation to all the things the Lord hates, the Lord will pass them by. So here is the question: if there is to be restoration and renewal in our time, will we be among those who are passed by? Or will we be privileged to be among the new generation that the Lord raises up for a great tide of blessing? Which will it be? Because here is the principle by which God works: he doesn't restore the whole lump. He takes out a remnant, a faithful remnant, and in the course of time he blesses it and he bypasses the others. Even though they may be born again, they may lose participation in great instrumentality and in restoration and in renewal.

It is so kind of the Lord that in this great Book of the prophet Jeremiah, where there are so many prophecies given at different times about the impending judgement, some starting over a decade before it took place, going right up to the eleventh hour. Interspersed with them are these promises of a glorious future: the return from captivity, and then the coming of Christ. What an encouraging way to construct a book, so that the enlightened and the godly kept coming across the promises, the prophecies.

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Jeremiah (1-31) 24:1 Commentary and Bible Study