Reading Jeremiah 24 Rightly

Jeremiah 24

After Nebuchadnezzar had taken Israel captive, Jeremiah had a vision of two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of YHWH. One basket was full of delightful, choice figs and the other full of rotten, inedible figs.

Jer 24:4-10 (HCSB) The word of the LORD came to me: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will keep My eyes on them for their good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am Yahweh. They will be My people, and I will be their God because they will return to Me with all their heart.

“But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, this is what the LORD says: in this way I will deal with king Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem — those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. I will make them an object of horror and disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace, an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing, wherever I have banished them. I will send the sword, famine, and plague against them until they have perished from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.”

If we read this chapter with eyes of flesh, we will be thinking, “YHWH has not done this with Israel yet; this promise to them still stands and will be fulfilled. This must the great millennium where everything is re-set for this favored nation and Messiah will reign with David for a thousand years! Those who hate Israel will be vanquished.”

If we read this chapter with eyes of faith, we will be thinking, “The great God and Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will gather His people from exile in this hostile world and bring us to the better country Abraham looked for – one that was built by YHWH. He will establish us and give us new hearts so we can love Him and be faithful to Him. And He will be our God and Father. Those who do not repent, who are wicked and lawless, will be the object of His wrath and they will find no peace with God.”

All the promises if God find their “YES!” in Christ Jesus. If you are His, these promises are yours. He has established His people on a covenant built on BETTER promises, providing a BETTER, more secure future that will never see death nor suffer the wrath of God. 

A Preview of the New Covenant

From this morning's reading. Jeremiah speaks of the New Covenant well before we get to chapter 31, as he reveals to the northern and southern kingdoms what will take place when He gives His people shepherds who will care for them, shepherds will skill and wisdom.

And the ark which contained the tablets of stone, which was still missing in Jeremiah's day, will not be thought of. For just as Paul wrote about the glory of the New over the Old (2 Cor 3:7-11), so was Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 3:14-17 Return, you faithless children” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “for I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds who are loyal to Me, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill. When you multiply and increase in the land, in those days” — the Lord’s declaration — “no one will say any longer, ‘The ark of the Lord’s covenant.’ It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. It will never again be made. At that time Jerusalem will be called, Yahweh’s Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh in Jerusalem. They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

Here's how Paul commented: 2 Corinthians 3:7-11 Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory from his face — a fading glory — how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.

If we have been raised up in new life in Christ, let us not return to to beggarly elements. Again, from Paul:

Galatians 4:9-11 But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? You observe special days, months, seasons, and years.

Look unto Christ! For He is our help in every trial and He is our strength and wisdom and grace.