Preached January 29, 2012
from
Jeremiah 24
Theme: God delights in those who submit to His loving discipline.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
This morning, we turn our attention to the last Old Testament king to reign over the kingdom of Judah—King Zedekiah.
It’s hard for us to grasp what a sad condition the nation was in when he began his reign. Because of the rebelliousness of his kinsmen toward God, and because of the refusal of his predecessors to repent, God had sent the Babylonians against Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried off King Jehoiachin into captivity after he had reigned on the throne for only three months. And the Babylonians had stripped the temple of its gold and carried off its treasures. They had taken away all the brightest and best of Judah’s rulers and soldiers and artisans and advisors; and had left only the poorest of the people behind. Then Nebuchadnezzar placed Jehoiachin’s uncle on the throne and changed his name to Zedekiah.
To my mind, the story of Zedekiah’s reign is the saddest story of them all. He came to the throne at a time when God had just brought His hand of discipline down upon His disobedient people in the clearest way possible. Zedekiah had received a powerful warning from God, and had a golden opportunity to heed the warning and lead his people to repentance. He even had the benefit of having one God’s greatest prophets—Jeremiah—speak to him personally, and make several heart-felt appeals to him to repent. But the king hardened his heart and would not listen.
2 Chronicles 36:11-16 tells us about the character of his reign with these words:
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel. Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy (2 Chronicles 36:11-16).
On another Sunday, I’d like us to consider the lessons we can learn from the way Zedekiah vacillated and wavered at the hearing of the word of God. But this morning, I ask that we turn to Jeremiah 24—and to a vision that God gave to Jeremiah at the very beginning of Zedekiah’s reign. I believe it shows us how God felt about the way Zedekiah and his people failed to submit to God’s discipline through the Babylonians.
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The Book of Jeremiah is a remarkable one. It doesn’t always follow a chronological order. Instead, it almost seems more like a ‘scrap-book’ of various prophecies that God gave to him throughout his ministry. And on one of the pages of this ‘scrap-book’—in chapter 24—we find these words:
The Lord showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon (Jeremiah 24:1).
When I read these words, I can’t help thinking about the dire and dark times in which they were spoken. It hadn’t been but just a few months prior that King Jehoiakim had been carried away into captivity by the Babylonians. The people quickly placed Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin (called Jeconiah in this passage) on the throne in his place. But after only three months, the king of Babylon also came and took him away into captivity. All of Judah’s most capable leaders had been taken into captivity with him. The temple had been raided and stripped of its treasures. A couple of baskets of figs would hardly be the kind of thing anyone would expect to see as a vision from God in such a dark situation.
But it’s very significant that this vision was set in Jeremiah’s eyes “before the temple of the Lord”. The temple was the place that represented God’s covenant relationship with His chosen people. It was from the temple that God’s law was taught. It was at the temple that the sacrifice for atonement was made. It was in the temple that God identified His presence with His people. Everything that was unique about them as a people was represented in that temple in Jerusalem. Their blessedness or cursedness as a people depended on whether or not they remained faithful and obedient to the covenant with God that it represented. And it’s also very significant that what Jeremiah saw sitting before that temple were two baskets of figs.
I did a little looking; and was surprised at the important part figs play in the Bible. They’re found, in fact, at the very beginning of the story. When Adam and Eve sinned, and the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked, they sewed fig leaves together for coverings (Genesis 3:7). That tells us, among other things, that in that most beautiful and prosperous place in earth’s history—the Garden of Eden—there was an abundance of figs. Figs were associated with the rich blessedness of a place. When the people of Israel sent spies up into the land in the days of Moses—in order to show everyone the prosperity of the land—they brought back, among other things, figs (Numbers 13:23). When the land was at its most prosperous condition—under the rule of King Solomon—we’re told that “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree . . .” (1 Kings 4:25).
Figs not only represent the prosperity that God wished to bless His covenant people with in the land, but also the delight He wished to draw from their obedience to Him. Did you know that the Lord Jesus taught us two important lessons about His feelings toward Israel through the act of seeking figs on a fig tree? In Luke 13, He spoke this parable:
“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down'” (Luke 13:6-9).
What a picture of the frustration our Lord must have felt from His own people! He had ministered to them for three years—seeking fruit from them, but finding none. He even gave them more time; but He still did not see the fruit of faith in Him that He desired from them.
Finally, He came riding into the city of Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, only to die on a cross just a few days later. And do you remember how, at that time, He looked and—from afar—saw a fig tree having leaves? We’re told,
He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again” (Mark 11:13-14).
His disciples heard Him say this. Perhaps they had thought, “Well; of course there were no figs on it. It’s not the season for figs.” And yet, when they passed by the next morning, they saw—to their amazement—that “the fig tree dried up from the roots” (v. 20). When the Lord came to His people, He had a right to expect them to receive Him. But He did not find in them what He had a right to expect from them. He only found “leaves”—the appearance of something fruitful, but not the real substance. It was as if the fig leaves were a mere covering over an absence of relationship with Him—just as was true in the case of Adam in the garden. And it was only a few decades later that the Romans conquered the land of Israel, and scattered the Jewish people away from their homeland for two-thousand years.
So; I believe we’re meant to see something very significant in these two baskets of figs in front of the temple—and in two, very related ways. First, they are symbolic of the delight and pleasure that God earnestly desires to draw from His chosen people’s faithfulness and obedience to Him in the covenant He had entered into with them. And second, they are symbolic of the blessedness and prosperity He wants to pour out on His people in return.
Next; notice the details of what Jeremiah said that he saw:
One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe . . . (Jeremiah 24:2a).
Have you ever bitten into a ripe, plump, juicy fig? It’s almost like eating candy. I think it’s among the sweetest fruit on earth. (I suppose I like them when they’ve been processed into a Fig Newton too; but I’ll always think that the plain fruit is the best.) Now; Jeremiah was living in Jerusalem in very dire times. Good food was probably not abundant. Delicious figs were probably becoming a rare item. I can’t help but think that his mouth watered as he saw the vision of that basket of ‘very good figs’.
But by contrast, notice what else he saw:
. . . and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad (v. 2b).
Have you also ever had the experience of reaching into a basket or bowl for what you thought was a delicious piece of fruit—only to pull out something that was soft and withered and moldy and dripping and smelly and nauseating?—something so disgusting that, now that you have it in your hand, you don’t know what to do with it? What a disappointment it must have been to poor, hungry Jeremiah to see that whole basket of rotting figs! What a frustration!
Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad” (v. 3).
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I suspect that the Lord made Jeremiah look closely at the sight of these two, very different baskets of figs sitting in front of His temple—side by side; and allowed the image of them to sink deeply into his mind and heart. I believe that, through it, God was showing Jeremiah something of what He Himself felt with respect to His people—and to their king Zedekiah.
As we read on, we find that the two baskets represented two very different groups of people—who would make two very different decisions about God’s disciplining hand upon them, and who would experience two very different consequences. First was the group represented by the basket of good figs. Do you remember how I’ve suggested to you that figs represent both the prosperity with which God wanted to bless His people, and the delight He wanted to draw from their obedience? In Jeremiah 24:4-7, we read;
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans. For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Then I will give them a heart to know Me, 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” (vv. 4-7).
Back in chapter 21, we’re told of what happened when the Babylonians began to make war with Zedekiah and his people. Zedekiah had sent to Jeremiah and asked him to inquire of the Lord. Perhaps, he thought, God would perform a miracle and send the Babylonians away. But it was not to be. Jeremiah told the king that He was going to use the Babylonians to strike and punish Zedekiah and the city of Jerusalem. But God went on to give this message to Jeremiah:
“Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the Lord. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire”‘” (Jeremiah 21:8-10).
The people of Judah who would submit to the disciplining hand of God through the Babylonians would be to Him like the basket of good figs in Jeremiah’s vision. God would preserve them and protect them. He tells them how much so in Jeremiah 29:4-14;
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord.
For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive (Jeremiah 29:4-14).
And dear brothers and sisters; do you see the valuable spiritual lesson this is teaching us? It’s showing us that, when we experience the loving discipline of the Lord in our lives, the most important choice we can make is whether or not we’ll will humble ourselves before Him and allow Him to discipline us as He sees best. We are delightful to Him and are precious to Him when we submit willingly to His loving discipline. When we do so, we stand out to Him like that delightful basket of ripe figs.
Now; it needs to be said that, when we feel God’s discipline as His children, it’s never for punishment. All the punishment for our sin has been laid on His Son Jesus on the cross. Rather, when we feel His disciplining hand, it’s for our growth. His thoughts toward us are ‘of peace, and not for evil’; and ‘to give us a future and a hope’. He treats us as a good father would treat His children. The writer of Hebrews said;
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:5b-11).
It may be that the Father is treating us as a good vinedresser treats the grape vines that he cares for. Jesus said;
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2).
Or it may be that He is seeking to strengthen a faith that is already there. As Pastor James once wrote in his New Testament letter;
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).
However it may be that you feel the loving discipline of God in your life right now, the lesson from Jeremiah’s vision is clear: Willingly submit to it. Don’t fight God in it. Accept what He is doing in your life for your good—hard as it may feel at the time. He is delighted with those who willingly submit to His program of discipline in their lives—and He richly blesses them in the end.
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But there was another basket of figs. That basket represented those who would not submit to God’s disciplining program, and who would not surrender to the Babylonians. And by contrast, this is what God says about them:
“‘And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’—surely thus says the Lord—‘so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers’” (Jeremiah 24:8-10).
The Bible tells us that Jeremiah spoke to Zedekiah about this. Zedekiah had been paying attention to the false prophets that were telling him what he wanted to hear. They were convincing him that there was an easier way out of his troubles than through God’s process of discipline. Jeremiah wrote;
I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live! Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you; for I have not sent them,” says the Lord, “yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you” (Jeremiah 27:12-15).
But Zedekiah wouldn’t listen. And the Bible closes his story with these sad words:
Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of the plain.
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he pronounced judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. And he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah. He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death (Jeremiah 52:4-11).
The lesson, then, of the baskets of figs is this: Those who resist God’s disciplining hand, and harden their necks against Him, are to Him like that basket of rotten figs—”which could not be eaten, they were so bad”. But those who willingly submit themselves to His loving discipline are to Him like that basket of ripe figs. They are precious to Him. He protects them, and preserves them, and takes delight in them.
As Pastor James recommended to us:
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:7-10).
May God help us to have a heart to submit to His loving discipline—and thus be His delight.