Jeremiah 24:1-10. In yesterday’s reading God reminded the Israelites that he wasn’t some local hick god but was the one true God who is overall, sees, all, and is yet right here watching each one of us. Prophets are supposed to be messengers for God but in the southern kingdom of Judah, near the end before it was taken over by Babylon, guys who claimed to be prophets were passing off their own words and dreams as messages from God. When the people couldn’t get a message from them they started turning to each other looking for messages from God. But God had told them that they weren’t listening to what he had already said and so there would be no more messages. Anyone who said otherwise would be punished and would suffer everlasting shame; they would be remembered as deceivers and liars.
In chapters 21-22 Jeremiah had a message from God to the last king (Zedekiah) of the southern kingdom (Judah). The message was that they were going to lose to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The message also included messages that he had given to the three previous kings of Judah; Shallum (also known as Jehoahaz), Jehoiakim, and Coniah (also known as Jehoiachin). These messages establish a pattern in the Southern Kingdom of disregard for God’s standards. The trouble that was coming in Zedekiah’s day was deserved and, some might say, long over due. In chapter 23 we saw that the people had decided to listen to false prophets instead of true prophets, like Jeremiah, and to the word of God. Twice in chapter 22 (vv. 11,18) God mentions Josiah in relationship to his family members who served after him on the throne. It is interesting that Josiah was the young king who had cried when priests were fixing up the temple and found the word of God stuck in a forgotten corner. He was the king who brought worship of Yahweh (the one true God, the God of the Israelites) back to the people (622 BC). It is sad that just 25 years later, after the initial conquest by the Babylonians that Zedekaih would have to be reminded that this was all happening because the people, his people, had defected from God. I think the reference to Josaih in those two verses was a little hint to Zedekiah about what was going on.
In chapter 23 we saw that the people had defected in part because of bad leadership. In Jeremiah 23:1 The LORD (Yahweh) tells the “shepherds” of the people that they better look out (“woe”) because they are destroying and scattering the people. Shepherds are supposed to lead and protect the flock (see Psalm 23). In the time of Jeremiah the priests and prophets would have been these shepherds. Chapter 23 makes it clear that they had misled the people by making up messages instead of giving them truth from God.
In today’s reading Jeremiah returns to the scene of those three kings mentioned in chapter 22. Remember the order was Josiah (the good king), Jehoahaz or Shallum, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin or Coniah, and finally Zedekiah. In 605 BC during the reign of Jehoiakim Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had been busy fighting Egypt and conquering territory around Israel. In that year he took captives from many of the leading cities of the area including Jerusalem. It was at that time that Daniel (Daniel 1:1-7) was taken as a captive to Babylon. Eight years later in 598 BC Jehoiakim decided to rebell against the Babylonian rule. Nebuchadnezzar marched his army back toward Jerusalem. Before Nebuchadnezzar arrived Jehoiakim died and left his 18 year old son, Jehoiachin, in charge. Early in 597 BC Nebuchadnezzar arrived and removed Jehoiachin from the throne, replacing him with Zedekiah. Jehoiachin, his family, and 10,000 leading citizens of Jerusalem were taken captive to Babylon. That is the scene in verse 1 of today’s reading.
In verse 2 Jeremiah receives a vision from God. Unlike the dreams of the previous chapter this one was from God. In the dream or vision Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs one good and one rotten (verses 3-4). Remember that this vision is to Zedekiah and the people left behind after the invasion. You might also want to remember that these same people are the ones who we saw yesterday being scolded for making up their own visions. It is very likely that the people left behind though of themselves as the lucky ones and of the captives as the ones whom God was punishing.
In verses 4-7 God explains the vision to Jeremiah but the explaination is just the opposite of what we might expect. The people who had been taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar were the ones whom God was going to “bless”. He was going to watch over them, build them up, make them like well cared for plants. Eventually he would bring them back to Jerusalem and Judah. But they would be different. In verse 7 we see that God would use the time in Babylon to help them appreciate him. Their hearts would be turned back to Him. The captives would be his people and he would be their God.
In contrast we see that the people who remained with Zedekiah were the bad useless rotten figs. God would leave them on their own (abandon them). Also included in this group are some who were in Egypt. When we studied Isaiah (a century earlier) we saw a constant desire by the leaders of Judah to look to Egypt for help. God’s words to them through Isaiah were a constant warning to look to him not Egypt. It appears from verse 8 that some of the people of Judah refused to give up on Egypt as a refuge. They were not “whole heartedly” (v. 7) trusting in God; Egypt would be their refuge. As we will see later that was a misplaced trust.
In verses 9-10 God tells the people who were left behind that they would become a terror, an evil, a reproach, a proverb, a taunt, and a curse. All of these descriptions are of what the people around them would see and think when they looked at them. In theses verses we see that God is going to scatter them through out the whole earth. He would use faming and battles and disease to accomplish this. Notice that they would be a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the Earth. They would be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places . The word translated terror means “to make shake or tremble”, the word translated evil is the same word that describes the figs as rotten. It can also mean “unpleasant or disagreeable”, maybe think stinky or offensive. The word reproach means “not approved” and a proverb is a wise saying. The word translated “taunt” has the idea of sharpness, like a sharp stick uses to poke some one or something to keep them moving. The word curse has the idea of something that is passing away, quickly gone. This last word is just the opposite of how God described the people taken captive to Babylon; they were like permanent structures and well rooted plants. Where I live it was a common practice a few years ago to set wrecked cars near certain intersections around the time of certain holidays where people would drink a lot. The cars were wrecks from drunk driving accidents and based on how mangled the cars were you could tell that people had probably died in them. If Jeremiah had been describing those wrecks he might have said that they were a terror, evil, a reproach, a taunt, a proverb, and a curse. They were examples of what happens when you disregard the rules in life. We see that the main point here is the example these dreamers, disrespectful and disobedient to God, were going to be to the world around them. In verse 10 we see that they were not destroyed entirely but were completely removed from the land that had been promised to their ancestors.
Going our own way and not listening to God is destructive, in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. The first group shows us that God can and will help but there is often a price to pay. Those captives had to go live in a foreign land for many years (in the next chapter we will learn more about disobedience and the reason for the Babylonian Captivity). They could not go to their temple, had to start over, and much more. The second group shows us that sometimes our disobedience has permanent consequences. The people left behind will continue to show a rebellious attitude toward God. But there is hope too. From the book of Daniel we know that people in Babylon had a positive influence for God in on the people around them. We see even in the second group that their situation taught the people around them about God’s purity and standards too. I like it that even when he is showing us his purity and high standards that God shows us his merciful side too. I’m glad it’s not “one strike” and you are out. I like it that God offers a way out and is constantly informing us of it. I’m glad that God builds up and plants.
God help me be established and well rooted. Build me up and make me grow. I’m glad that you are willing to correct, I know I need a lot of it. Help me learn your ways, hear your voice, know your truth. Let me listen to the truth and not lies. Let me look to your word for truth and not to the voice of my neighbors, or the voices in my own head. Help me hear and obey. Let my life be pleasing to you. And help me be a voice of truth for you to others.