Sermon preached by Rev. Larry C. Brincefield on October 31, 2004
Title: 2 Baskets of Figs
Text: Jeremiah 24:1-7
Introduction
1. There are great many things that divide us into groups…
We are divided by our sex…there are men and women…
We are divided by race…blacks, whites, Hispanics, and so on…
We are divided by religion…Catholic, protestant, Muslim, Jew.
In our country today…it is very obvious that we are sharply divided by politics…
It saddens my heart to see some of the conflicts between different groups…
2. But as we continue to study Jeremiah this morning…
We will see the people of Judah divided into 2 groups…
and, we will find that this same division continues until today…
and, of all the things that divides us…
this division is most important…
it is more important that the division between man and woman…
black and white…
Democrat and Republican…
Jew and Gentile…
Or any other division that you could think of.
3. In our text today, we see that God gives Jeremiah another vision…
Throughout Jeremiah we see God using various visions and object lessons to communicate important things to Jeremiah.
We’ve already talked about the vision of the boiling pot and an almond branch.
Some of the other object lessons that God uses with Jeremiah are:
A linen belt in Jeremiah chapter 13…
A field trip to the potter’s house in Jeremiah 18…
Broken clay jars in Jeremiah 19…
And with each vision, God uses something common…
Something that Jeremiah and the people would find easy to understand…
And here in chapter 24, God uses a vision of 2 baskets of figs.
And these 2 baskets of figs represent 2 groups of people…
These 2 groups represent that important division that existed in Jeremiah’s day…
And it continues to have great importance even today
Let’s stand together as we read God’s Word.
Read Text: Jer. 24:1-10
Body
1. Background
A. Some versions of the Bible starts out with Jeremiah saying, “God caused me to see” or “The Lord showed me”
Jeremiah was spiritually tuned in to God so that God could use him in a special way…
And God showed Jeremiah this vision of the 2 baskets of figs.
And God used Jeremiah to write a letter of encouragement to the people of Judah who went into captivity (chapter 29; which we will study later).
B. It is my hope that this morning,
that we will be spiritually tuned in to God in such a way
that He will cause US to see this morning…
and that He will give us a vision…
and that He will be able to use us as an encouragement to the Church.
C. Jeremiah had been warning the people for around 20 years about God’s coming judgment.
But by and large the people ignored him…
Refusing to return to God.
D. We see that the judgment has finally arrived…
Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon invaded and attacked…
Jeremiah had warned the people over and over and over again…
The boiling pot balanced precariously over Judah had finally boiled over…
Judgment had come.
Jeremiah warned them that when that time come…
God didn’t want them to try to escape…
God didn’t want them to be left behind…
God wanted them to submit to this Babylonian King and go into exile
Many of them were carried away into exile…
But some of them ran to Egypt to escape the Babylonian army…
Or they were able to avoid capture in their own country.
From the human perspective, these people who were able to avoid the exile…
They were the lucky ones…
They avoided capture…
They avoided the exile that would eventually last 70 years…
They were able to return to Jerusalem…
And they were probably pretty proud of themselves…
And meanwhile, they were probably saddened about their brothers and sisters who were captured…
E. But things aren’t always as they seem.
Verse 1 tells us that the Babylonian army took the officials, the craftsmen, the artisans, the skilled workers…
The Babylonians knew that they would need skilled and strong people to help them in their construction and building programs.
Do you remember the story of Daniel?
And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.?
How they king wanted to train them and they were to eat the kings food…
but they refused and wanted to eat fruits and vegetables…
and as result, they were healthier and better nourished than the rest of the people who were eating the king’s rich diet…
That happened during the exile that is taking place in our text that we are studying today…
That’s the background up to this point, in a nutshell…
2. Let’s look at the Vision that God gave Jeremiah
A. The Lord showed Jeremiah 2 baskets of figs that were placed in front of the temple of the Lord…
In Deuteronomy 26 it talks about the law of the First Fruits…
Verse 2 says, “take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name”
And these firstfruits were supposed to be a tithe…
Or a tenth of the produce that we given to the Lord…
And then the priests would distribute them to those in need.
They were supposed to be the best…
The choice fruit…
B. In verse 2 of our text, we see that one of the baskets of figs was very good…
The figs were plumb and juicy…
They were part of the first crop of figs…
The first crop was always considered the best…
They were the most desired…
They were treated as a delicacy…
In this part of the word, there were 3 crops of figs…
The 2nd and 3rd crops weren’t near as desirable as that first crop.
C. But in this vision, God shows Jeremiah another basket of figs too…
This basket of figs is nasty…
They were so bad…that nobody would eat them.
The Hebrew word used means “bad” or “evil”.
3. After God shows Jeremiah this vision, He then interprets it for him.
A. God tells Jeremiah that the good figs represent the people who were taken out of Judah in exile.
And the bad figs represent those who escaped and remained in Judah.
About the good figs…God has a wonderful promise for them in verse six:
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.
B. Beautiful words of promise for the people…
The world might look at them and think that they were defeated…
But God has other plans for them…
C. But, for the rotten, nasty figs…
Representing those people who avoided the exile…
Contrary to God’s will for them…
God has a harsh indictment…
Because of their disobedience…
God will make sure they are treated like rotten figs would be treated…
They will be tossed out and trampled underfoot…
All other people will look at them with disgust.
D. And the key to difference between the good figs and the bad figs…
Between the exiles…and those who were left behind…
Is found in verse 7…
God says, “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.”
Although the exiles were moved from their homes…
To a land where they were captives…
Although they were moved away from the Temple…
And away from their families…
God would take care of them…
God would bless them…
God would renew the covenant with them…
Because, although many of them and turned away from God and embraced the sin of the world…
However, through the exile…
They would return to God…
And not just in pretense…
Scripture tells us that they will return to God WITH ALL THEIR HEART!!
Conclusion/Application
1. As I was studying this passage of Scripture…
I began to get a picture of our world today…
And I began to picture 2 baskets of figs…
Some are very, very good…
Some are very, very bad…
The difference between the good and the bad is…
The good will return to God with all their heart…
The bad will continue on in their refusal to obey God…
All they way to the grave.
2. Those of us who are Christians, we are exiles in this world…
We don’t belong here…
This is not our land…
And yet, God would have us to live in this land…
To strive…
To live…
To be a positive influence to those around us…
To follow the covenant…
To follow God and obey Him…
And allow Him to be our Lord and Savior…
To be a good fig.
3. And yet, in our world today…we see a great division…
It is more crucial than the division between Democrats and Republicans…
Black and white…
Rich and poor…
Male and female…
It is the division between the good figs and the rotten figs…
It is the division between the saved and the lost…
It is the division between the redeemed and the imprisoned.
3. Jeremiah warned the people for 20 years that judgment was coming…
Based on the promises of Scripture…
I see another Judgment Day coming…
A great separation will take place…
(read) Jesus tells us about it in Matthew 25:31-34.
4. When it comes to the coming Judgment…
And determining where you will spend eternity…
There are only 2 baskets…
Good figs…and rotten figs…
Sheep and goats…
Saved and lost…
There is no middle ground…
There is no 3rd basket for those who didn’t get saved and yet they were good people or good citizens…
there’s still time…
you can choose which basket you are in…
Jesus can take the rottenness and make it clean…
5. For those of you who are saved…(you good figs)…
Now is not the time to sit back and wait out the exile…
Now is the time for us to flourish where we are planted…
Yes, this world is not our home…
We are exiles here…
But while time remains…
We must be about our Father’s business.
(handout fig newton’s)
Diane play quietly…
By eating a fig, you are telling God that you are committing your life to being a good fig…
To following Christ…
To obey Him…
To strive to live your life for Christ during the time of exile here.
Open altar.
