The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

Jeremiah 24:1 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs sitting before his temple. This happened after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deported Jehoiakim’s son, King Jeconiah of Judah. He deported him and the leaders of Judah, along with the craftsmen and metal workers, and took them to Babylon. 24:2 One basket had very good-looking figs in it. They looked like those that had ripened early. The other basket had very bad-looking figs in it, so bad they could not be eaten. 24:3 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 24:4 The Lord said to me, 24:5 “I, the Lord, the God of Israel, say: ‘The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon are like those good figs. I consider them to be good. 24:6 I will look after their welfare and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land and will not uproot them. 24:7 I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I am the Lord. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly return to me.’ 24:8 “I, the Lord, also solemnly assert: ‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who remain in Jerusalem or who have gone to live in Egypt are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 24:9 I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them. 24:10 I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’”

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

The Lord used two baskets of figs to show the difference between the exiles in Babylon and the people still in Jerusalem and Egypt. The exiles were the “good figs” because God would preserve and restore them. The others were the “bad figs” because they would face judgment.

Jeremiah saw two baskets of figs placed before the temple. One basket had good figs. The other had figs so bad they could not be eaten. The Lord explained that the picture was about Judah.

The people who had been sent away to Babylon were like the good figs. God had sent them there in judgment, but he had not abandoned them. He would watch over them, bring them back, build them up, and plant them again in the land. He would also give them a heart to know him and to return to him wholeheartedly.

The people who stayed in Jerusalem, led by King Zedekiah, and those who fled to Egypt were like the bad figs. They were not safe because they remained near the temple or stayed in the land. They were still under God’s judgment. War, famine, and disease would come on them until they were destroyed and removed from the land.

This passage teaches that God judges by his own word, not by outward appearance. Being near religious things does not mean a person is right with God. The exiles would be restored by God’s mercy, while the stubborn remainers would face his severe judgment.

• God is sovereign over both judgment and restoration.
• Outward location or appearance does not show whether a person has God’s favor.
• The exiles were disciplined by God, but he planned to restore them.
• God promised to give his people a heart to know him.
• Those who resisted God’s word faced disaster and removal.

• Warning: do not trust outward security, religious proximity, or political comfort as proof of God’s approval.
• Warning: rejecting God’s judgment leads to severe punishment.
• Promise: God will look after and restore the people he preserves.
• Promise: God will give a heart to know him and return to him.
• Command implied by the text: respond to God with wholehearted repentance and faith.

The passage shows God’s covenant plan at work in Judah. He judges unfaithfulness, preserves a remnant, and later restores them. This fits the larger prophetic pattern that God does not abandon his purposes for his people. The promise of inward knowledge of the Lord points toward the deeper renewal that Jeremiah later describes.

Do not confuse comfort, success, or religious closeness with God’s approval. Take God’s warnings seriously when he disciplines sin. At the same time, do not lose hope if God is correcting you; he can restore those who return to him. The right response is humble repentance and trust in the Lord’s word.

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