Take your Bibles with me and turn to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 24. Remember we're not going on a verse-by-verse study through Jeremiah. We are in this series of Bible stories, and there are a few stories that jump out of this book of Jeremiah. We're going to look at one of them tonight, which is about two baskets of figs.
Introduction: Bad Circumstances
Tonight's message is all about bad circumstances—or more accurately, how we view bad circumstances versus how God views bad circumstances.
Nobody likes to suffer. Suffering is hard. Many of you have had to deal with the heartbreak of your life not turning out the way you hoped it would.
- Getting served divorce papers.
- Finding out someone that you trust and love has horribly betrayed you.
- Getting news from a doctor that your life will never be the same again.
- Standing by a casket you never thought you'd have to stand beside.
- Struggling financially for a long period of time.
- And many other such things.
Most of the people in this room have had to deal with real and difficult suffering in life. And none of us would choose that. Nobody wakes up and says, "I wanna go through a really hard time. I want all of my dreams to be crushed. I want pain."
But here's what we're going to see tonight in Jeremiah chapter 24. Often, the way that God sees our suffering is very different than the way that we see our suffering. When we get a little bit of God's vision for our suffering and our difficult circumstances, it helps us respond to them, right?
So here's what we're going to do tonight. I'm going to explain very quickly the history of this passage of Scripture. Then we're going to look at Jeremiah's two baskets and the promises and the principles that are in this chapter about how we respond to difficult things.
How We Got Here
Are you in Jeremiah 24? Let's read verse 1.
[1] The Lord shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
Jeremiah 24:1 (KJV)
Unfortunately, there is a bunch of history, historical figures, and historical events that are introduced in this verse that I have to explain very quickly in order for this passage to make any sense. The last three kings of Judah all faced the same problem: the Babylonian empire, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, wanted to take over Judah.
The third-to-last king was named Jehoiakim. He decided to try to fight against Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, lost very badly, and a first group of captives was taken. Among that first group of captives would be Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Then Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin—also called Jeconiah in this verse—only lasted three months before he was taken with a second group of people. The best of the people were taken: princes, carpenters, smiths.
Finally Nebuchadnezzar set King Zedekiah on the throne. This is the last king of Judah. Zedekiah was left with the people that were still there, and he actually reigned about eleven years. Jeremiah was among the group of people that stayed with King Zedekiah, stayed in Jerusalem, and stayed near the temple. It seemed during that decade that they were the lucky ones.
Jeremiah is ministering to this group of people in Jerusalem who think they are the lucky leftovers. They think the Babylonian storm has passed, that the tornado has come through and missed their house, and that God must have had something against these poor saps that got carried away to Babylon. What they don't realize is that at the end of Zedekiah's reign, Babylon is going to come back, and they are going to take everyone left either captive or they are going to completely destroy everything. The lucky ones were the people in those first two waves of captives that were taken away to Babylon.
The Judeans that were left in Judea thought they were blessed, but they just didn't have God's view of it. And God is going to show Jeremiah something at the temple that corrects this story.
Two Baskets of Figs
[2] One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
[3] Then said the Lord unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
[4] Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
[5] Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
[6] For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
[7] And I will give them an 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 unto me with their whole heart.
[8] And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
[9] And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
[10] And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
Jeremiah 24:2-10 (KJV)
Jeremiah is shown two baskets of figs. We don't eat a lot of figs here in the United States. Mostly we eat them in little cookies—Fig Newtons—but figs are a big part of the diet in the Middle East, probably the main fruit that they ate.
God wants to show something to Jeremiah about this situation from two baskets of figs. One basket has very good figs in it, like plump healthy figs. The other basket has rotten, nasty, naughty figs that nobody would be able to eat. They're inedible and disgusting.
These figs are going to represent the people who went away captive in those first two captivities and the people that are left behind.
If we stop here and we say, "Which of these groups are the good figs?" all the people in Judah would say, "We're the good figs. Look, we're still here. We're still in our homeland. We're still near the temple. We're still where we want to be."
But God's message is that they're not the good figs. They're the rotten figs, and the people that were carried away captive are actually the good figs. God has plans—good plans—for those that have been carried away captive, and God has destruction in mind for those that got to stay.
I believe that this passage of Scripture is here to teach us how to respond when life gets hard.
You see, nine hundred miles away, far from their homeland, their promised land, their precious temple, there is a group of people who have been forcibly taken, forced to live in a new city and a new culture, and learn a new language. Their hearts yearn to be back home on the family farm. They must have thought, "God is done with us. We messed up and our life is miserable and we are under God's judgment. God must hate us."
And Jeremiah's message to them is that you're wrong. You are seeing this all wrong. You are the good figs. The people that are home thinking they lucked out are the bad figs.
For the rest of our time tonight, I want to look at chapter 24 and what God says to these people who have been taken captive. I also want to look at chapter 29, which is a passage of Scripture that contains a letter that Jeremiah was told by God to send to these captives. They both share the same message. I believe what we're going to learn from this is how to respond when life is tough.
Four Principles for Hard Places
There are four principles that I believe we can take from this story. The first principle is:
1. Don't read God's heart for you by your current zip code.
Do not assume, in other words, that because you are currently in bad circumstances, God has abandoned you. Do not assume that those who are under comfortable circumstances are people that God is pleased with.
Here in this passage it is those who thought they were in bad circumstances who are the good figs that God is going to bless. Look at verse 5 again.
[5] Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
Jeremiah 24:5 (KJV)
Do you notice the last phrase there? What are the last three words? For their good. God is the one that sent these captives away, and He did it for their good. Now I'm not going to take the time to read it, but look at the way God talks about those who are left over. God has promises for them, and they are promises of severe judgment and hardship.
As a Christian we have to learn that whatever circumstance God puts us into, He is likely doing for our good.
[28] And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 (KJV)
Or as James put it in James 1:
[2] My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
[3] Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
[4] But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
James 1:2-4 (KJV)
Nobody wants to go through a test, a temptation, difficulty, or suffering, but God knows what is best for us. If you are somebody who is a believer who loves the Lord, you do not need to look at your circumstances ever and say, "This means God hates me. This stinks. God must be against me." No, what's more likely is that God wants to use the difficult test that you are going through to bring you to a closer relationship with Him.
And that brings me to the second principle we can learn from this story...
2. Don't fight the place God has actually put you.
You see, the people who went away to Babylon had their own temptations. One of the temptations was to think that this is just a short-term thing: God's going to bring us back just fine. Don't get too comfortable. Don't unpack your boxes. We're going home soon.
There were false teachers and false prophets who were sharing that message and stirring the people up. God instructed Jeremiah to write them a letter to set that right. That letter is found in Jeremiah chapter 29. I'll just read verses 4 to 7 of that letter to you.
[4] Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
[5] Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
[6] Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
[7] And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Jeremiah 29:4-7 (KJV)
God's message for them was to stop fighting their situation and to settle in, to get comfortable, and make the best of it. You see, God's plan for these captives is that they would stay there for seventy years. Seventy years.
There were false prophets that were saying, "Hey, you're going home next month. Don't get too comfortable." God's word was no. You're going to be there for seventy years.
Now church, I am forty-three years old today. Today is my birthday. How old will I be in seventy years? I believe that's one hundred thirteen. I'm not going home.
What about Audrey? She's seventeen. She's still young. Maybe she'd still remember it. She's going to be eighty-seven in seventy years. She's not going home either.
God's word to these people was: build houses, plant gardens, get married, get comfortable. You're not going anywhere! Bless the place where I put you and pray for that place.
Now what's the application for us? Church, don't miss this. There are people who life deals a bad hand and they never accept it. They never get over it. They live the rest of their life in bitterness about:
- the man who was unfaithful to them
- the accident that changed their life in a terrible way
- the job promotion that was given to somebody else
- the child who broke their heart
- the layoff that they didn't see coming
They would never say this, but in their heart they are mad at God over the place He has them, and they are living in a fantasy of escape.
What's God's word to them?
Settle in. You're probably not going anywhere. You're probably not going to change that terrible circumstance. Somebody that's telling you that is probably lying to you and manipulating you.
Stay where you're at. Build your house, plant your garden, make the best of it. Don't fight the place where God has you.
This leads me to a third principle about how to respond when life is hard.
3. Let the hard place do God's work in you.
You know, back in chapter 24 and verse number 7, look what this verse says:
[7] And I will give them an 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 unto me with their whole heart.
Jeremiah 24:7 (KJV)
All through the history of Israel and Judah, we've been reading about a people that are forever tempted to idolatry. They just can't help themselves but to follow Baal and all the false gods of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians.
But do you know what God did in captivity? God forever changed the people of Israel. The group of people that comes back from captivity under Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel are forever determined that idolatry is not for them. The gods of the Canaanites, the gods of the Babylonians, have no sway over them.
You know what God did for them in Babylon? He worked over their heart. He made them more like Him.
Church, when God brings testing, discipline, suffering, and hardship into our lives, one of the purposes of that is to root out things inside of us that won't come out any other way.
And if we resist the hard place God puts us in, assume that God has it out for us, live in this fantasy land that everything is going to get better tomorrow, then we'll miss what God's trying to do.
God wants to change our heart through that hardship.
I'm not going to pretend like my life is super hard, because it's not. I am blessed by the Lord. I woke up this morning and one of the first thoughts I had is that I'm the richest man I know. Money has nothing to do with it—but there are plenty of things in my life that have not worked out the way that I would ever plan them:
- Noah's sickness
- living so far away from family
- how things have shaped out at the church
And if I'm not careful I can get bitter about those things. I can get angry at God. Or I can recognize that God is trying to do something in my life through hardship. If I didn't have to face it, idols that I have would never be uprooted.
That's a struggle. Listen: if you're in a hard place, if you're suffering, don't waste the formation that God is trying to do in your life. Let God use that hard place to do His work in you.
If God has you in the fire, maybe like a silversmith, He's trying to get the junk out. Maybe He's going to keep you there until He can see His reflection in you.
There is one more principle I think this story can teach us about how to handle hard places, and it is:
4. Trust God's promises while you wait.
Look at verses 6–7 again in chapter 24:
[6] For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
[7] And I will give them an 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 unto me with their whole heart.
Jeremiah 24:6-7 (KJV)
Do you know there are four promises there that God gave to the captives of Judah:
Promise 1: I will set my eyes on you
Do you know that whatever you are going through—God is watching you. God is looking out for you. Do you know that God can see you even when you are in Babylon? Even when you are in some difficult place?
Promise 2: I will bring them again to this land
God had a promise for Judah that was bigger than their present moment. God would bring them back. They needed to know that—even if most of them would never personally get to return.
Doesn't it help you to know that God has a plan? That God's plan includes your circumstances? That God is big enough to work it all out?
Promise 3: I will build them and not pull them down
Do you know that God has promised to do good to you? God's thoughts to you are not evil. God's not trying to hurt you. God's trying to help you. God is going to work whatever difficulty He has you in, even if it seems like a bad fix now. God's going to work that out for good.
Promise 4: I will give them a heart to know me
You know, God promises that if you follow Him in faith through whatever trial or test you are in, that He will bring you closer to Himself through that trial.
The point of trials is to test our faith. Without trials and suffering, faith doesn't have to go through much of a test, does it?
Will you believe the promises of God? Do you believe that God knows exactly what your situation is, and that God has a plan to do good for you and bring you closer to Himself through whatever you're dealing with?
Conclusion
The story is about a group of people that thought they were the good figs. They thought their situation was great—and in God's eyes, boy, were they wrong. Another group of people thought their situation was terrible, but God had a different view.
Which story are you believing about your suffering? Are you looking at people and thinking, "Man, those people are the lucky ones and I am in captivity"? Will you consider tonight that you're not seeing it through the eyes of the Lord? Will you pray that God helps you blossom in your hard place and grow in your knowledge of Him?
Let's stand together for prayer.
