The Vision of the Figs

 

God’s Redemptive Discipline

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 24

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good… I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord.’” — Jeremiah 24:5–7 (NIV)

In 597 B.C., when Jehoiachin and the royal officials were taken into exile and Zedekiah became king, Jeremiah received a striking vision: two baskets of figs set before the temple—one filled with good figs, the other with bad, too rotten to eat. The good figs represented the exiles taken to Babylon, and the bad represented those who remained in Jerusalem or fled to Egypt. Ironically, those who suffered displacement were the very ones God called good. As Walter Brueggemann writes, “Exile, though it looks like abandonment, is the very place where the new work of God begins.” What looked like punishment was in truth a divine transplanting—a redemptive uprooting meant to refine and renew God’s people. As Eugene Peterson reminds us, “Exile is not the worst thing that can happen to us. It is the worst thing that can happen to our illusions.” When false securities fall away, we discover that God is still present, reshaping us for His glory.

The fresh, ripe figs symbolized hearts that would respond to God in repentance and faith. Though exiled in a foreign land, they were not abandoned—God promised to watch over them for their good and give them “a heart to know” Him. Many, like Daniel, even rose to positions of honor in Babylon (Daniel 2:48). Their captivity became the soil for renewal, proving that trouble can be a blessing when it draws us closer to God, and prosperity a curse if it leads us away from Him. The rotten figs, however, represented those who resisted correction and hardened their hearts in pride. As Charles Spurgeon said, “The same sun that softens wax hardens clay.” God’s discipline is never to destroy but to restore—never to shame but to shape. Those who yield to His refining work become fruitful; those who resist grow rigid and lifeless.

Lesslie Newbigin insightfully wrote, “The church in exile is the church sent into the world—not as a punishment, but as a witness.” Like the good figs, God’s people are called to bear fruit even in unfamiliar soil. Exile becomes a mission, not a mark of divine rejection. The Spirit of God is never bound by circumstance—He moves through hardship, disappointment, and displacement, turning exile into opportunity and scattering His people as seeds of renewal. In every season of loss or uncertainty, God is still at work—pruning, shaping, and ripening His people for His glory. The good figs are those who let suffering deepen faith, purify love, and restore the heart’s knowledge of God—the sweetest fruit of all.

Prayer

Lord, when we feel displaced or disoriented, remind us that You are still at work—pruning, shaping, and ripening us for Your purposes. Give us hearts to know You, spirits that yield to Your refining hand, and faith that bears fruit even in exile. May our lives, like the good figs, be pleasing to You and nourishing to others. Amen.

Footnote

After the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., Jeremiah was offered royal protection and a position of comfort in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar’s command (Jeremiah 39:11–12; 40:4–6). Yet he chose to remain in Judah, living among the poor remnant at Mizpah under Governor Gedaliah. Jeremiah knew the risks of this choice. He had already been mocked, beaten, imprisoned, and thrown into a cistern for proclaiming God’s truth (Jeremiah 37–38). He understood that the same people who had scorned his message could again reject or even kill him. Still, he stayed out of obedience and compassion, embodying the heart of a true shepherd. His decision revealed a prophet’s courage—a love so deep that he would rather suffer with God’s people than live in safety apart from them. Between 586 and 582 B.C., Jeremiah remained with the remnant until he was eventually taken to Egypt against his will (Jeremiah 43:6–7). His faithfulness reminds us that obedience often means staying in hard places—not for comfort or recognition, but to bear God’s presence among the broken and the fearful.(reflects the heart of God—who stays near even when His people turn away.)