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Judah's rulers loved to hate Jeremiah. The prophet's God-given message of non-resistance to the invading enemy branded him a traitor. Then, when Jeremiah's predictions proved true, he called for those carried into exile to cooperate with their captors. He also conveyed God's message to them: "When you pray, I will listen" (29:12).

Jeremiah 24:1-10

1. Which basket of figs (v. 8) represented those who had escaped captivity? Why does this seem backwards?
   
   
2. When can peace and prosperity become a curse rather than a blessing?
   
   
3. Why did the basket of fresh, ripe figs represent those who were exiled to Babylon? Was it because they were good, or because God knew that their hearts would respond to him (v. 7)?
   
   
4. Can you look back and discern a time when trouble turned out to be a blessing because it refined you or made you stronger?
   
   
5. Jeremiah told the exiled captives (29:7) to pray for the peace and prosperity of the nation that had defeated their own. Do you find it difficult to pray for authorities who oppose the values you cherish?
   
   

Ask God for help to be a model citizen whatever the political climate, and to be faithful in intercession for those in authority.

Jeremiah 24:1-10

1 After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the officials of Judah and all the craftsmen and artisans, the Lord gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the Lord's Temple in Jerusalem. 2 One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with bad figs that were too rotten to eat.

3 Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"

I replied, "Figs, some very good and some very bad, too rotten to eat."

4 Then the Lord gave me this message: 5 "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians. 6 I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.

8 "But the bad figs," the Lord said, "represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like bad figs, too rotten to eat. 9 I will make them an object of horror and a symbol of evil to every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed, wherever I scatter them. 10 And I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and their ancestors."

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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