https://literalword.com/esv?q=Jeremiah+24
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Saturday, 1 August 2026:
Jeremiah 24:1-3 — After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile… the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. One basket had very good figs… but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten.
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten.
The timing of Jeremiah’s vision is significant. The first deportation to Babylon has already occurred. King Jeconiah, the royal family, skilled craftsmen, and many of Judah’s leaders have been carried away, while those remaining in Jerusalem assume they are the fortunate ones. From every outward appearance, exile looks like God’s rejection, while remaining comfortably in the Promised Land appears to be His blessing. God now overturns that entire way of thinking.
The two baskets sit before the temple, reminding us that this is fundamentally a matter of God’s covenant purposes, not merely political events. Both baskets belong to God’s people. Both exist under His sovereign hand. Yet they represent two radically different responses to His dealings. Throughout Scripture, God’s evaluations consistently differ from man’s. “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). What appears to be disaster may actually become God’s greatest instrument of grace, while what appears to be success may conceal impending judgment.
This introduces one of the central lessons of Jeremiah. God’s providence is often the opposite of our immediate perceptions. We instinctively measure God’s favor by comfort, prosperity, health, influence, or the absence of hardship. Yet the Lord repeatedly teaches that His highest purpose is not preserving our temporary comfort but conforming His people to His own character. Romans 8:28-29 explains that God works all things together for good, not merely for our happiness, but so that we might be conformed to the image of His Son. The Christian therefore learns to interpret circumstances through God’s promises rather than interpreting God through circumstances.
The vision also prepares us to understand the kingdom of Christ. Jesus repeatedly reversed worldly expectations. The poor in spirit inherit the kingdom. Those who lose their lives find them. The last become first. The cross itself appeared to be history’s greatest defeat while becoming history’s greatest victory. God’s wisdom continually overturns human wisdom because His purposes reach far beyond what fallen humanity can presently see.
When circumstances become difficult, do I immediately assume God has abandoned me? Am I evaluating my life by outward success or by whether Christ is increasingly being formed within me? Do I trust that God’s providence is accomplishing something greater than I can presently understand?
Jeremiah 24:4-7 — Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. I will give them a 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 to me with their whole heart.”
The greatest surprise in the vision is God’s identification of the good figs. They are not the people who remained in Jerusalem but those who had been carried away into Babylon. The exiles undoubtedly believed they had experienced God’s judgment, yet God declares that He has sent them away “for their own good.” The exile would become the furnace through which He would purify His people, strip away their idols, and prepare them for genuine restoration. What appeared to be abandonment was actually one of the greatest expressions of His covenant faithfulness.
This reveals a truth that runs throughout Scripture: God’s discipline is often one of His greatest mercies. Left in Jerusalem, the people would have continued deceiving themselves with false peace. In Babylon they would finally discover that God Himself, not the land, the temple, or national identity, was the source of their life. Hebrews later teaches that the Father disciplines every son whom He loves, not to destroy him but to produce “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). Divine discipline is never contrary to God’s love; it is one of its highest expressions.
The center of the promise comes in one remarkable statement: “I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD.” God does not merely promise changed circumstances but changed hearts. This is far more than intellectual knowledge. Throughout Jeremiah, to know the Lord means to live in covenant fellowship with Him — to delight in Him, trust Him, love Him, and increasingly share His heart. Fallen humanity cannot produce such a heart through education, self-discipline, or religious effort. Regeneration is God’s gracious work. The Lord Himself creates within His people the very heart they need to know Him.
This promise anticipates the New Covenant, where God writes His law upon the heart (Jeremiah 31:31-34), removes the heart of stone, and gives a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Its ultimate fulfillment comes through Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection make possible our union with Him through the Holy Spirit. Eternal life is therefore not merely endless existence but, as Jesus declares, “that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). The goal of redemption has always been restored relationship.
This passage also reshapes the way believers understand adversity. We often assume God places difficult people into our lives so that we might influence them. While that is certainly true, Jeremiah reminds us that God often places us into difficult circumstances because He intends those circumstances to influence us — to expose remaining idols, deepen our dependence, strengthen our faith, and produce the character of Christ. We naturally pray, “Lord, change my situation.” God often answers, “I am using your situation to change you.” Until we embrace His purposes, we will continually seek escape rather than transformation. But when we trust His heart, we begin to thank Him in every circumstance because we know He is accomplishing something eternal within us (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Romans 8:28-29).
To know God is not simply to receive His blessings but to become like His Son. Fish were created for water; outside the water they cannot live. Humanity was created for fellowship with God. Outside of abiding in Christ there is no true life, no lasting peace, and no fulfillment of our created purpose. Jesus therefore does not merely show us the way; He declares, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). His invitation remains the same: “Abide in me” (John 15:4). Only there does the human heart finally become what it was created to be.
Do I view God’s discipline as evidence of His love or His absence? Am I asking God merely to improve my circumstances, or am I asking Him to give me a heart that truly knows Him? Can I honestly thank Him for the trials through which He is making me more like Christ?
Jeremiah 24:8-10 — “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt…. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth… I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”
The second basket reveals that God’s greatest concern is never a person’s location but the condition of his heart. Those remaining in Jerusalem assumed they were the fortunate ones. They still possessed the temple, the city of David, and the visible signs of God’s covenant. They concluded that because judgment had not yet fallen upon them, they must still enjoy God’s favor. Yet the Lord declares that they are the rotten figs. Their confidence rested not in God Himself but in the privileges associated with Him. They possessed the forms of true religion while remaining strangers to the God those forms were meant to reveal.
This remains one of the greatest spiritual dangers today. People often mistake familiarity with God for fellowship with God. It is possible to grow up in church, know the Scriptures, defend sound doctrine, participate in ministry, and even profess Christ publicly while never truly surrendering the heart to Him. Jesus warned that many will one day say, “Lord, Lord,” only to hear the devastating words, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:21-23). Eternal life is not merely knowing about God but knowing Him through Jesus Christ (John 17:3). The issue has never been religious activity but living union with the living Christ.
The rotten figs also expose the danger of false security. Judah believed the temple guaranteed God’s protection regardless of how they lived. They trusted God’s past faithfulness while disregarding His present commands. In much the same way, people today often trust a past decision, family heritage, baptism, church membership, or theological knowledge while refusing to walk in present fellowship with Christ. Saving faith is not merely a moment in the past but an abiding relationship that increasingly bears the fruit of obedience because the heart has been made new (John 15:1-8).
God’s judgment therefore falls not simply because they remained in Jerusalem, but because they continually resisted His gracious calls to repentance. The exile had become God’s instrument for refining one group, while prosperity became the instrument that exposed the hardness of the other. The same sun that softens wax hardens clay. God’s dealings reveal what is already present within the heart.
The chapter therefore leaves every reader with a searching question: What does God call good? We instinctively measure blessing by comfort, success, health, and security. God measures it by whether we are coming to know Him more deeply and becoming more like His Son. The greatest blessing is not favorable circumstances but restored fellowship with the Creator. The greatest tragedy is not suffering but possessing every outward privilege while remaining far from Christ. The only truly “good figs” are those to whom God gives a new heart to know Him — a gift accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and received by grace through faith.
Do I rest in outward signs of Christianity, or am I abiding daily in Christ? Am I trusting religious familiarity, or do I truly know the Lord? If God examined the condition of my heart rather than the appearance of my life, what kind of fruit would He find?
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) — 1 August 2026: Today, identify one difficult circumstance you have been asking God to remove. Spend fifteen uninterrupted minutes thanking Him specifically for how He may be using that trial to give you a deeper heart to know Him. Then ask Him not first to change your circumstances, but to accomplish every purpose He intends through them until Christ is more fully formed in you.
Pray: “Father, thank You that Your goodness is far greater than my understanding and that Your purposes extend far beyond my temporary comfort. Forgive me for judging Your love by my circumstances instead of by the cross of Christ. Continue giving me a heart to know You, to trust You, and to delight in Your will. Help me to receive Your discipline as an expression of Your perfect love, and make me increasingly like Jesus through every joy and every trial You ordain. Teach me to abide in Christ, for apart from Him I have no life. May my greatest desire be not merely relief from hardship but deeper fellowship with You and greater conformity to my Savior. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 