1 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. 2 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. 3 And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “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. 6 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. 7 I will give them a heart to know 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.
8 “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. 9 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And 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.”
REFLECTION:
“Good figs” represent the Judahites who were taken captive to Babylon. This does not mean that they are good citizens themselves, but their hearts still respect God, so God will take care of them and bring them back to their homeland. “Bad figs” represent those who remain in Judah or fled to Egypt. They are self-righteous and think that they will be blessed if they stay in Judah or fled to Egypt. This is exactly the opposite of their thoughts. God wants to refine His people through the process of exile, take care of them, and bless them. We may think that a smooth life is a blessing, and a bad life is a curse. However, if hardships and difficulties can make us more persevere, adversity is also a blessing; if we leave God in good times, it becomes a curse. Therefore, when you are in trouble, ask God to strengthen you for Him; when your life is going well, ask the Lord to teach you how to use the opportunities to serve Him.
PRAYER:
Thank God for making you a “good fig.” This is not because you behave better than others, but because of God’s love and grace. Make a resolution to God, you are willing to take more practical actions to be grateful in the future, live in His words every day, obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit, work hard to share the gospel, manifest Christ’s character of “loving others as yourself,” so that your life can be improved and bear more fruit.
5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
REFLECTION:
In this passage, Jeremiah compares the coming Messiah with the corrupted leaders at that time, forming a sharp contrast. The coming Messiah is the king from the tribe of David. This perfect king will rule all of Israel and all nations. Because he continued the life of the root of David, he was called “the righteous branch” (cf. Isa. 11:1). This branch is full of righteousness and fairness like the creator, and when he grows up, he is full of God’s attributes. This is the image of the incarnated Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jeremiah’s beautiful prophecy about the righteous branch and the coming Messiah was a ray of light in the darkness, and it brought infinite hope to those who could not change the reality at that time but were still seeking God. Today, this prophecy has become a reality, the precious salvation has long been accomplished, and the power of resurrection has long been manifested. However, we still seem to be living in a dark world. We often lament our weakness and the evil of the world, and seem to be unable to change many things in reality. Let us not forget that when the Lord Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven, he left us with a newer and more beautiful hope: He will come again to execute a righteous judgment and justice for the oppressed. May this hope be the light in your life and bring you infinite comfort.
PRAYER:
Use Niebuhr’s “Serenity Prayer” as your prayer today: ask God to give you serenity to accept the things you cannot change; ask God to give you the courage to change things you can change; ask God to give you wisdom so that you can distinguish the difference between the two.
1Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“‘You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
an uninhabited city. 7 I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
REFLECTION:
God told the king of Judah through the mouth of Jeremiah that the foundation of making the country strong is to stay away from sin and practice fairness and justice. To uphold justice is not only to believe in the correct doctrine of God, but also to show it in practical actions. Although good deeds cannot save us, they can express our faith concretely. As the Book of James said, faith without works is like body without spirit, it is faith of death (see James 2:17-26). Such faith will not make us stand before God’s judgment. Reflect if our faith is expressed in practical actions? If our faith cannot bring out our good deeds, and if “justification by faith” has become an excuse for our inaction, we should be vigilant whether we have deviated from the new covenant that God established with us through the blood of Christ, and turned to serve all kinds of tangible and intangible idols?
PRAYER:
Come to God humbly and ask God to examine your heart to see if it contains pollution from the world? Pray for God to cleanse you, make you more holy, and be willing to fully dedicate yourself to God to please Him. Pray for God to give you the strength to actively participate in the church’s various ministries, and follow the Lord Jesus’ Great Commandment “love your neighbour as yourself” with practical actions to commensurate with your faith.
