Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Jeremiah 24 Devotional

Good Figs in a Far Country

“I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.”Jeremiah 24:7 (BSB)

After King Jeconiah and Judah's leaders are carried off to Babylon, the LORD shows Jeremiah two baskets of figs, one very good and one too rotten to eat (24:1-3). The surprise is which is which. The good figs are the exiles who were sent away, and the bad figs are King Zedekiah and those who remained in the land or went to Egypt (24:5, 8).

The chapter gives no list of the exiles' virtues. Their good lies in what God will do: keep his eyes on them, bring them back, and rebuild and replant them (24:6). Above all, he will give them a heart to know him, and they will be his people and he their God (24:7). The new heart is a gift before it is a response. Ezekiel heard the same promise, that God would replace a stony heart with a living one (Ezekiel 36:26). A hard and distant place is not, by itself, a sign that God has stopped watching over you for good.

To think about: What hard or distant place in your life might be where God is giving you a heart to know him better?

About Jeremiah 24: The Good and Bad Figs

After King Jeconiah and Judah’s leaders are deported to Babylon, Jeremiah sees a vision of a fine basket of figs and a rotten one. The good figs stand for the exiles, whom God promises to bring back and to give hearts that know Him, while Zedekiah and those left behind face ruin.

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