The good fig and the bad fig - God's protection and punishment.

 

We all have understandings and images of what God’s punishment might look like and by contrast what His protection would look like. These images very often portray discomfort and displacement as God’s punishment upon people for their sin. As you study the Old Testament you find that “dwelling in the promised land” is seen as a blessing from God for the people of Israel, provided they continue to walk in obedience. If they should walk away from YHWH then the punishment was to be them being displaced from the land. The prophets of the Old Testament keep warning of God’s judgment coming in the form of foreign kings that would carry Israel off into exile. One such prophet is Jeremiah. Much of his prophecy is to do with this coming judgment of God and how the Jews would be taken in to exile.

 

In chapter 24 of Jeremiah we find that the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar has invaded and has carried off the king and many of the Jewish people as his prisoners. Nebuchadnezzar then sets up a vassal King to rule Judah and his name is Zedekiah. He has his own officials and will rule over those that were not carried away as prisoners of war

 

A quick read of the story and its facts can show us God’s punishment as some were carried away into exile and yet can show us God’s protection over those who were spared. Among those who were spared this exile were those that fled the battle and who had run to Egypt. Imagine being a prisoner of war and being forcibly carried away from your home. You know that the prophets had warned of this punishment but now that it has happened you seem to have gotten the worse deal. Somehow God has protected those left behind in Jerusalem and God seems to have punished you along with these others being carried away as prisoners. You would apply the human imagery of protection and punishment and wonder whether your sin was any worse than those whom God has seemingly protected.

 

 But Jeremiah 24 is not merely about history. Its central point is a vision that the prophet receives. It is a startling vision and one that throws all our images on their head. In the vision Jeremiah sees two baskets of figs – good ones and bad, uneatable, rotten useless ones. As suspected the interpretation of this vision goes along the lines of two groups of people. Upon one group lies the Lord’s hand of protection and upon the other lies the Lord’s hand of punishment. But what is shockingly unexpected is who the Lord connects the good figs and the bad figs to.

 

From Jeremiah 24:4 God begins to explain the vision to Jeremiah. In verse 5 He says that He will regard as good figs those who had been carried away into exile. In verse 8 He says He will regard as bad figs those left behind or who had escaped the battle altogether by running to Egypt. Notice this is not because of any inherent righteousness of either group but it is by the Lord’s sovereignty and will. He has decided in His own justice and mercy and wisdom which group to treat as the good figs and bad figs of the vision. Don’t be mistaken into thinking one group did anything to deserve its title. They were all of the Kingdom of Judah that had been judged as sinful and disobedient.

 

The Lord tells Jeremiah in verse 6 that He will “set his eyes upon the exiles” which means the Lord will watch over them even in exile. He goes on in the next verses to tell Jeremiah of how He will build them and not tear them and how He will change their hearts and bring them back to the land of promise. He also goes on to tell Jeremiah about the “bad figs” and how his judgment will fall upon them and how they will be made a reproach and a horror to all the kingdoms that surround them. He reveals how they will face sword and famine and pestilence upon them and how they will be utterly destroyed.

 

This interpretation seems to rock our images of the protection and punishment of God. It would seem the displaced and the ones in great discomfort as exiles are the ones being watched over and protected by the Lord. As they were marched away into this exile they were the ones of promise, the ones whom the Lord was watching over and whom the Lord had decreed to build up. It was from among them that the names of Daniel and Nehemiah and the likes would arise. It was to them the Lord says “I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and future” (Jer 29:11). And none of this was of their own merit.

 

Conversely it seems that those left behind were the ones heading towards utter destruction. In their “comfort” at the moment they might have assumed God’s hand of protection over them. Yet the reality remained that they were headed to ruin.

 

The teaching from this passage is not to say comfort is a sign of God’s wrath or displacement a sign of God’s protection or vice versa. But the passage does serve to rebuke us for using our state of being comfortable and settled or uncomfortable and displaced as yardsticks of God’s protection or punishment. This passage reminds us that God’s ways are different and higher than ours. It shatters our stereotypes and shows us that sometimes God protects through settling us down, but sometimes God protects through discomfort and exile. He knows the best way to protect and we need to walk humbly before Him without placing such a high value on our own comfortable lives. In our discomfort let us not lose heart as if the Lord has suddenly abandoned us or is displeased with us. And yet, in our comfort let us not become complacent or assume the Lord’s pleasure upon us and our lives.