Major Prophets · Chapter 24 of 52
Jeremiah 24
After Babylon exiled King Jeconiah and Judah's leaders, God shows Jeremiah two baskets of figs before the temple, one very good and one too rotten to eat. God explains that the good figs are the exiles in Babylon, whom He will watch over for good, bring back, and give a heart to know Him. The bad figs are Zedekiah and those who remain, whom He will scatter, curse, and consume by sword, famine, and pestilence.
What happens in Jeremiah 24
The LORD gives Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs set before the temple, after Nebuchadnezzar had already carried Jeconiah, the princes, and the skilled workers into Babylon. One basket holds figs so good they are like the first ripe, the other figs so bad they cannot be eaten. God interprets the sign against expectation. The good figs represent the exiles sent to Babylon; though they seem cast off, God will regard them for good, watch over them, bring them back to the land, build and plant them, and give them a heart to know Him so that they return to Him wholly and become His people.
The bad figs represent King Zedekiah, his officials, the remnant left in Jerusalem, and those who fled to Egypt. Far from being safe, they will be made a horror and a reproach in every place, pursued by sword, famine, and pestilence until they are destroyed from the land God gave their ancestors.
Jeremiah 24 in context
This vision comes shortly after the first Babylonian deportation of 597 BC, when Jeconiah and Judah's elite were taken. Those left in Jerusalem under Zedekiah likely felt spared and superior, while the exiles seemed rejected.
God's sign overturns that judgment, revealing that His purpose of restoration lay with the exiles, not the remnant. The promise of a new heart to know God anticipates the covenant renewal Jeremiah develops more fully later.
Main themes of Jeremiah 24
Jeremiah 24 (KJV)
1The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 4Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7And I will give them an 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 unto me with their whole heart. 8And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: 9And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
Verses to carry from Jeremiah 24
“Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.”Jeremiah 24:5
“For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.”Jeremiah 24:6
“And I will give them an 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 unto me with their whole heart.”Jeremiah 24:7
Thematic connection
How Jeremiah 24 points to Jesus
God's promise to give the exiles a heart to know Him, so that they wholly return and are truly His people, reaches toward the new covenant that Jesus inaugurates, in which God writes His law on the heart and gives the Spirit to know Him. The reversal of the two baskets, where the seemingly rejected are the ones God preserves for good, echoes the pattern Christ embodies and teaches, that God exalts the humbled and shows mercy to those the proud despise.
What looked like exile and loss became the path of restoration, just as the cross, apparent defeat, became the way of salvation. This is a thematic connection: the God-given heart to know Him is fulfilled through Christ and the Spirit He pours out.
Questions about Jeremiah 24
Why were the exiles the good figs and those who remained the bad?
Human judgment assumed the opposite, that the exiles were rejected and those left in Jerusalem were spared. But God declared the exiles the good figs, whom He would restore and give a heart to know Him, while those who remained under Zedekiah were the bad figs destined for destruction. God's favor rested not on those who felt secure but on those He was disciplining toward restoration, overturning the assumption that staying meant blessing.
What does the promise of a heart to know God reveal about true restoration?
God promises to give the exiles a heart to know Him so that they return to Him with their whole heart. This shows that real restoration is inward, not merely a matter of returning to the land. A wholehearted turning to God requires a heart He Himself supplies. The promise points beyond external circumstances to the deeper renewal that only God can create within a person, anticipating the transformation of the new covenant.
Reflection
What looks like rejection may be the very place God is preserving and shaping you. Do not measure God's favor by ease or by staying safe. Ask Him for what the exiles received: a heart to know Him and to return with your whole self, trusting that He works even hard providences for your ultimate good.
A prayer from Jeremiah 24
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