In a picture of good and bad figs, is there a difference between the hearts of those who love God and those who don’t? Let’s begin in Jeremiah 24.
What did Jeremiah see in two baskets in front of the temple?
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. One basket contained very good figs, like early figs, but the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they were inedible. The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs! The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are extremely bad, so bad they are inedible.” (Jer 24:1-3 HCSB)
What did the basket of good figs picture and what wholehearted attitude determined their worth?
Then this message from the Lord came to me: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I’ll regard as good the exiles of Judah whom I sent from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I’ll look at them with good intentions, and I’ll bring them back to this land. I’ll build them up. I won’t tear them down; I’ll plant them and not rip them up. I’ll give them the ability to know me, for I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God when they return to me with all their heart. (Jer 24:4-7 ISV)
What character trait determined that the other basket of figs was so bad?
And 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: And 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. And 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. (Jer 24:8-10 KJV)
What is a major difference between the old and new covenants?
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And upon their hearts I will write them. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. (Heb 8:10 LSB)
What is a definitive example of the law written on our hearts?
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from people, but from God. (Rom 2:28-29 NASB)
What was the inward intended lesson of circumcision of the flesh?
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh (Phil 3:3 NIV)
In a picture of good and bad figs, is there a difference between the hearts of those who love God and those who don’t? You decide!
