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Good Figs And Bad Figs
Good Figs And Bad Figs
In Jeremiah 24 we read of a vision that God gave to Jeremiah. Two baskets of figs, one filled with good figs and one filled with bad (rotten) figs. Imagine yourself standing at the kitchen counter faced with a choice of choosing a fig. Which basket would you pick? Not a difficult choice.
Babylon had just taken a group of Judeans into captivity in Babylon. Other people had been left in their homeland. At first thought most of us would say that the 'lucky' people were the ones that were left. The others would never see their homeland again. We would identify the basket of good figs with those who were left and the bad figs as those taken into captivity. God sees things differently.
Those in captivity are now free from war, famine, and pestilence. They may not have much but life takes on a rather normal pace. They will build houses, have families, and live from day to day. Those left in Judah are facing times like they had never seen. They would experience further war, famine and pestilence. They would 'live' through the very destruction of their country and homeland. Most would die in horrible circumstances. Sometimes 'bad situations' in fact save us from worse situations.
Yet, it is still difficult to accept God's teachings at times. They go against the desires of men's hearts. While the false prophets fan the flame of a hope for a quick return from captivity Jeremiah encourages them settle down and accept their new life in captivity. If they had returned, they too would then have experienced the ravages of sword, famine, and pestilence. I am not sure they would say that "captivity is good" but it was far better than what the people left in the land would experience.
Learning to accept life's twists and turns and continue to serve God in all circumstances is not an easy lesson to learn. It requires us to go through the hard times. You cannot learn this lesson without experiencing it. It does teach us the real value of things and situations.
