Jeremiah 24:1

 Jeremiah 24:1 says, The 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.  This occurred after  the people of Judah and Jerusalem were carried away in captivity to Babylon.  Matthew Henry says that those who went away into captivity did so for their good, and that those who remained behind were still hardened in their heart against God and would eventually go away in captivity to their harm.  It was not the captivity but the attitude of the heart that was going to matter.  God showed Jeremiah two baskets of figs, again an everyday item.  Verse two adds, One 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.  One of the baskets contained good figs and the other bad figs that could not be eaten.  Verse three declares, Then 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.  God asked Jeremiah what he saw, and he said a basket of good figs and a basket of bad.  If we are just looking at things physically, we may miss God's message because we have not looked at them through faith.  We should not be waiting for God to speak to us with trumpets and horns, but we should be attuned to the Holy Spirit so that we can hear God speak to us through the ordinary things of life.  Verse four states, Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,  Then verse five adds, 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.  Here God told Jeremiah that those who were sent away into captivity were like the good figs, and that He did it for their own good.  Verse six continues, 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.  God told Jeremiah that He was still with those who had been carried away into captivity and who still had faith in Him, and that He would bring them into the land again and build them up once more.  We cannot judge God's blessings by our physical situation.  Even if we are taken away captive or even if we die for our faith, we are still secure in God's hand if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse seven concludes, 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.  God said that the hearts of these people would be devoted to Him.  We should never attempt to judge the faithfulness of an individual by their physical or material situation.  Verse eight proclaims, 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:  God said that the bad figs represented Zedekiah and the rest of the rulers of Judah who had yet to go into captivity but who soon would.  They may have felt that they were in a better position than those who had been taken away, but God said this was not so.  Verse nine adds, 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.  God said that the king and the rulers would serve as a reminder of what happens when those who claim to be His people are His in name only.  They had failed to live in the covenant relationship to God and had even claimed that God was behind all that they did.  We must be very careful to never attribute God's will to things that we simply want to happen for our own earthly good.  Verse ten concludes, 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.  God said that these people were going to be destroyed off the land that He gave to their fathers.  Ultimately, every person will be judged by their relationship with God through accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Material status will never be a factor.