Biblical ABC’s: F is for – Figs
Let’s begin with our memory verses – what have you come up with for the letter “F?” All very good!!
There is an interesting chapter in the book of Jeremiah which is its own little parable or “object lesson” given by the Lord to Jeremiah. Being a prophet was not an easy job. As you read through the book of Jeremiah, his trials, as he presented God’s message to the Israelites, landed him in prison – or worse (!) – more than once! It was not an easy life, but it was what Jeremiah was called to do. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” So, having to tell the nation that God’s will was punishment and exile was, at times, discouraging. It was during this time of carrying this heavy burden that the Lord reassured Jeremiah that there was hope. Turn with me to Jeremiah 24 and let’s look at this chapter together:
1 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.[Soft Break]2 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.[Soft Break]3 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.[Soft Break]4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,[Soft Break]5 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.[Soft Break]6 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.[Soft Break]7 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.[Soft Break]8 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:[Soft Break]9 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.[Soft Break]10 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.
PRAYER
I.The Basket of Bad Figs
We know from reading this chapter that God had a plan for the nation of Israel. He likened the nation to two baskets of figs. One basket was filled with “very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.” This represented the part of the nation of Israel who disobeyed God. If a nation could go bad, it was Israel. Jeremiah had been sent to point out their wrongdoings and they laughed at and ignored him. They had no desire to change. We read in Jeremiah 18:11 & 12 God tells Jeremiah, “Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” (12) And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.”
Later Jeremiah would be sent to tell them that a conquering nation would come to carry them away and they were to go with the conquerors. Now, this goes against the norm. How would you and I feel if a prophet of God told us that our nation had sinned so horribly that the time for punishment had arrived and we were going to be carted off by foreigners? The King and most of the people rejected Jeremiah’s prophecy. It’s kind of like when we are warned of a hurricane bearing down upon us --- there’s no doubt of impending doom and there are some people that say, “No, this is my home and I refuse to leave!” That’s what these people said. “This is my home, the land of Israel, and I refuse to leave!” But God had said, “You have sinned. You have been disobedient. You have no choice. You must go!” If you stay, verse 10 says, “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.” They would be punished. Their outcome was death, one way or another – the final atonement for their sins.
Revelation 20:12-15 says, “(12) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (13) And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. (14) And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (15) And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
II. The Basket of Good Figs
The other basket in Jeremiah 24 was filled with “good figs, very good.” This represented the part of the nation of Israel that had been sent into exile. How difficult that was for them – to be away from their precious homes, away from all that they knew and loved, more importantly, sent away from the very land that had been promised to them by God from their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; promises that had been repeated from the fathers and the mothers to the children from generation to generation. But through Jeremiah they had been told that the Chaldeans would come to take them away; this was God’s will. Some believed this to be the truth and accepted the inevitable outcome; many did not. How would you and I feel if a prophet of God told us that our nation had sinned so horribly that the time for punishment had arrived and we were going to be carted off by foreigners? Would we listen? How they agonized over this! And Jeremiah! His heart was broken! But God reminded him that the nation, the people, had committed grievous sins to the point that they must leave all that was near and dear behind, for a time, to re-focus their priorities. Look again at verse 7: “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.” Warren Wiersbe said, “If the captivity did nothing else, it purged the Jewish people of idolatry.”
I am reminded of another Old Testament saint – Abraham. When God first called Abram, as he was then known, in the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis, it says, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:” All the people that Abram knew in his life at that time worshipped idols. Everyone around him had a different belief system. If Abram stayed within his family circle, what is the likelihood that their beliefs would soon influence Abram? They were very great, weren’t they, even for the strongest believer in God! No, God told him – you have to get away! Go to a new country. Get a new beginning. Establish your faith without the influences that you have there.
Most of the time, it’s not enough for us to make a godly decision. We have to put our faith into action that shows we mean business. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Let’s examine this verse more closely! It begins by giving us several requirements to meet in order for us to be heard by the Lord.
A. Humble Themselves
Webster defines humble as: “not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive ; reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission. In other words, to be humble is the opposite of being selfish. In this case, to “humble themselves” is to put God first. Part of being a “good fig,” so to speak, is to have humility. Proverbs 29:23 says, “A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” One cannot walk with their pride intact and expect to honor the Lord. We have to put away this “me, first” attitude and understand there is no ME in serving God. The world tries to tell us that we should seek what we want and “get what’s ours,” but that is not the teaching in God’s Holy Book, is it? You know this familiar verse, spoken by Jesus when He walked the earth, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4) Even then, many had that “me, first” attitude. Remember the publicans? They wanted all the attention and the praise and what they had in mind came before the needs of anyone else. What did Jesus say to His disciples in Matthew 23:13? “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” I know it’s a difficult attitude to maintain. I’m stepping on my own toes, believe me. But there will be great rewards! We read in James 4:6, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” And again, in verse 10: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” And Peter says something very similar, “(5) Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. (6) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:” (I Peter 5:5,6) Stay Humble! There is coming a day when we shall see a reward from our Heavenly Father!
B. PRAY
2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, . . .” It seems like we talk about this again and again! PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. Are we praying? Enough? When was the last time we were fervent in prayer, for ourselves, for our sin, for our nation? Hear the prayers of God’s servants: Moses in Exodus 32:11, “And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?” David prays in Psalm 39:12, “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.” In 2 Kings 20:2,3 it’s the plea of King Hezekiah, “Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, (3) I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.” Solomon in 2 Chronicles 6:21: “Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.” Nehemiah (1:6) prayed, “Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.” Such a zealous yearning for the nation! Again, the same earnestness from Daniel (9:17): “Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.” It was an angel who spoke concerning the prayer of Zechariah in Luke 1:13, “But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.” And we even have an answer to a prayer of someone seeking salvation in Acts 10:30,31, “And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,[Soft Break](31) And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.” Can’t you just hear the earnest pleading in the voices of these men? Perhaps, that’s what we need more of in our prayers. Let’s not forget what Jesus said in Matthew 21:22 – “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” We just need to pray in faith!!
C. Seek My Face
Again, 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, . . . ” Now let’s look at Isaiah 55:6-8 which says, “(6) Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (7) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (8) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” We know it more in our heads, but do our actions show that we believe it in our hearts? Do we act like we believe God? Are we trusting Him to lead and guide us? Are we seeking God’s will in every aspect of what we do? Or is it only when we’re in trouble? God wants us to actively seek Him ALWAYS! Psalm 37:3-5 sounds much like the verses we’re familiar with in the book of Proverbs. Again, listen for the words that call us to action: “(3) Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. (4) Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (5) Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Trust, Delight, Commit. Words of action. God expects us to put feet to our faith. He says Seek My Face.
D. Turn From Their Wicked Ways
Finally, we read again from 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; . . .” First, God asks us to put aside pride, then to pray, then to put feet to our faith, and finally, to set aside our sin. The nation of Israel had fallen back into idolatry. They had gone back to putting their faith in anything but God. I wonder . . . do we have the same problem? Who or what has become our idol? What is it that we put before God? What is it that we put ahead of worshipping Jesus first? Do you read your Bible every day? No? What is it that keeps you from doing that? That has become your idol. Are you faithful in your church attendance? No? That has become your idol. Do you pray – like we’ve discussed here before, faithfully, daily, as oft as God expects? No? That has become your idol. God says, “turn from your wicked ways,” and put Him first! You see, for the Christian, it doesn’t have to be anything more than that! In Ezekiel 33:11 God says, “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”
So what it comes down to is obedience. Will we obey the voice of God? Are you, am I, a good fig or a bad fig? Will we obey or disobey? “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
PRAYER
{Don’t forget the Fig Newtons!!}
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