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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Jeremiah 24

Loyal citizens of any nation rightly see patriotism and military courage as virtues. We do not admire people that simply give up in the face of a powerful oppressor. We are moved by the account of men on the field of battle, who though they are vastly outnumbered, manage to tenaciously hold their ground until reinforcements come.

For this reason it may seem very surprising to us that the Lord has good things to say about those who will give in to the Babylonians without a fight, and that He has bad things to say about those who will try to hang on to the high ground in Jerusalem.

This message is given to Jeremiah first through a vision. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had already come to Judah, and had taken many into exile. Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah), was removed from his place of authority and replaced by Zedekiah. It was after these things had taken place that the Lord gave this vision to Jeremiah. What should the remaining people in the land do – resist or submit to the Babylonians?

The vision contains two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. The two baskets stand for two different groups of people who are being presented before the Lord as an offering to Him. One basket was full of very good figs, while the other was full of very bad figs which were actually inedible. One group of people were those who were taken off to Babylon, while the other group was able to stay in the land. We might have expected that the good fruit would have been the people that were able to stay. Of course, the opposite was the case. We are told that the very good figs stand for the group that was in Babylon, and the very bad figs are the people that remain in the land of promise.

When the time of exile came for the Lord’s people, they were told that they should not resist the Babylonian invaders, since this horrifying discipline was from the Lord’s hand. Those who would fight Nebuchadnezzar were actually fighting against the purposes of the Lord in this case. Zedekiah and his officials wanted to continue to remain in the land and were resisting the sanction of the Lord. Many sought help from Egypt, hoping that an alliance would bring them the aid that they needed in order to turn back the enemy from the north. No one can stop the hand of the Almighty. He comes against them with the sword, famine, and disease. To stay in the land would be a hardened rejection of the Lord’s Word through His prophet. The people were to submit to their oppressors.

When Jesus came as the Lord’s Anointed, he passed by a fig tree and looked for fruit. He found none because it was not the season for fruit. The tree became an object lesson for the disciples. The Lord cursed the fig tree, as God cursed Judah in the day of Jeremiah. When Jesus returned back that way again later the tree was withered at the roots. The Old Covenant nation was a tree past the time of good fruit. The Lord looked for righteousness when He came, but instead He found the same resistance to the Word of God that Jeremiah had found in his own day.

The Lord did find people when He came. There were money-changers in the court of the Gentiles, running their businesses on the temple mount. Zeal for God’s house consumed Him, and He made a whip and drove out the offending commercial interests from the Lord’s house. In every age there are those who see counterfeit faith and empty ritual as an opportunity for their own greedy gain. But the Son of God can come at any time. How will it be for those who would turn His church away from prayer in order to satisfy their own greed?

When our Father instructs us to be distinct from the world, it is not safe for us to resist Him. The life that we are called to is not one of immediate gratification. We are to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and everything else that we need to live a life of godliness with contentment will be added to us. We are to be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We are to have the fruit of the Spirit as members of the Lord’s church – His beloved household. Our sanctification is His holy will.

Without the grace of the Lord of the vineyard, we would all be merely stubble for the fire. But Christ is a very fruitful tree, and He has granted to us not only that we should believe in Him, but also that we would have the privilege of suffering for His name. He willingly gave himself up to a betrayer and a group of high-placed oppressors that we might be a fruitful planting of the Lord.

In our day of trial the fruitfulness of faith can be surprisingly bountiful, since God supplies our every spiritual need, according to His riches in glory. Christ took the rottenness of our lives and faced the curse of the covenant for us. Now we are disciplined by His love. Though we may look like those who seem especially cursed by God, we know that we have treasures in heaven, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. Our security is not in Egypt, or in Babylon, or in Jerusalem. Our hope is not in any earthly temple, or in all the riches of the world. We have a Savior in the heavens who has willingly given His body and blood for our salvation. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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