Two Baskets of Figs
- 24:1 “carried away Jeconiah” - this is the beginning of the reign of
Zedekiah. The next chapter will go back to Jehoiakim.
“the Lord showed me two baskets” - some commentators say vision, but
it sounds to me like literal baskets near the temple.
- 24:3 “so bad they cannot be eaten” - you might jump to conclude that
those captives taken away, like Daniel and Ezekiel, were the bad figs
God has removed from the “pot” (as the people thought of Jerusalem
protecting them). But you would be wrong.
- 24:5 “I have sent away” - God removed the good figs (Europeans say
apples) before bringing even harsher judgement to cleanse the pot.
- 24:6 “keep my eyes on them for good” - for instance, the Religious
Freedom for the Jews act in
Daniel 3:29.
- 24:7 “I will give them a new heart” - this uses language like prophecies of
the new covenant, but is a literal return in 70 years with leaders
like Ezra, Nehemiah, and Joshua. This prefigures the coming of
Messiah.
- 24:10 “sword, famine, and plague” - the horrific judgement that those
who surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar were spared.