Opus 2026-125: Figs and Remnants

I continue to be frustrated with preaching and teaching that is superficial and eisegetical.  I try to listen but it is almost impossible.  I have found something that helps.  Over the rest of the week I revisit the text that was the supposed source of the sermon or lesson and do the thinking that I expect from the speaker.

This past week we went through Jeremiah 24.  As we read I saw something that the Pastor was ignoring.  I asked about it and was patted on the head.  I am growing used to the head pats so I took it with a straight face and courteous manner.  I felt like it was an important point but it was either above or below his radar.

The chapter begins with God showing Jeremiah two bags of figs and they are described this way,

Jeremiah 24:2 (KJV) 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.

Obviously the two types of figs were going to be treated differently.  It was assumed that the good figs were the faithful of Judah and the naughty were the rebellious and disobedient.  The thing that I felt was interesting came later,

Jeremiah 24:5 (KJV) 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.

Notice that the good figs are being carried away to captivity . Later it says the bad figs stay behind.  That seemed like the opposite of what I would have expected.

Make what you will of it but to me it pointed out that if things start to fall apart around you it is not necessarily a mark of God’s disfavor if you are in the group that is deported.  God can care for His people in any situation and His plan is often not what we would expect.

Keep trusting and living in righteousness.  Things are not always what we think.

And keep reading and thinking.

homo unius libri