Jer 24:8 | KingComments | STEP | The judgment on the bad figs, which are those who remain in Jerusalem, is sweeping. The basket of the bad figs is also before the temple ( ; ). These bad figs are overripe, rotten figs, which cannot be eaten. They are the sacrifices that God abhors (cf. ). These sacrifices are made by people who are religious, but adhere to a self-willed religion. They do not ask themselves what God wants, but fill in for themselves what God should be satisfied with, while flattering themselves with the thought that they are bringing God sacrifices after all. The bad figs represent Zedekiah and all those who remained in Jerusalem and also those who believe they escaped exile by fleeing to Egypt. They have not bowed under the discipline of God. However, there is no escape from God’s discipline. He will bring a heavier discipline upon them ( ). What will happen to them from the hand of the LORD will be an example to all the kingdoms of the earth which will shock them. The reproach will be great. They will become a proverb and an object of ridicule and curse. They will be so in all the places to which the LORD will yet drive them. All those who have remained in the land believing that the enemy will not be able to overcome them will perish there by violence, want or disease ( ). As a result, they will be destroyed from the land that the LORD gave them and their fathers, but on which they laid claim.

‏ Jeremiah 24:8

Meaning of the Bad Figs

The judgment on the bad figs, which are those who remain in Jerusalem, is sweeping. The basket of the bad figs is also before the temple (Jer 24:8; Jer 24:1). These bad figs are overripe, rotten figs, which cannot be eaten. They are the sacrifices that God abhors (cf. Mal 1:7-8). These sacrifices are made by people who are religious, but adhere to a self-willed religion. They do not ask themselves what God wants, but fill in for themselves what God should be satisfied with, while flattering themselves with the thought that they are bringing God sacrifices after all.

The bad figs represent Zedekiah and all those who remained in Jerusalem and also those who believe they escaped exile by fleeing to Egypt. They have not bowed under the discipline of God. However, there is no escape from God’s discipline. He will bring a heavier discipline upon them (Jer 24:9). What will happen to them from the hand of the LORD will be an example to all the kingdoms of the earth which will shock them. The reproach will be great. They will become a proverb and an object of ridicule and curse. They will be so in all the places to which the LORD will yet drive them.

All those who have remained in the land believing that the enemy will not be able to overcome them will perish there by violence, want or disease (Jer 24:10). As a result, they will be destroyed from the land that the LORD gave them and their fathers, but on which they laid claim.