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A New Message of Redemption & Damnation: the Good Figs & the Evil Figs

Near Annihilation vs. Total Annihilation

The message was twofold: The redemptive purpose declared was both unprecedented and paramount, and, notwithstanding, the message was scathing and denunciating to the false Prophets who presently opposed Jeremiah. Speaking of all those who were taken in the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Captivities to Babylon, the LORD said they were the Good Figs. Speaking of all those who remained in the Land of Judah, Egypt, or anywhere else, the LORD said they were the Naughty Figs. Speaking of the Good Figs, the LORD said,

Jeremiah 24:5-7 (The Good Figs)

[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.

 à

 

The Babylonian Captivities

 

[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.

 

 à

 

Will be Regathered

 

[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.

 

 à

 

Will be Genuinely

Converted & or Restored

You see, my reader? These people were the only ones who had been liberated from the awful appointment: the sword, the pestilence, and the famine. God had another design in mind for them! Furthermore, speaking of the Evil Figs, the LORD said,

Jeremiah 24:8-10 (The Evil Figs)

[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:

 à

 

The Remaining Inhabitants

of Judah / Jerusalem and

the Inhabitants of Egypt

 

[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.

 

 à

 

Dispersion into all Kingdoms, not Babylon

 

[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.

 

 à

Total Annihilation

Herein, graciously, the LORD’s prophetic sermons unveiled the method of redemption at hand! These two different spiritual categories, the Good Figs and the Naughty Figs, represented the populations of people with and without hope, the redeemable and the reprobate, the good and the naughty! These weren’t inconsequential titles, no! Furthermore, the segregation of these two peoples reveals God’s meticulous involvement in the judgments of the Tribulation. Meticulous involvement, I say, because those who had been taken in the Captivities were selected by God to be in the basket of hopefuls, and those who had not been taken were selected by God to be in the basket of deplorables.

The people who became the objective of intercessory powers via the ministry of false Prophets were, in fact, the people whom God had categorically defined, the Good Figs. Their trajectory was indeed hopeful and good, that is, as long as they stayed in the location of their Captivity in the Land of Babylon. The inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, however, the backwards people, paraded the false prophecies of Prophets who aimed to bring them “home” via a successful intercession. If indeed they all came “home”, they would all go to Hell together! To go from Babylon to Jerusalem was to go from good to bad! Unwittingly, though, the false Prophets aimed for the return of the Captivities, to wit: all men would suffer the agony of total annihilation! They proclaimed a salvation and a security which was, in truth, a damnation and absolute robbery! These were the devil’s ministers. Do you see how backwards the people were? Ah, and through a misplaced “faith” in Covenantal Ideals this diabolical scheme was popularized! This is a cunning deception.

When considering the eternal ramifications of being a Jew in Babylon as opposed to a Jew in Jerusalem (when the geography itself is an indicator of eternal destiny), we can be sure that this didn’t happen by happenchance. The populations of the two locations were not the random natural selection of earthly circumstances, no! God was and is the deciding factor, from a sovereign perspective, hence the aforementioned categories were populated person by person according to God’s selection. That being the case, one is made to wonder: how were these choices made? Specifically speaking, how did God choose to carry one to Babylon and leave the other behind?

An abrupt answer to the question, would be: “The Captives were called Good Figs; meaning, they were good. God saw goodness in them and therefore they were hand-selected by God to be a Captive in Babylon.” Shockingly, though, and on the contrary, the Good Figs weren’t good! My reader, the evidence for this interpretation will be thoroughly conveyed in the following events and prophecies (Jeremiah 29:1-32, Jeremiah 50:1-51:64, Ezekiel 1:2-3:21). Until sufficient proof is offered, let us steadily gather the details of God’s redemptive plan as they are unveiled via Scripture. Surely, exceedingly wonderful observations could also be made by drawing from the recent events of prophecies (Jeremiah 14:1-17:18 & Jeremiah 27:1-28:17), but any answer or explanation attempted without the aid of the events and prophecies which follow, is futile. Therefore, having taken some pause to consider what these things may mean (namely, that the Good Figs weren’t good), let us follow the divine argument as it unfolded in real time.