Jeremiah Chapter 24 "Captives, Remnant." This Bible
Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location is provided by http://www.theseason.org Jeremiah 24 is a parable of the fig tree, and is one of the prime roots for the parable. When Jesus Christ told His disciples in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 13 of how it would be in the time of the end, in the last days, He told us to learn the parable of the fig tree. We are to learn it because within it is much wisdom that will come against those that live in the time of the end of this earth age of the flesh. Jeremiah 24:1 "The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon." We see the parable starts with two baskets of figs sitting in front of the temple in Jerusalem. We see that this captivity has already taken place, with the people, the king and all the leaders of the people already gone into Babylon. The parable that is given here is to let us know that the king of Babylon is coming. The king of Babylon of the end times is well documented in the Book of Revelation, and in Revelation 9:11 he is identified. "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon." In Revelation 12:7-9 we are told his other names, as well as when he shall arrive. "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels," [7] "And prevailed not, neither was there place found any more in heaven." [8] "And the great dragon was cast out, old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels," [9] So we see the king that is coming as part of this parable is none other then Satan, who is called Abaddon in the Hebrew and Apollyon in the Greek tongue. Friend, we will see the king of Babylon of the book of Revelation, and that entire Book was written to our generation, the generation of the fig tree. When Satan comes, he will come posing as the true Christ, and that is why he is called the Antichrist. Antichrist fully translated means "instead of Christ [Jesus]". That means that when Satan does come, he is going to claim that he is the true Christ, before the temple of God in Jerusalem. Satan is called the king of Babylon. Well this parable of the fig tree is a simple story that will tell us exactly what will take place. Picture a temple in Jerusalem, with two baskets of figs sitting on the steps before the temple. That is the setting. Notice also that it names the name "Jeconiah", and we know him by the name of Jehoiachin. Remember back a few chapters, God changed his name because of his evil. The name "Jehoiachin" means, "one whom God appoints". Jeconiah means "one whom God established". It is saying that God put him there in captivity. Jeremiah 24:2 "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." When you go into the horticulture of the figs, we are talking about goat figs here. The male tree. We know that this tree was set out in the year 1948 when Judah only returned to Jerusalem to establish the tiny nation of Israel. And with them came the very good figs, and the very bad figs. Jeremiah 24:3 "Then said the LORD unto me, What seesth thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil." God told Jeremiah to look at the two baskets and tell Him what he was seeing. You know what you see, it's the temple of God, with the king of Babylon, and there setting in front of it all were these two baskets of figs, (one basket of good figs and the other of bad figs). This parable will take you all the way back to the beginning in the Garden of Eden. when you had "the tree of Life", who was Jesus Christ, and the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", who was Satan the Serpent. The figs came into the garden of Eden after the sin where Eve was deceived, or wholly seduced by Satan, and from that sexual union came a child named Cain. Friend it is time to grow up, as to what took place in the garden of Eden. It was intercourse between Eve and Satan, and not the eating of apples. It happened in the fig grove, and that is why fig leaves were used to cover their parts of the sin. They made aprons to cover their sin, and not masks to cover something they had eaten. This is all part of what Christ meant when He said for us to "learn the parable of the fig tree." It is all part of what is concerning the year 1948. Matthew 24:32 "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:" Matthew 24:33 "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." Matthew 24:34 "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." All those things that Jesus had just said would come to pass before His return, Jesus said the generation that saw the "parable of the fig tree" would witness all these events, that is why we are to learn the parable of the fig tree. Jesus is talking here of the Kenites, those offspring of Cain, the son born to the sexual union between Eve and Satan, the Serpent, also known as the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" in the Garden of Eden. We see that part of them are very good and part of them are very bad, and they will have slipped in and mixed with the tribe of Judah. We will read more of this in Jeremiah 35. It is to these Kenites that this false Messiah has returned to, and most of the world will be taken in also. Even most Christians will think Satan is Jesus that has come to rapture them away. They will do this because they are Biblically illiterate. Jeremiah 24:4 "Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying," Jeremiah 24:5 "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." God is declaring that you are going into captivity, the Antichrist is coming and this is all going to happen. However those that know what is coming have nothing to worry about, because God will protect His own, those sealed with the Word of God in their minds and hearts, which is the "seal of God in their foreheads". You are going to be taken into captivity "for your good". Remember what Mark 13:11 tells us we will be doing during this time. Mark 13:11 "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit." You will be delivered up before the false messiah to allow the Holy Spirit of God to bring a message to the whole world. God is going to use His elect to draw those simple pictures so that the people world will listen to you speak, and there will be no language barrier. That was the tongue that was spoken on Pentecost Day, and that is the tongue spoken of by Joel in Joel 2:28:32. This parable is to document the fact that everything that is going to happen to you is for your good. Even when it looks like the whole world is crashing around you, it is for a purpose for God to test you that He may use you at His appointed time. God's plan is perfect, it is just that the human mind has trouble understanding it, without the understanding of His Word. The purpose of this captivity happening is that many will ultimately come to Christ, and come to know His salvation that would not, had the captivity and witnessing taken place. It is God's elect that will be used in that hour. The Holy Spirit Himself will use those elect that are delivered up before this king of Babylon, and the message will go out world wide in every tongue on the face of the earth. It is written and it will come to pass. Jeremiah 24:6 "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." When this has taken place, and both fig baskets have returned to Jerusalem, as well as the events listed in Matthew 24, and Mark 13. These are the events which are the seven seals of Revelation and the seven trumpets that sound their taking place, God is saying that then He will establish them forever. Friend, this has to do with the end times, and our generation is the generation that will live to see it all come to pass. That part of our true brother Judah will always be there, and they will never be moved from that location in the nation of Israel, as well as Jerusalem. In the closing chapters of Ezekiel, for Ezekiel 40-48 it tells you exactly what will take place in the Millennium age in Jerusalem, as well as the rest of this earth. Jeremiah 24:7 "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." This word "heart" in the Hebrew text is "leb ", number 3820 in the Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, "the center of your feelings, the intellect, your mind- heart." You will know in your mind and you feeling and thought will know absolutely that Jesus Christ is the very Son of God. The entire tribes of both houses will know Jesus Christ as their Lord, and He will be their King and Lord forever. God is going to give all of His people the unction to know the truth when they hear the truth. The book of Hosea tells us of the returning of His people to Him, after the time of separation when God had divorced them. Friend, all of God's people will be for only Him during that time of the Millennium age, and not for the fake that will be removed from us then. God wants you loyalty, and your love toward Him. The parable of the tares are directly tied to the parable of the fig tree. If you don't understand that parable, it will be almost impossible to understand the parable of the fig tree. That is Christ's words. There is an important reason that Christ cursed the fig tree, it is because when they understand the parable they will see the events come to life from off the pages of His Word. They are the signs of our times that allow our generation to keep from being deceived. It is the bad figs that we have to watch out for, because they are the ones that allow Satan to operate, and succeed in. Jeremiah 24:8 "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:" The first seven verses dealt with the future sense, and now we return to the historical aspect. This then is a type of what shall come to pass that we shall see. That is what prophecy is all about, remember what Paul said in I Corinthians 10:11 "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." They are warnings as to how the end of the world age shall come. Remember that there were two baskets setting before the temple, and this is addressing the evil figs, which cannot be burned up or consumed. King Zedekiah's name was changed from Mattaniah by king Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. Zedekiah means "the gift of Yahoveh" and his name was changed to "the justice of God". We see that there is justice in this because God warned him over and over through Jeremiah, and he refused to listen. It is the same in this generation, the people and the rulers are warned over and over what is about to happen, yet they would rather give a deaf ear, and not pay attention. Babylon is coming and it will happen exactly as it is written. Jeremiah 24:9 "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." When this king of Babylon comes, those that chose to turn away from God's Word and warnings, will be removed and placed into the kingdom of the Antichrist. There will be no kingdoms left on the face of the earth, Why? Because they will all be part of the one world system that controls the entire earth. So historically that is exactly what happened when the House of Judah was hauled into Babylon, and held in captivity by Nebuchadnezzar's one world system. Then when they were finally released to return to rebuild the city, the walls and streets of Jerusalem, there was a large mixture of these Kenites [Nethinims] with them. Ezra told us that they were the ones that had taken over the priesthood and the duties of the scribes, in the return, and about half of those claiming to be of Judah were actually Kenites. I Chronicles 2:55 "And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez [Jerusalem]; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. these are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab." These are all part of the group referred to in verse eight as the "residue of Jerusalem". Jeremiah 24:10 "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." This is God speaking. In the historical sense, it came to pass exactly as it reads. Famine and pestilence claimed the lives of many that lived in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, and those that gave a fight were taken by the sword. However in the futuristic sense, looking forward to the time when the king of Babylon of Revelation comes, after he as been alowed to do his deception and evil deeds, he will be placed in the abyss, in the pit and held until the end of the Millennium age, when he shall be released for a short season, and following that, sent into the fire. Revelation 20:14 "And death [Satan] and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." Revelation 20:15 "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." If we were to look at the two baskets of figs today, which are those that claim to be of Judah we could not tell the difference between the good and the bad, or evil. That is why we must take care of the religious practices we accept today. Many times one of the religious forms looks just like the other. It usually starts, when you are Christian, with a question; "Do you love Jesus?" "Are you saved?" They never get around to the critical question; "Do you know there are two Jesus'?" That is what the point is. The famine that will come in our generation is not like the famine that claimed many lives at the fall of Jerusalem in Jeremiah's day. Amos warns us in Amos 8:11 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:" This famine that Christ will send is the prime reason that Christ wilted that fig tree just before the cleaned out our heavenly House in Jerusalem. He threw the money changers out of His temple, and let the the mite infested doves fly away. Friend, when our Savior Jesus Christ returns, the Kenite money changers and their ways, and systems, will be gone. Those artifical methods of sacrifice and shortcuts to worship will be gone, and the sword of the Lord, which is the truth of His Holy Word is what will be left. So lets pay special attention to the parable of the fig tree. We read in Mark 13 that seven things will happen at the end of this earth age. These are the same seven things that are given in the Book of Revelation that seal the end of the age of the flesh man. They are the seven seals and seven trumpets, and within this, the beginning is marked by the parable of the fig tree. Mark 13:28 "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:" This is Jesus talking, and giving you your notice if you live in the final generation. "Ye know that summer is near", means that the end is very close. Summer is the time of the harvest of this earth age. It is important to know the horticulture of the fig. In growing figs you don't plant a seed, you plant a shoot. So when you set the shoot, it doesn't take the shoot long to bring forth a crop. What is the subject of this parable? We are talking of the return of Judah to Jerusalem, and the establishing of a nation made up of both the good and bad figs. That shoot then is the nation of Israel, and it was planted in May 15, 1948. We are living in that generation that the shoot was first placed in Palestine and Jerusalem known as the nation of Israel today. Both of the baskets of figs, the good and the evil, which is the true brother Judah mixed with the Kenites, are in there home land, and this has never happened before in history. So you see that those that first witnessed this come to pass are pushing their elder years in life. Mark 13:29 "So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors." So now when you and I personally observe the tribe of Judah along with the Kenites, not the other tribes, return to establish their nation [plant that shoot of the fig tree] that is the prime sign that you are in the final generation of this earth age. Remember that those Kenites are the sons of Cain that came through the sexual union between Eve and Satan in the Garden of Eden. This is why we have observed the one world system taking over the supreme authority for the nation of the world, and many religions mixing and blending into a common form. The signs of the end times are history in many cases, and we see that most Christians just don't care to hear the warnings of the times. Just like Jeremiah's time, the king of Babylon will be at the gate, and they will be spiritually destroyed before they have known what hit them. Mark 13:30 "Verily I say unto you, That this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done." This generation is the generation that the "fig tree" was planted, when Israel became established as a nation. This is why Jesus told us to learn it so that we would not be deceived. That generation will see all the signs, and they will be present when Satan comes to deceive the entire earth. They will also see the coming of the Lord, and be changed in an instant, in the wink of an eye into their spiritual, incorruptible and immortal bodies at the sounding of the seventh trump. Friend, there will not be any rapture, or fly-away in this generation or any generation. You are going to be here for all the prophecies to be completed in Mark 13, the entire Old Testament, and the Book of Revealtion. That is the parable of the fig tree, and that is why Jesus said to learn it. Mark 13:31 "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away." The heaven age and the earth age will pass away, but God's Word shall never pass away. The Word of God that we have with us today shall be with us for the eternity. Christ is the Living Word, and He shall be around without end. The Word of God is a story of one man's family and all the other people that come in contact with that family throughout the years. It is that simple. It is the story of God's plan to bring peace and happiness to all that will believe in that plan. So we see that this Jeremiah 24 was about the two baskets of figs that were set on mount Zion. There was one good basket and one bad basket, and Christ told us to know the difference. When we understand the parable of the fig tree, then we have the key to the understanding of the signs of our final generation. Tied closely with the parable of the Fig Tree, is the parable of the tares, of Matthew 13, which is the understanding of where and how the bad figs or Kenites came into being.
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