Good Figs, Bad Figs

Jer 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.
Jer 24:3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
Jer 24:4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 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.
Jer 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.

Here, the Lord distinguishes between good figs and rotten figs.

The good ones represent the Jews to be taken to Babylon and purged, then brought back to the land.

The bad figs speak of the jews who would remain behind in the land, and those who escaped down into Egypt. The Lord counts them as so corrupt as to not even be counted as redeemable.

I often wonder about the folks who are greatly used of God, those who are shelved for a time, and those who are so reprobate that the Spirit of the Lord no longer strives with.

Then I contemplate my own existence. How that God, in His grace, has not allowed me to fall into that third category. I have definitely felt worthy of being shelved for a time and, truthfully, have felt deserving of being cast off like the rotten figs. But, and oh, thank God, He continues to allow me to serve Him, pouring out His rich blessings.

Oh, glory to God, my cup runneth over. He sees me as a redeemable fig!