Today Our Daily Bread Jeremiah 24 ++

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.

Jeremiah 24:1-10
Good and Bad Figs
1After King Nebuchadnezzar F42 of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin F43 son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the princes of Judah and all the skilled craftsmen, the LORD gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem. 2One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with figs that were spoiled and could not be eaten.
3Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied, "Figs, some very good and some very bad."
4Then the LORD gave me this message: 5"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians. F44 6I have sent them into captivity for their own good. I will see that they are well treated, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. 7I will give them hearts that will recognize me as the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.
8"But the rotten figs," the LORD said, "represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like spoiled figs, too rotten to eat. 9I will make them an object of horror and evil to every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed, wherever I send them. 10I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and their ancestors."
FOOTNOTES:F42: Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant name for Nebuchadnezzar. F43: Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant name for Jehoiachin. F44: Or Chaldeans.

~Lena’s Journalin’~
So the people of the Lord’s Kingdom were taken away by the world, taken away by the rule of another king, taken captive (captivated) by another, other than the Lord and His will and work… Those who were skilled at the work of the Lord, were taken off to serve another god-king,( little “g”, little ”k”).
I’m amazed this morning. We have to unlock the revelation of the word of God. We cannot look at it as it is and expect to get it, just like that. One has got to become a disciple and open up the word to their understanding!
I’ve looked up the word “baskets” only in the first verse, it means 3 different things, very different from one another. The first “basket” where there are two, plural basket-s, has a different meaning than the single one. If we just read through this we would NOT see this. The word “baskets” mean- love fruit, fruits of an intimate love relationship. As exciting and driving as sexual desire, with a burning desire to pro-create! To me that would best be expressed by a barren woman’s desire to have her womb filled with children! Extreme, but not from a soulish need to be someone or something to someone, but because she is in love and wants to reproduce the expression of that love. That is how God feels about His people- us. Impassioned.
This desire, this passion was placed in front of the Lord’s Temple. Who or what is the “Lord’s Temple”?
We are the “Lord’s Temple”, those who say they are His, belong to Him, have invited Him to live inside of them, are His Temple, that’s us! So this opportunity has been laid before us, outside of us, offered as food for us…….
Two decisions for the same work, for the same purpose, which one will burn inside of us? Passion for the world and all of its lusts and schemes to take us captive? Or passion for God, His world of lost people, who could be saved, passion for His presence where the intimacy of love is revealed and unleashed?
One meaning of the bad figs was stated this way, “naughty figs”. To me that would be an old English term for “disobedience”, so we could say, disobedient figs.
What makes the difference? As we read on we see it starts with those who see where they’ve been in the plan of God (or outside of it) and they turn around, they repent.
The other “rotten or naughty” are saints to whom truth is revealed and they choose to stay the same as they were before they saw or heard or had the opportunity for change. They chose to stay as they were, saying, “ Don’t bother me, don’t judge me, don’t TELL ME WHAT TO DO! God loves me just like I am”.
They choose to stay put, they may have grown a bit in God, got saved, but when pressed by His Spirit to go on, they won’t, or don’t. He equates them as the same as those who have not ever known Him, as Egyptians, people who never were in the covenant.
What happens when “the glory cloud” is moving and we become comfy cozy as we are and want to stay put? All kinds of things. At one time it was fine to stay in the place you’ve been, but the work and the need for the salvation of souls and the sanctification of the church is great, it has increased in magnitude. The Lord of the work has made a call for us to go on with Him, we cannot stay behind, in fact the enemy is behind and approaching, if we stay, he’ll devour us. He’ll curse us, kill us. What was once ok, is not so ok anymore, the times are different, the times have changed.
Side note- both baskets were brought out and harvested to be eaten, to be enjoyed, to feed others of sweet fruit. One was not meant to become rotten (disobedient), there was one difference, that is- the choice of the FW (free-will).
Engage oh lump of figs, jump into that basket of impassionate love for your Maker, your Husbandman, He is The Lord!
Show forth fruits of true repentance.
Luke 3:7-9
7 So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 "Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9 "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Proverbs 27:17-19
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. 18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored. 19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
Psalm 122:1
1 When they said, "Let's go to the house of God," my heart leaped for joy.