Chapter commentary
Jeremiah Chapter 24
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English original
In the close of the foregoing chapter we had a general prediction of the utter ruin of Jerusalem, that it should be forsaken and forgotten, which, whatever effect it had upon others, we have reason to think made the prophet himself very melancholy. Now, in this chapter, God encourages him, by showing him that, though the desolation seemed to be universal, yet all were not equally involved in it, but God knew how to distinguish, how to separate, between the precious and the vile. Some had gone into captivity already with Jeconiah; over them Jeremiah lamented, but God tells him that it should turn to their good. Others yet remained hardened in their sins, against whom Jeremiah had a just indignation; but those, God tells him, should go into captivity, and it should prove to their hurt. To inform the prophet of this, and affect him with it, here is, I. A vision of two baskets of figs, one very good and the other very bad, Jer 24:1-3. II. The explication of this vision, applying the good figs to those that were already sent into captivity for their good (Jer 24:4-7), the bad figs to those that should hereafter be sent into captivity for their hurt, Jer 24:8-10.
1-10
Vision of the Good and Bad Figs; Promises and Threatenings (599 BC)
繁體中文
好壞無花果的異象；應許與警告（主前 599 年）
¹ 巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒將猶大王約雅敬的兒子耶哥尼雅，和猶大的首領，並工匠、鐵匠，從耶路撒冷擄去，帶到巴比倫之後，耶和華指示我，看哪，有兩筐無花果放在耶和華的殿前。
² 一筐是極好的無花果，好像初熟的；一筐是極壞的無花果，壞得不可吃。
³ 於是耶和華問我說：耶利米，你看見甚麼？我說：我看見無花果；好的極好，壞的極壞，壞得不可吃。
⁴ 耶和華的話又臨到我，說：
⁵ 以色列的神耶和華如此說：被擄去的猶大人，就是我打發出這地方到迦勒底人之地去的，我必看顧他們如這好無花果，使他們得好處。
⁶ 我要向他們定睛留意，施恩給他們，領他們再歸回這地；我必建立他們，必不拆毀；我必栽植他們，必不拔出。
⁷ 我要賜他們一個認識我的心，知道我是耶和華；他們要作我的子民，我要作他們的神；因為他們要盡心歸向我。
⁸ 那壞得不可吃的無花果，耶和華如此說：我必照樣將猶大王西底家、他的首領、以及剩在這地的耶路撒冷餘民、並住在埃及地的人，交出來，
⁹ 使他們在地上萬國中拋來拋去，遭遇災禍，在我所趕他們到的各處，成為凌辱、笑談、譏誚和咒詛。
¹⁰ 我必使刀劍、饑荒、瘟疫臨到他們，直到他們從我賜給他們和他們列祖之地滅絕。
這簡短的一章幫助我們對許多冗長的篇章作出十分安慰的解釋，向我們顯明：同一個護理，對某些人是死的香氣叫他死，卻可因神的恩典和賜福，對別人成為活的香氣叫他活；而且，雖然神的百姓與別人同受一樣的災禍，這災禍對他們卻與對別人不同，而是為他們的好處而設計，也必為他們的好處而結果；對他們，那是慈父手中的責打之杖，對別人，那是公義審判官手中的報復之劍。請觀察：
一. 這篇信息的日期。是在耶哥尼雅被擄之後不久（耶 24:1）。耶哥尼雅自己是個被人輕看的破器皿，但與他一同被擄的有些十分有價值的人，以西結就是其中之一（結 1:1,2）；那時許多猶大的首領被擄去，但以理和他的同伴稍早也被帶走；百姓中只有工匠和鐵匠被強行帶走——或是因為迦勒底人需要這些行業的巧匠（他們有的是占星家和觀星者，卻極缺鐵匠和木匠），或是因為猶太人要嚴重感受到失去他們的痛苦，並因缺少他們而不能修築城池、為自己預備武器。如今看來，那次被擄中有許多敬虔的人被帶走，這敬虔的先知為此十分痛心，卻有人以此為幸，並嘲笑那些被擄的人。注意，我們不可斷定最先、最大受苦的人就是最壞、最大的罪人；因為也許情形正好相反，正如這裏所顯示的。
二. 藉以向先知表明被擄者之間這分別的異象。他看見兩筐無花果，放在殿前——在那裏預備好作為初熟的果子獻上，以尊榮神。也許祭司怠忽職守，沒有按律法收下並處置，因此耶利米看見它們擺在殿前。但這異象的要意在於：一筐的無花果異常地好，另一筐的極壞。世人都如無花果樹的果子，能被用來服事神和人（士 9:11）；但有的如好無花果，再沒有比這更悅人的，有的如敗壞腐爛的無花果，再沒有比這更令人作嘔的。還有甚麼受造物比惡人更卑劣，又有甚麼比敬虔人更寶貴！好無花果如同初熟的，最為人所悅納（彌 7:1），新上市時最為人所珍視。壞無花果則壞得不可吃；不能達成受造的目的，既不悅人也不可口；那麼它有甚麼用處呢？若神不能從人得榮耀，他們那一代也不能得著任何服事，他們就如壞無花果，不可吃，不能成就任何好目的。鹽若失了味，從此只能丟在糞堆裏。在帳幕門口被獻給主的人中，有的是真誠的，他們是極好的；有的向神假冒為善，他們是極壞的。罪人是世人中最壞的，假冒為善者是罪人中最壞的。至善之物一旦敗壞，即成至惡。
三. 這異象的解釋與應用。神藉此要振奮那些已被擄之人的低落心靈，向他們保證有快樂的歸回；又要謙卑、喚醒那些仍留在耶路撒冷之人的驕傲與安逸，向他們保證有悲慘的被擄。
- 這是好無花果——極好、初熟的——的寓意。這些代表敬虔的被擄者，他們看似首先成熟到可以毀滅的地步，因為他們最先被擄，卻要證明是首先成熟到可以蒙憐憫的，而他們的被擄正要幫助他們成熟；這些為神所喜悅，如同好無花果為我們所喜悅，必被小心保存以備使用。在此請觀察：
（1.）那些已被擄去的是好無花果，是神所承認的。這表明：〔一.〕我們不能憑眼前所見的來斷定神的愛或恨。當神的審判運行時，最先被抓住的不一定是最壞的。〔二.〕提早受苦有時對我們至終是有益的。孩子越早受管教，管教的效果可能越好。那些先被擄的，如同父親所愛、及早管教的兒子——趁有指望時管教；結果很好。而那些留下的，如同長期被放任的孩子，後來受管教時就頑梗，反因管教而更壞（哀 3:37）。
（2.）神承認他們的被擄是祂的作為。無論誰是工具，都是祂所安排和引導的（耶 24:5）：*我已將他們從這地方打發到迦勒底人之地。*把金子放進熔爐中試驗的是神；在敬虔之人的苦難中，要特別看見祂的手。審判官把罪犯交在行刑者手中，但父親卻親手管教兒女。
（3.）即使這屈辱不安的被擄，神也是為他們的益處而設計；而我們確知祂的旨意從不落空：*我將他們打到迦勒底人之地，是為他們的好處。*這看來凡事都是對他們有害——不僅毀了他們的產業、尊榮和自由，使他們與親屬朋友分離，把他們置於仇敵和欺壓者的權下，更使他們的心消沉、信心受挫、剝奪了他們從神的神諭和典章得益的機會，並使他們暴露在試探中；然而這卻是為他們的好處而設計，至終對他們許多人也確實如此。從食者出了食物。他們藉苦難被定罪為有罪、在神手下自卑、從世界斷奶、變得嚴肅、學會禱告，並轉離自己的罪孽；特別是他們拜偶像的傾向被治好了；因此他們受苦是於他們有益的（詩 119:67,71）。
（4.）神應許在他們被擄中承認他們。他們雖似被撇棄，卻必被承認；他們留下的輕蔑的親屬幾乎不認他們，或對他們不認親，但神說：*我必承認他們。*注意，主認識誰是祂的人，並要在一切境遇中承認他們；赤身露體和刀劍都不能使他們與祂的愛隔絕。
（5.）神保證在他們的患難中保護他們，並在時候滿足時榮耀地拯救他們（耶 24:6）。既為他們的好處而被擄，他們必不在那裏滅亡；而是如同精煉者放入熔爐的金子。〔一.〕當金子在熔爐中時，祂的眼目留心其上，那眼目是謹慎的，要看它不受損傷：「我要向他們定睛留意，施恩給他們，要安排一切為最好的，使苦難的一切情形都配合達成其大目的。」〔二.〕在所設計的工作完成之後，祂必確保把它從熔爐中取出：我必領他們再歸回這地。他們被差到外面，在嚴格的管教下改進一段時間；但當他們在那裏經過試驗之後，必被接回父家。〔三.〕祂在煉淨金子之後必塑造它，使它成為貴重的器皿合乎使用；照樣，當神把他們從試驗中帶回，祂必建立他們，使他們成為祂的居所；必栽植他們，使他們成為祂的葡萄園。他們的被擄是要修整粗石，使之適合祂的建造；要修剪幼樹，使之適合祂的栽種。
（6.）祂應許藉著賜他們屬靈的憐憫，來預備他們領受祂所設計的這些屬世的憐憫（耶 24:7）。正是這一點要使他們的被擄成為對他們有益；這既是苦難的改進，也是得解救的資格。當我們的患難被聖化歸我們，那時我們就可確知它必有好的結局。此處所應許的是：〔一.〕他們要更認識神；他們在巴比倫藉神的護理所學到的關於神的事，要比他們在耶路撒冷藉祂一切的神諭和典章所學到的更多——這要歸功於神的恩典，因為若不是恩典在巴比倫大大地在他們身上動工，他們就永遠忘記神了。此處應許：我必賜他們——不是怎樣的頭腦來認識我，而是認識我的心，因為對神正確的認識不在於觀念和推測，而在於實踐判斷的信念，以此引導和管理意志與情感。凡遵行祂命令的，便有大明白（詩 111:10）。神賜人認識祂的真誠渴望和意向之處，祂必賜那認識。是神自己賜人認識祂的心，否則我們必永遠死於無知中。〔二.〕他們要完全歸向神——以祂的旨意為準則，以事奉祂為事業，以祂的榮耀為目的：*他們要盡心歸向我。*神親自為他們承擔他們必如此行；祂若使我們轉回，我們就必轉回。這是承接前者的；因為凡有心正確認識神的，不僅要歸向祂，更要盡心歸向；因為那些或頑梗悖逆、或假冒為善的人，可說實在不認識神。〔三.〕他們要如此再次被接入神的聖約，一如既往地成為他們的安慰：*他們要作我的子民，我要作他們的神。*神要如從前那樣承認他們為祂的子民——在向祂們的顯現中，在悅納他們的事奉中，在為他們施恩的作為中；他們也要有自由在禱告和期望中承認祂為他們的神。注意，那些從神退後的人，若真誠歸向祂，就與任何人一樣自由地被接入永約的一切特權和安慰中；這永約在此安排得妥善，以致聖約中每一次犯過並不把我們逐出聖約，而苦難不僅與聖約的愛相容，更是從之而出。
- 這是壞無花果的寓意。西底家和他的首領及黨羽仍留在這地，十分驕傲安逸（結 11:3）。許多人逃到埃及尋求庇護，自以為已為自己和自己的安全巧妙周旋，並誇口說，雖然他們這樣作違背了神的命令，卻是為自己審慎行事。如今對這兩等人——他們都輕看那些被擄的人——這裏宣告：（1.）那些已被擄的人被安置在一國之中，在那裏雖為俘虜，卻有彼此相交的安慰，而這些人卻要被分散，被遷到地上萬國之中，在那裏他們彼此之間毫無喜樂。（2.）那些人是為他們的好處而被擄，這些人卻要被遷到各國遭遇災禍。他們的苦難非但不能使他們謙卑，反要使他們剛硬；不能使他們更親近神，反要使他們與神更遠。（3.）那些人要得著在患難中被神承認的尊榮，這些人卻要被全人類撇棄而蒙羞：在我所趕他們到的各處，他們必成為凌辱和笑談。「這人如同猶太人那樣虛假驕傲」——「這人如同猶太人那樣貧窮可憐。」所有鄰舍都要拿他們和他們所遭遇的災禍作笑料。（4.）那些人要歸回本國，這些人卻永不再見本國，而他們辯稱這是神賜給他們列祖之地也是無用的，因為他們是從神領受的，而神是按他們順服的條件賜給他們的。（5.）那些人是為更好的時期而保留，這些人是為更壞的而保留；無論他們被遷到何處，刀劍、饑荒和瘟疫都必追趕他們，很快追上他們，並帶著權柄如此行，必勝過他們。神有各樣審判可追趕那些逃避公義的人；逃過一樣的，可期望另一樣，直到他們被帶到悔改改革為止。
這預言無疑在那世代的人身上應驗了；但因為我們沒有讀到耶哥尼雅被擄的人和西底家被擄的人之間有甚麼顯著差異，這很可能有預表的含義，指向後來猶太人被羅馬人最後的毀滅——其中信的人得到了照顧，而堅持不信的人被趕到各國，成為譏誚和咒詛，至今仍然如此。
English original
Vision of the Good and Bad Figs; Promises and Threatenings (599 BC)
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.
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.
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.
⁴ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
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.
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.
⁷ And I will give them a 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.
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:
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.
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 short chapter helps us to put a very comfortable construction upon a great many long ones, by showing us that the same providence which to some is a savour of death unto death may by the grace and blessing of God be made to others a savour of life unto life; and that, though God's people share with others in the same calamity, yet it is not the same to them that it is to others, but is designed for their good and shall issue in their good; to them it is a correcting rod in the hand of a tender Father, while to others it is an avenging sword in the hand of a righteous Judge. Observe,
I. The date of this sermon. It was after, a little after, Jeconiah's captivity, Jer 24:1. Jeconiah was himself a despised broken vessel, but with him were carried away some very valuable persons, Ezekiel for one (Eze 1:12); many of the princes of Judah then went into captivity, Daniel and his fellows were carried off a little before; of the people only the carpenters and the smiths were forced away, either because the Chaldeans needed some ingenious men of those trades (they had a great plenty of astrologers and stargazers, but a great scarcity of smiths and carpenters) or because the Jews would severely feel the loss of them, and would, for want of them, be unable to fortify their cities and furnish themselves with weapons of war. Now, it should seem, there were many good people carried away in that captivity, which the pious prophet laid much to heart, while there were those that triumphed in it, and insulted over those to whose lot it fell to go into captivity. Note, We must not conclude concerning the first and greatest sufferers that they were the worst and greatest sinners; for perhaps it may appear quite otherwise, as it did here.
II. The vision by which this distinction of the captives was represented to the prophet's mind. He saw two baskets of figs, set before the temple, there ready to be offered as first-fruits to the honour of God. Perhaps the priests, being remiss in their duty, were not ready to receive them and dispose of them according to the law, and therefore Jeremiah sees them standing before the temple. But that which was the significancy of the vision was that the figs in one basket were extraordinarily good, those in the other basket extremely bad. The children of men are all as the fruits of the fig-tree, capable of being made serviceable to God and man (Jdg 9:11); but some are as good figs, than which nothing is more pleasant, others as damaged rotten figs, than which nothing is more nauseous. What creature viler than a wicked man, and what more valuable than a godly man! The good figs were like those that are first ripe, which are most acceptable (Mic 7:1) and most prized when newly come into season. The bad figs are such as could not be eaten, they were so evil; they could not answer the end of their creation, were neither pleasant nor good for food; and what then were they good for? If God has no honour from men, nor their generation any service, they are even like the bad figs, that cannot be eaten, that will not answer any good purpose. If the salt have lost its savour, it is thenceforth fit for nothing but the dunghill. Of the persons that are presented to the Lord at the door of his tabernacle, some are sincere, and they are very good; others dissemble with God, and they are very bad. Sinners are the worst of men, hypocrites the worst of sinners. Corruptio optimi est pessima—That which is best becomes, when corrupted, the worst.
III. The exposition and application of this vision. God intended by it to raise the dejected spirit of those that had gone into captivity, by assuring them of a happy return, and to humble and awaken the proud and secure spirits of those who continued yet in Jerusalem, by assuring them of a miserable captivity.
1. Here is the moral of the good figs, that were very good, the first ripe. These represented the pious captives, that seemed first ripe for ruin, for they went first into captivity, but should prove first ripe for mercy, and their captivity should help to ripen them; these are pleasing to God, as good figs are to us, and shall be carefully preserved for use. Now observe here,
(1.) Those that were already carried into captivity were the good figs that God would own. This shows, [1.] That we cannot determine of God's love or hatred by all that is before us. When God's judgments are abroad those are not always the worst that are first seized by them. [2.] That early suffering sometimes proves for the best to us. The sooner the child is corrected the better effect the correction is likely to have. Those that went first into captivity were as the son whom the father loves, and chastens betimes, chastens while there is hope; and it did well. But those that staid behind were like a child long left to himself, who, when afterwards corrected, is stubborn, and made worse by it, La 3:37.
(2.) God owns their captivity to be his doing. Whoever were the instruments of it, he ordered and directed it (Jer 24:5): I have sent them out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. It is God that puts his gold into the furnace, to be tried; his hand is, in a special manner, to be eyed in the afflictions of good people. The judge orders the malefactor into the hand of an executioner, but the father corrects the child with his own hand.
(3.) Even this disgraceful uncomfortable captivity God intended for their benefit; and we are sure that his intentions are never frustrated: I have sent them into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. It seemed to be every way for their hurt, not only as it was the ruin of their estates, honours, and liberties, separated them from their relations and friends, and put them under the power of their enemies and oppressors, but as it sunk their spirits, discouraged their faith, deprived them of the benefit of God's oracles and ordinances, and exposed them to temptations; and yet it was designed for their good, and proved so, in the issue, as to many of them. Out of the eater came forth meat. By their afflictions they were convinced of sin, humbled under the hand of God, weaned from the world, made serious, taught to pray, and turned from their iniquity; particularly they were cured of their inclination to idolatry; and thus it was good for them that they were afflicted, Ps 119:67,71.
(4.) God promises them that he will own them in their captivity. Though they seem abandoned, they shall be acknowledged; the scornful relations they left behind will scarcely own them, or their kindred to them, but God says, I will acknowledge them. Note, The Lord knows those that are his, and will own them in all conditions; nakedness and sword shall not separate them from his love.
(5.) God assures them of his protection in their trouble, and a glorious deliverance out of it in due time, Jer 24:6. Being sent into captivity for their good, they shall not be lost there; but it shall be with them as it is with gold which the refiner puts into the furnace. [1.] He has his eye upon it while it is there, and it is a careful eye, to see that it sustain no damage: "I will set my eyes upon them for good, to order every thing for the best, that all the circumstances of the affliction may concur to the answering of the great intention of it." [2.] He will be sure to take it out of the furnace again as soon as the work designed upon it is done: I will bring them again to this land. They were sent abroad for improvement awhile, under a severe discipline; but they shall be fetched back, when they have gone through their trial there, to their Father's house. [3.] He will fashion his gold when he has refined it, will make it a vessel of honour fit for his use; so, when God has brought them back from their trial, he will build them and make them a habitation for himself, will plant them and make them a vineyard for himself. Their captivity was to square the rough stones and make them fit for his building, to prune up the young trees and make them fit for his planting.
(6.) He engages to prepare them for these temporal mercies which he designed for them by bestowing spiritual mercies upon them, Jer 24:7. It is this that will make their captivity be for their good; this shall be both the improvement of their affliction and their qualification for deliverance. When our troubles are sanctified to us, then we may be sure that they will end well. Now that which is promised is, [1.] That they should be better acquainted with God; they should learn more of God by his providences in Babylon than they had learned by all his oracles and ordinances in Jerusalem, thanks to divine grace, for, if that had not wrought mightily upon them in Babylon, they would for ever have forgotten God. It is here promised, I will give them, not so much a head to know me, but a heart to know me, for the right knowledge of God consists not in notion and speculation, but in the convictions of the practical judgment directing and governing the will and affections. A good understanding have all those that do his commandments, Ps 111:10. Where God gives a sincere desire and inclination to know him he will give that knowledge. It is God himself that gives a heart to know him, else we should perish for ever in our ignorance. [2.] That they should be entirely converted to God, to his will as their rule, his service as their business, and his glory as their end: They shall return to me with their whole heart. God himself undertakes for them that they shall; and, if he turn us, we shall be turned. This follows upon the former; for those that have a heart to know God aright will not only turn to him, but turn with their whole heart; for those that are either obstinate in their rebellion, or hypocritical in their religion, may truly be said to be ignorant of God. [3.] That thus they should be again taken into covenant with God, as much to their comfort as ever: They shall be my people, and I will be their God. God will own them, as formerly, for his people, in the discoveries of himself to them, in his acceptance of their services, and in his gracious appearances on their behalf; and they shall have liberty to own him for their God in their prayers to him and their expectations from him. Note, Those that have backslidden from God, if they do in sincerity return to him, are admitted as freely as any to all the privileges and comforts of the everlasting covenant, which is herein well-ordered, that every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant, and that afflictions are not only consistent with, but flowing from, covenant-love.
2. Here is the moral of the bad figs. Zedekiah and his princes and partizans yet remain in the land, proud and secure enough, Eze 11:3. Many had fled into Egypt for shelter, and they thought they had shifted well for themselves and their own safety, and boasted that though therein they had gone contrary to the command of God yet they had acted prudently for themselves. Now as to both these, that looked so scornfully upon those that had gone into captivity, it is here threatened, (1.) That, whereas those who were already carried away were settled in one country, where they had the comfort of one another's society, though in captivity, these should be dispersed and removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, where they should have no joy one of another. (2.) That, whereas those were carried captives for their good, these should be removed into all countries for their hurt. Their afflictions should be so far from humbling them that they should harden them, not bring them nearer to God, but set them at a greater distance from him. (3.) That, whereas those should have the honour of being owned of God in their troubles, these should have the shame of being abandoned by all mankind: In all places whither I shall drive them they shall be a reproach and a proverb. "Such a one is as false and proud as a Jew"—"Such a one is as poor and miserable as a Jew." All their neighbours shall make a jest of them, and of the calamities brought upon them. (4.) That, whereas those should return to their own land, never to see it more, and it shall be of no avail to them to plead that it was the land God gave to their fathers, for they had it from God, and he gave it to them upon condition of their obedience. (5.) That, whereas those were reserved for better times, these were reserved for worse; wherever they are removed the sword, and famine, and pestilence, shall be sent after them, shall soon overtake them, and, coming with commission so to do, shall overcome them. God has variety of judgments wherewith to prosecute those that fly from justice; and those that have escaped one may expect another, till they are brought to repent and reform.
Doubtless this prophecy had its accomplishment in the men of that generation yet, because we read not of any such remarkable difference between those of Jeconiah's captivity and those of Zedekiah's, it is probable that this has a typical reference to the last destruction of the Jews by the Romans, in which those of them that believed were taken care of, but those that continued obstinate in unbelief were driven into all countries for a taunt and a curse, and so they remain to this day.
在前章末尾，我們看到關於耶路撒冷徹底傾覆的一般性預言——它必被離棄、被遺忘；這預言無論對別人有何影響，我們有理由認為它使先知本人極其憂傷。如今在本章中，神鼓勵他，向他顯明：儘管荒涼看來是普遍的，卻並非所有人都同等捲入其中，因為神知道如何分辨，如何將貴重的與卑賤的分別出來。有些人已經隨耶哥尼雅一同被擄去；耶利米為他們哀哭，但神告訴他，這事必轉為他們的益處。另一些人仍舊硬着心在自己的罪中，耶利米對他們心懷義憤；但神告訴他，這些人必將被擄去，這事必證明是他們的損害。為要使先知明白這事並深受感動，這裏有：一、一筐極好、一筐極壞的兩筐無花果的異象（耶 24:1-3）。二、這異象的解釋，將好無花果應用於那些已經為他們的益處而被擄去的人（耶 24:4-7），將壞無花果應用於那些日後將為他們的損害而被擄去的人（耶 24:8-10）。