“I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart,” (24:7).
I needed Jeremiah 24 today. Although the message of His coming judgment still rings loud and clear, I am so grateful for the encouragement of His Truth as He uplifted my heart by His tender compassion illustrated in today’s object lesson. Two Baskets of figs, symbolically set before the temple as an offering.
…the Lord showed me: behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord! (24:1).
One basket was an acceptable offering, honoring the Lord with the choice first fruits. The other basket contained figs that were rotten to the core and unfit for consumption; fruit that would not even be offered to a pauper in need, let alone to Holy God.
And God reveals to Jeremiah that His eye is on the good figs, on those whose hearts are ripe. Perhaps He was watching those who had believed His Word and had left Jerusalem to be carried away captive, and had chosen His Way of Life as He had directed, offering Him their hearts ripe with faith.
“You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who dwells in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. 10 For I have set My face against this city for harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire,”’ (Jeremiah 21:8-10).
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord! (24:1).
The exiles would come out alive, but it certainly would not be an easy life. They would be in desperate need of faith, faith that would transform their hearts and renew their way of thinking, faith to believe that God is in control, faith to trust Him for their future, faith to know Him.
But the fact is, faith does not change our hearts. Only God can do that. Faith invites Him to do what only He can, and faith accepts His Gift; for only He can Give Us a Heart to Know Him.
Consider Him Who Gives Us a Heart to Know Him
Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. 6 For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart,” (24:5-7).
- He Gives Us a Heart to Know Him, that we will Know His regard for us.
“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.”- How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You, (Psalm 139:17-18).
- How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
- He Gives Us a Heart to Know Him that we will Know His plans are for our good.
“For I will set My eyes on them for good,”- “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope,’” (Jeremiah 29:11).
- He Gives Us a Heart to Know Him, that we will Know His power and protection.
“and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not pluck them up.”- “Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12 “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent,” (Isaiah 41:10-12).
- “Do not fear, for I am with you;
- He Gives Us a Heart to Know Him, that we will Know Him as our Exalted Lord.
“I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord;”- “Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold, (Psalm 46:10-11).
- “Cease striving and know that I am God;
- He Gives Us a Heart to Know Him, that we will Know and Love Him with our whole Heart.
“and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.”- You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
How do we respond to Him Who Gives Us a Heart to Know Him?
A Heart to Know God is a Gift of His Grace through Jesus Christ that must be accepted by faith.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Romans 6:23).
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, (Ephesians 2:8).
If we belong to Him by faith in Christ, then He has Given Us a Heart to Know Him.
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent,” (John 17:3).
But here, on this side of heaven, there will be times that are anything but easy, times when we need to believe and trust He is in control, but there will still be parts of Him that are kept secret. But what He has made Known to Us is ours forever, that we may walk with Him in obedience.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law,” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
As we wait for that day when we will fully Know Him as He Is, let us never waste His precious Gift. Let us daily seek to be built up in our faith through our time with Him in His Word, praying in dependence on His Holy Spirit to do what only He can do.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known, (1 Corinthians 13:12).
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life, (Jude 1:21).
Oh, that we would seek to Know Him more and more each day, that we would grow in His Grace to fully trust His regard for us, His plans for our good, and His power and protection, that our desire would be to always bring glory to our Exalted Lord as we live to Know and love Him with all our heart.
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen, (2 Peter 3:18).