2021-5-13

Jeremiah 24:1-10

            Jeremiah 24 illustrated the judgment on the Southern kingdom. It turned out that the Jewish exiles who were taken away to Babylon were the blessed group/ good figs and the Jewish captives who left behind, the bad figs, received severe punishment.  
For the good figs, God’s eyes will watch over them for their good, and He will bring them back to His land.  God takes us away from our comfort zone so that we can experience His blessings.
For my past 26 years in America, I experienced God’s greatest blessings during times of loneliness.  When the plane landed in Midland, Texas on June 4, 1994, I felt like I lived in a deserted land.  There was no night life, no fancy restaurants, or Chinese church.  It had a small shopping mall with old fashioned clothes displayed at J.C. Penny or Sears.  But God took away all the distractions and help me to follow Him closely.  I have not attended any Cantonese speaking Church.  At the time, I felt disconnected.  God did not grant me the ability to speak Mandarin but He does help me to understand it.  I even attend Chinese Christian Fellowship International Bible study for two years.  I meet Christians from different churches who want to get a systematic Bible study.  I reap great benefits in our sharing even though I have to speak in broken Mandarin.  It is not the Biblical knowledge but the honest sharing in Christ that enlightens me the most.

            Regarding the bad figs, God made Zedekiah and the remnants abhorrent and an offensive to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a by words, an object of ridicule and cursing.  Sword, famines and plagues would destroy them.  God also used the word ‘banish’ to illustrate the ultimate consequence of the survivors in Jerusalem.  
In this passage, it does not tell me what they had done to deserve it; but one thing I notice that it was the change of heart in the ‘good figs’ that helped them to turn to God.  Suffering is one way God use to turn our heart to him.  
At work, we have a wound doctor come once a week to treat pressure ulcers of the nursing home residents. One of the reasons that they develop pressure ulcer is immobility.  They like to stay in their comfort bed. There are four stages of the pressure ulcer.  
The first stage of the ulcer is red with irritation, the patient may not be aware of it.  
The second stage is when the skin is compromised/ opened and they experience pain.
The third stage involves exposure of deeper tissue under the skin. It is the most painful stage. If no treatment is given, the wound will develop into a
fourth stage where tendon, ligament, muscle and bone is exposed.
You may think this should be the most painful stage, Guess what, it’s not.  The tissue deteriorates to the point that even the nerves are destroyed.  Patients cannot feel pain anymore.  If not properly treated, they can die from wound infection.  The wound doctor would come every week, take out his scalpel to debride the dead tissue on the wound.  He would also cut the wound to allow blood flow for healing.  
The first principle of this illustration is God would use suffering to heal us.  
The second principle is people’s hearts are hardened to the point that they are no longer sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s calling.  God may use different stages of suffering to warn us. If we still choose to stay in our comfort zone, the consequence can be deadly.　　　— Alan Yam