Yirmiyahu 24 | The Prophecy of the Figs

One of the key points that Rav Yuval Cherlow emphasizes when teaching Tanakh is that, often, the prophet reverses conventional perspectives. Our prophecy is a prime example of a prophecy that challenges the intuitive understanding of society.

This prophecy is given in the wake of the exile of the artisans and smiths, described at the end of Sefer Melakhim, when Nevukhadnetzar exiled King Yehoyakhin and the entire leadership class of Jerusalem, appointing Tzidkiyahu as king in his place. At this point, the Jewish people are divided into two groups — one segment, primarily the upper class, is already in Babylon, while another group has remained in the land. Which of these groups represents the true continuation of the Jewish people? In which of them lies the hope for future redemption — in the followers of Yehoyakhin, the sinner whom God has brought exile upon him? Or in those who remained in the land under the leadership of Tzidkiyahu, of whom the previous chapter declared: “In his days Yehuda will be saved, and Israel will dwell in safety. And this is the name by which the Lord will call him: our righteous one’” (Yirmiyahu 23:6)?

It turns out that God's choice is clear: the good figs represent the exiles, who will correct their ways in Babylon and return to the land with hearts that know the Lord, while the bad figs represent Tzidkiyahu and the remaining inhabitants of Jerusalem. This prophecy likely comes from a period after Tzidkiyahu had already disappointed expectations, his leadership had failed to materialize as hoped, and God had chosen the Babylonian exiles as the future of the Jewish people.

The people, however, did not see it this way. In Sefer Yechezkel, we will read about the common view among them: "Your brothers, your very kinsmen, all of the house of Israel, entirely, the inhabitants of Jerusalem say to them: ‘They are far from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession’” (Yechezkel 11:15). The inhabitants of Jerusalem mocked the exiles in Babylon, telling them that they were distant from God, that they had no place in divine service, and that the land belonged to those who remained. This perception was a mistake. The people of Jerusalem had been granted the opportunity to remain in the land, with the chance to mend their ways and secure their place there. But, consumed by complacency and self-satisfaction, they failed to change, and now destruction was decreed upon the land — its rebuilding would come from the community that had gone into exile in Babylon.

Both Yechezkel and Yirmiyahu battle against this misconception. Yechezkel, the prophet of the Babylonian exile, seeks to convince the exiles that they still have hope and a place before God, while Yirmiyahu, speaking from the land of Israel, warns its inhabitants that destruction is imminent.