The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright. ~Proverbs 21:18
Will evildoers never learn—those who devour My people as men eat bread and who do not call on the Lord? There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous. ~Psalm 14:4-5
After Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”
Then the word of the Lord came to me: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
“‘But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt. I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them. I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.’” ~Jeremiah 24:1-10)
When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely You have placed them on slippery ground; You cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors. As a dream when one awakes, when You arise, O LORD, You will despise them as fantasies. When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before You. Yet I’m always with You; You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and afterwards You will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from You will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. ~Psalm 73:16-28
“My son,” the Father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” ~Luke 15:31
The Proverb, where we started, on its own, is hard to understand. We are used to thinking about how Jesus, the righteous One, paid the ransom to rescue us wicked people. We’re tempted to think that Solomon got it backwards here. How do the wicked become a ransom for the righteous? How do the unfaithful become a ransom for the upright? It happens as all is made right in the end, with each receiving the reward that is due.
Consider the two baskets of figs. The good figs have been removed from the rotten ones. They have been sorted, just as there will be a sorting at the end, as Jesus talks about in His parable of the wheat and the tares. (Matthew 13:24-30-&-36-43) In Jeremiah’s case, those representing the good figs are sent away. They may think that they are being harshly punished because they are forced to abandon their homes and land, but they are really the ones being saved from destruction so that someday, they can return and rebuild Jerusalem.
The wheat suffers, having to live side by side with the tares, sharing the same nutrients and soil, but God has an eye on them. The good plants suffer for a while, but they will be saved from destruction when the time is right.
The older son was all in a panic, thinking that he was being treated unfairly because he had stayed home, played by the rules, and never caused his Father any trouble. In reality, he hadn’t lost anything. He still had all of what he was always going to have. His Father had not taken anything away from him, but what he had gained was a, hopefully, wiser younger brother, who had more appreciation for the discipline and love of his Father than he had before.
“But” you are probably asking, “how are these illustrations examples of the wicked being a ransom for the righteous?” First of all, it is important to remember Isaiah’s words that none of us are righteous really. (Isaiah 64:7) However, there are those of us who choose to submit to God’s control and there are those who seek to rebel and submit to the control of another, who is evil, since everything apart from God is evil. God is able to keep track and do the sorting and save out those who strive to live submitted to him from those who do not. In doing this, he spares the righteous from the punishment that all deserve.
In the case of the figs, He allowed the wicked Babylonians to destroy the wicked Jews but preserved the righteous behind enemy lines in Babylon. The wicked conquered the wicked and gave them the punishment they deserved, taking possession of the land as payment, while the righteous were held back, waiting for a time they could rebuild a righteous following in Jerusalem again. Even earlier in Israel’s history, we see how the Egyptians paid a heavy toll for their treatment of the children of Israel. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart again and again in order that His glory may show even brighter for those He was saving.
In our humanity and limited understanding, sometimes the acts of God may seem unfair. Paul says about that: “What if God, choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath—prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, who He prepared in advance for glory—even us whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the gentiles?” (Romans 9:22-24)
Those of us who are saved out of destruction have even more reason to be thankful. I began this writing today considering the possibility that Solomon may have gotten it backwards, but did He really? Paul says about Jesus that: “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) While Jesus was hanging on the cross, He was not only paying the price for our sin, but He actually became our sin so that when God looked at Him, He saw His Son as our wickedness. He had to turn His face away. As our evil, He ransomed us and gave us His righteousness in its place.
Because of Christ, we too can be the rescued figs. Because of Christ, we will always be with the Father and everything He has is ours. He did it that His glory might shine even brighter for us and give us even more appreciation and gratitude for what we have in Him. Better than being rescued from the Egyptians, better than being rescued from the destruction of the Babylonians, better than simply inheriting earthly possessions, we have become one in Christ to the Glory of the Father. Alleluia!
Prayer: Father, thank You for letting Your one and only Son ransom my soul so that I could also become your son. Alleluia! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: How Deep the Father’s Love for Us
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