King Zedekiah of Judah (the last king of Judah in Kings) sent Zephaniah and Pashhur to tell Jeremiah that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had attacked Judah. They wanted Jeremiah to ask God to work miracles for the people again. God had given Jeremiah His answer to this question in advance, surrender to the Babylonians if you want to live. The Lord warned the king to do his job and take care of the people.
Jeremiah had to go to the palace to tell the king that he wasn't doing his job to protect the widows, orphans and foreigners. He was to rescue everyone who had been treated unjustly. If the king would do this, they would be able to stay in Jerusalem and come and go freely. If not, Jerusalem would be flattened. Then, God mentioned Jehoahaz (who had been taken captive in a foreign country) and that the people were to cry for him. The Lord told king Jehoiakim that he was doomed. He had built his fancy palace with slave labor, and only cared about his possessions. He was always thinking of how to get the upper hand with people and take advantage of anyone who might be useful to him. No one would cry at his funeral. The Lord was very unhappy with Jehoiakim and the evil things he did.
The Lord was not pleased with the way the kings had failed. When the time came to bring the people home, the Lord would choose leaders who would care for the people like real shepherds. Someday He would appoint an honest king from the family of David. His name would be "The Lord Gives Justice". When Jeremiah would think of the unfaithful prophets he would tremble because of the way they had abused their power. The Lord gave Jeremiah a message for those prophets and the ways they sinned. They would be punished. Then the Lord gave the people a message that they should not listen to anything the false prophets were saying because it didn't come from Him. God's words are a powerful fire; they are a hammer that shatters rocks. God knows everything that goes on - you can't hide. The Lord promised to punish those prophets.
After the king Jehoikin of Judah had gone to Babylon, the Lord showed Jeremiah a vision. He saw 2 baskets of figs. One basket was full of good figs, the other full of rotten figs. The Lord asked Jeremiah what he saw. So he told God he saw a basket of good figs and another one of bad figs. The Lord explained that the good figs were the people who had been sent to Babylon. When the time was right, the Lord would bring them back to Jerusalem. The bad figs were king Zedekiah and the people who were left behind. The Lord would strike them with war, hunger and disease until they disappeared.
Tomorrow read Jeremiah 25-27
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