Israel is a Fig Tree
Last modified 2023-Dec-04 Total: 15 pages 5662 words
In brief, God has used the Fig Tree as a symbol of the nation of Israel, both in the old Testament and in the New. What He says happens to the Fig Tree is VERY important for us today, for it is what happened to the Nation of Israel, and it is how God thinks of the Nation of Israel, back then and today.
Hosea 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the FIG TREE at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.
Joel 1:6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my FIG TREE: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
Let us look next at the action of Jesus in the New Testament according to Mark.
Mark 11:12 (KJV) And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he
(Jesus) was hungry: 13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. (not the season for figs, NAS) 14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter, forever. And his disciples heard it.
(after this, Jesus enters Jerusalem and Cleanses the Temple) 19 And when even was come, he went out of the city. 20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. 22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them (have received them, NAS), and ye shall have them.
Let us look next at the action of Jesus in the New Testament according to Matthew.
Matthew 21:18 Now in the morning as he
(Jesus) returned into the city, he hungered. 19 And when he saw a FIG TREE
( see footnote 1) in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon
( footnote 2), but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever.
(footnote 3) And presently
(footnote 4) the fig tree withered away 20And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
(footnote 5) 21Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain
(footnote 6), Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. 22And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
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Footnotes:
(1) symbol for National Israel as the covenant people of God
(2) no physical fruit which is supposed to point us to the fact of no spiritual fruit from Israel for her Lord to eat
(3) here Jesus is praying that no fruit EVER grow on National Israel again. Hey, here's a place for all those literalists to step in, and take a Forever verse literally. They are mighty keen to be pro Zionist and take the "forever" land promises to Israel literally, but this verse, they quickly sweep under the rug. Makes you wonder if they are getting Zionist dollars to support their seminaries, doesn't it.
Many Dispensationalists agree that the Fig Tree usually represents Israel, but Louis Sperry Chafer waxes inconsistent for no reason here ”It is doubtless true that the fig tree represents in other Scriptures the nation Israel (cf Mt 21:18-20) , but there is no occasion for this meaning to be sought in the present use of that symbol.” Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology Vol 5 p. 127. Dwight Pentecost also avoids the issue saying only of the parable of the Fig Tree, that “The parable of the fig tree is spoken to show the certainty of the coming (of Jesus)” J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come p. 280
Note: If no fruit is to ever grow from National Israel again, then they are spiritually dead. Unless God wishes to use them as an adversary (tutor) to the Church (which I maintain is exactly the case) They need to be cut down and thrown into the fire. Replaced by the Church.
But I predict this wont be a peaceful nor gradual transition. The Zionists are so strong and we (Christians) are so weak and divided (and ignorant, most arent even aware of the battle, they almost certainly wont hear of it from their spineless pastors who avoid all controversy and just try to keep the sheep in the pen). It will take a miracle of God to defeat this enemy, or even give it a major set-back.
(4) Notice that Mark stresses that the tree withered from its roots up (verse 20). It didn't die because an invading army "barked" it. Or some camel came along and nibbled off ALL of its leaves, so there was no photo-synthesis going on anymore starving it from the top down. No fire ravaged it, no-one poured hot oil on it, and no-one dug it up, etc. No, The roots were no longer providing sap for the trunk and the branches. Is Jesus the root and we the branches, (per Romans 11 and John 15:5 below) or vice versa. This is God desolating, giving up on, abandoning, killing apostate Israel. It is not yet cut down and thrown in to the fire. It is just cursed and withered. Consider also, John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he 16 bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."
(5) (21) Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree,
(you Christians can defeat apostate, persecuting Israel, and get her judged by the Father) but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done
(The Romans came in 70 AD and left not one stone standing upon another, of the temple “this mountain”). (22) And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
(6) “This mountain” was a common phrase of the day, that referred to the temple, according to William Telford, see The Barren Temple and the Withered Tree, Dept of Biblical Studies, Univ. of Sheffield, 1980, p. 119. The gleaming white walls of the Temple were in sight, and stood tall as a mountain (especially upon the temple mount), as Jesus and his disciples were now approaching the city of Jerusalem. It was not uncommon for God to refer to Political Kingdoms as a "mountain". Jeremiah 51:25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain (Babylon, see v 1), saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
Israel was the new destroying mountain, persecuting the church.
Jesus was telling them that the prayers of the saints would result in Revelation 18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone
(the temple with it’s surrounding cloisters even looked like a great millstone), and cast it into the sea
(the sea is symbolic of the Gentiles in Rev.), saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon
(Jerusalem is a spiritual Babylon in 70 AD see my link Who is Babylon in the Book of Revelation?) be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. Revelation 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth
(this parallels Mt 23:35 which would come upon THIS VERY GENERATION which heard Jesus words at that time).
Matt 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (footnote 1).”
Matt 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (footnote 2) 8 “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’ (footnote 3); for I say to you that from these stones (footnote 4) God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10 “The Ax is already laid at the root of the trees (footnote 5); therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (footnote 6). 11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 “His winnowing fork is in His hand (footnote 7), and He will thoroughly clear (purge, KJV) His threshing floor(footnote 8); and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
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(1) That would be the Kingdom Age that we are in now, (not a literal 1000 years) that started when Jesus ministry started i.e. 27 AD and like a mustard seed started small, and grew side by side w. the old covenant until 70 AD when the old covenant (and Israel, and Jews, and the Temple, and the Levitical priesthood, and the ceremonial law, and the old world creation) was done away. Then just the new covenant was left standing.
(2) That would be the 70 AD wrath to come, to THAT GENERATION, just 40 years later
(3) i.e. I am a Jew by blood, so you Christians don't have to evangelize us, we have our own covenant with God, which even Dope (Pope) Francis has bought into.
(4) God was always accusing Israel of having stiff necks and stony hearts
(5) specifically the fig tree
(6) which WOULD happen to Israel in 70 AD
(7) Romans 11:25 "a partial hardening has happened to Israel"
and Romans 9:6-8 they are not ALL Israel "elect" who are of Israel), Gal 3:29 "If you belong to Christ, then are you Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise
(9) According to Wikipedia, Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain (or other crop) from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain. Threshing may be done by beating the grain using a flail on a threshing floor. Another traditional method of threshing is to make donkeys or oxen walk in circles on the grain on a hard surface. A modern version of this in some areas is to spread the grain on the surface of a country road so the grain may be threshed by the wheels of passing vehicles. Hand threshing was laborious, with a bushel of wheat taking about an hour.[3] In the late 18th century, before threshing was mechanized, about one-quarter of agricultural labor was devoted to it. Industrialization of threshing began in 1786 with the invention of the threshing machine by Scotsman Andrew Meikle. Today, in developed areas, it is now mostly done by machine, usually by a combine harvester, which harvests, threshes, and winnows the grain while it is still in the field.
Mt 24:32 "Now learn the parable from the FIG TREE (footnote 1): when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;
Mt 24:33 so, you too, when you see all these things (footnote 2), recognize that He (footnote 3) is near, right at the door. Mt 24:34 "Truly I say to you, this generation (footnote 4) will not pass away until all these things take place. Mt 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away (the old creation did pass away), but My words will not pass away. 36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
Mt 24:37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. Mt 24:38 "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, Mt 24:39 and they did not understand (footnote 5) until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
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(1) National Israel
(2) All what things? Well the things Matthew has been talking about in the preceding verses. 24:2 Not one stone of the temple would be left on another, 24:4,7 wars and rumors of wars, Nation rising up against Nation, as did happen to Rome from AD 68 to 70, provinces in revolt, all thought Rome was dying since it was in great civil war, after the death of Nero. In 69AD Rome had 4 emperors, all battling for the emperor-ship. 24:9 "you will be hated by all nations because of me", ALL NATIONS implies an empire wide persecution, which Nero imposed on them from Nov 64 to June 68, which by the way is time, times and half a time (3.5) years, the length of the Great Trib.
(3) Jesus coming in judgment and deliverance of the Christians, and vengeance upon the Jews, in 70 AD
(4) This generation that heard Jesus speaking those words to them back in 30 AD. It CANNOT mean "race" as the Dispys like to interpret this verse. The Greek here GENEA never, ever means "race". It means the generation that Jesus lived and preached in, i.e. AD27 when He started His ministry to AD30 when He was murdered, thru the evil and adulterous generation (40 years) upto 70 AD. Dispy pastors love to interpret it as "Our current generation" even if it is the year 3090, Hal Lindsey (or Hagee, or both, I forget which) says It was the generation of the “fig tree" i.e. when Israel became a nation again in 1948. Of course he has had to lengthen what a "generation” is, after his original interpretation of a biblical 40 years, since 1988 has come and gone. And thus it will be ever so, with the Dispys, and the PreMills. Ever wrong, ever spinning new fictional events to "fulfill" Revelation i.e. cobra helicopters are the locusts, nuclear war is the flesh melting off peoples faces, Russia is a gog going to gather all nations to attack national Israel ... Every year their interpretations come out wrong, and every year the Christian public sucks up their fantasy to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The unbelievers laugh at us, the Christians forgive and buy the next crop of "prophecy" books.
Now, it is true that I can agree that the pattern of the book of Revelation can happen over and over in history, a harlot (Zionism) drunk with the blood of the saints (the righteous) riding on a beast (current world empire like America), but the actual fulfillment of Rev was back in the 60's, i.e. Nero's day. Rev was written to 7 literal churches that ARE in Asia, in the order of the Roman postal route, back in Nero's day, i.e. that order is Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thiatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicia. There is only one man whose name in hebrew adds up to 666 and that is Neron Kaiser.
(5) The coming of the Son of Man (in wrath and judgment against the Jews) took the form of the rapture, and a rebellion by Judea against Rome and a war that started in of 66 AD, when King Agrippa gives up his efforts to contain the rebels, and, leaves Jerusalem. That same month The captain of the Temple, Eleazar son of Ananias, persuades the priests to suspend the twice-daily sacrifice for the Roman Emperor, and revolutionaries take the fortress of Masada and kill the Roman garrison there. The war lasted from then until Titus army gets done sacking Jerusalem September 70 AD.
So, right up until the time of the Judgment by God, they were "marrying and giving in marriage." The point of Matthew 24:37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah" is found in verse 39 and they did not understand until ... came and took them all away; The Jews thought they were going to win that war. Right up until Titus broke through to the Temple, they thought God was on the side of the "great city" as Revelation puts it (not the Holy City, which is the Church) and they thought God would rescue His temple, no matter how sinful the Jews themselves were.
see God will send them Strong Delusion
Continuing with the Israel is a fig tree theme.
God the Father wanted to "cut Israel (the fig tree) down at the end of Jesus ministry, but Jesus pleaded with Him to postpone it.
Luke 13:6 And He told this parable: “A man (footnote 1) had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none.
Luke 13:7 Then said he (footnote 1) unto the dresser (footnote 2) of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; Luke 13:9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
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(1) The "man" who owns the vineyard is God the Father, and Jesus is the vinedresser, otherwise if the owner of the vineyard is Jesus then who is the vinedresser? Which angel or man would have the status to say to Jesus "Leave it alone sir for this year too, and I WILL DIG AROUND IT AND PUT IN FERTILIZER ... THEN AFTER THAT THOU SHALT CUT IT DOWN.
Which man or angel has the power and authority to DIG AROUND Israel, and put in what kind of FERTILIZER except what he can get from God, then think that he can somehow affect the health of the whole nation of Israel that it will repent sufficiently to allow God to spare it? No man or angel has this power.
The man here, is God the Father, who also (along w. Jesus) was "looking for fruit on the fig tree of Israel for 3 years, while Jesus the vinedresser was the one going about all of Israel, casting out demons, (cleaning the place up), and preaching (putting in fertilizer), and healing people (to buttress the authority of his preaching). Jesus would have the authority to speak back to the father like that and say "leave it alone sir, for this year too, while I (continue to) put in fertilizer" ...
This one year waiting period for Israel got extended. Jesus said on the Via Dolorosa "Women of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for your children".
If the judgment on Israel were to happen that year, he would have said something like "weep for yourselves, and you shall have no children", but instead he had the 70AD judgment in view. Then on the cross Jesus said "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do".
This "forgiveness" was not eternal salvation type of "forgiveness of sins", but a temporal, avoiding earthly judgment type of "forgiveness". In other words, Jesus was praying "Father, dont blow them away immediately after my death, in your wrath, like they deserve". If the Jews sin of murdering Jesus, were of the eternal salvation type of forgiveness , then Jesus would have had to pay for that sin on the cross. That would mean the 5 points of Calvinism are wrong, and Limited Atonement is wrong.
We know that is not the case. Jesus only paid for the sins of the elect, on the cross. Else, if everyones sins were paid for, then no-one "dies in their sins" and Jesus warning to the pharisees was worthless, John 8:24. Even the sin of unbelief would have been paid for on the cross and forgiven, if Limited Atonement were wrong. On what basis could the father send anyone to hell, if the debt is already paid by Jesus. Does God demand double jeapordy? Oh no, the sin of unbelief is the only unpardonable sin, and that is what sends men to hell, the non-calvinists say. Well, was even that sin paid for on the cross, and forgiven, or not? We know that for the elect, even our sin of unbelief is forgiven, then God regenerates us and we believe. But for reprobates, their sin of unbelief is NEVER forgiven, and they end up NEVER believing. So, as for the Jews sin of murdering Jesus, was that sin paid for on the cross, Calvinists say NO, all non Calvinists scratch their heads and say "we cannot tell".
The parable of the Fig Tree)
Matthew 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: Matthew 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
What is the "it" that is near? Well, back to the apostles original question in Matthew 24:3 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the age (greek αἰῶνος; aiōnos) [not world, KJV has it wrong]?
Jesus is telling his disciples, to watch what happens to Jerusalem and the Jews, i.e. the fig tree, there will you see all your signs. What signs? All that came before verse 32 in Matt 24. But, in case you miss all the signs, Jesus makes it easy for you. In Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Since a generation in the Bible is 40 years, and Jesus spoke this in 30 AD just days before His crucifixion, the "it" of Matthew 24:33 that is near, and the answer to the disciples questions in Matthew 24:3 "tell us, when will these things be" had to come before 70 AD.
Revelation 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; (13) And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree (Israel) casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken(1) of a mighty wind.
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(1) Heb 12:26,27 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised saying, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.
(These were shaken in AD 70)
Heb 12:27) and this expression, yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken,
(i.e. the firmament [boundary between men and God] shall melt like wax, the elements
[elemental things] shall dissolve,
the whole Old Testament economy) as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken
(i.e. the new covenant, the elect cannot be plucked out of His hand, not by Tribulation, or famine or peril or sword) may remain.
The Old Heavens contained the old Sun, Moon and Stars (political and religious leaders, their "luminaries"), which fell. After 70 AD, The only thing left standing was the new heaven and new earth, i.e. a new way of relating to Him, Christianity.
2 Pet 3:13 But according to his promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; or the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2) And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, (the church) coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
In conclusion, look for THE FIG TREE as a symbol of Israel, even in use today. For example in the heavily Zionist influenced "STAR TREK" check out
Season 2, Episode 9 10 Nov. 1967 "Metamorphosis" when Kirk asks the hero of the story "what will you do now" and he says "Oh, I don't know, I think I will plant a FIG TREE".
Also, do a Google search on "fig tree" and see how much Jewish stuff comes up.