Fig tree shoots forth its leaves - Matthew 24:32-33, Mark 13:28-29, Luke 21:29-31 Matthew 24 32 Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near-at the doors! Mark 13 28 Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near-at the doors! Luke 21 29 Then He spoke to them a parable: Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. 31 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Jesus had finished answering the question about His Coming, when He switches gears to answer the questions about the signs of the end of the age in these verses. The first sign that would show that the end of the age had arrived was the fig tree shooting forth its leaves. The fig tree is one of the last trees to bud in the spring. So when it puts forth leaves, people know that summer is right around the corner. What does the fig tree represent? Hosea compares the people of Israel to figs and Isaiah compares them to plants in a vineyard: Hosea 9:10 - I found Israel Like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers As the first fruits on the fig tree in its first season. Isaiah 5:7 - For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. Joel compares the land of Israel to a fig tree: Joel 1:6-7 - For a nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. He has laid waste My vine, and ruined My fig tree; he has stripped it bare and thrown it away; its branches are made white. The passage below is the first parable of the fig tree: Luke 13:5-9 - ...unless you repent you will all likewise perish. He also spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground? But he answered and said to him, Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down. The passage in Isaiah shows us that the vineyard belongs to the Lord. The keeper in the parable in Luke is Jesus, who was three years into His ministry at the time. Right before the parable in Luke, Jesus warned that unless Israel repented, the nation would perish. In the parable, God told Jesus to cut down the tree, which is Israel. Jesus requested to give the tree until the next season to bear fruit, before cutting it down. Jesus was to spend the next half-year trying to bring fruit out of the nation Israel, before giving up on them. The cursing of the fig tree in the passage below shows us the verdict of the nation Israel. Though Israel as a nation would be destroyed, faith and salvation would still be available on an individual basis, as shown at the end of the following passage: Matthew 21:18-22 - Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, Let no fruit grow on you ever again. Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How did the fig tree wither away so soon? So Jesus answered and said to them, Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. In the passages below, Ezekiel likens Israel to a tree and Amos predicted that God would plant His people again in their land. These prophecies show that Israel would become a nation again, which found fulfillment in 1948. However, the people of Israel are not producing the fruits of belief and faith yet. The parables of the fig tree, in addition to the following verses, point to the nation Israel being the fig tree: Ezekiel 36:8-12 - But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come. For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, My people Israel; they shall take possession of you, and you shall be their inheritance; no more shall you bereave them of children. Amos 9:14-15 - I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them, Says the LORD your God. Who then, are all the trees in Luke? Some say that the passages about the fig tree are just analogies to show that the people who see all the signs will know that the return of Jesus is near. They are correct, in that the increasing signs show the nearness of Christs return, but they then discount Israel being represented by the fig tree. However, the passage above in Ezekiel definitely likens Israel to a tree. The wording about shooting forth your branches nicely parallels that in the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus is specifically talking about a fig tree. And the nation Israel died in 70AD, just like the fig tree did when Jesus cursed it. It shot forth its branches again in 1948AD, just as Ezekiel predicted. So if the fig tree represents Israel as a nation, then all the trees would likewise represent a nation or nations in some way. Though not clear, there are some clues in Scripture that point us to what all the trees might represent in Luke. All the other trees could be Israels neighbors, who also became nations as a result of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War 1. The trees were then planted as a result of the League of Nations mandate and all became budding nations within the next two decades. The League of Nations mandate refers to several territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919. The first group or Class A mandates were areas formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire deemed to have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. The Class A mandates were: Iraq (Great Britain), 10 August 1920 - 3 October 1932, then an independent kingdom. Palestine (Great Britain), from 25 April 1920 (effective 29 September 1923 - 14 May 1948 to the independence of Israel), till 25 May 1946 including Transjordan (the Hashemite emirate, later kingdom of Jordan). Syria (France), 29 September 1923 - 1 January 1944, including Lebanon; By 1948 these mandates had been replaced by new monarchies (Iraq, Jordan) and republican governments (Israel, Lebanon, Syria).
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 03:09:58 +0000
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