The parable of the fig tree is an amazing passage found in Matthew 24 and Luke 21.  I encourage you to read Matthew 24 so you will truly understand all that Jesus is telling us about the end of the age.  This is where Jesus took His disciples up to the Mount of Olives and He answered the disciples’ questions regarding the end of the age.  This passage has come to be know as the Olivet Discourse because it was given on Mount of Olives.

If we want to unravel this parable, we can’t speculate.  We need to go to Jesus Himself.  In Matthew 24, he gives a very good description of the signs “of the end of the age” (verse 3) This is where we also find the parable of the fig tree (verse 32).  Jesus revels how we can know that the end is near, and He also identifies the generation that will see all these things happen before the grand conclusion of human history.

Matthew 24 can further be broken down into two parts: the future of Israel (Matthew 24:4-31), and the future of the church (Matthew 24:32-51).  The first part, Jesus is talking to the disciples as Jews.  In the second part, He talks to them as members of the soon-to-be church. Right in the middle of Matthew 24 is where we find the parable of the Fig Tree.

Matthew 24:3-9

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for ^[a]all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, ^[b]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.

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So, what is a Generation and How Long is it?

What is a generation? In biblical context, a generation begins at conception and ends at death.  But there are different views for calculating the age of a generation.  Based on scriptures some say a generation is 40 years based on (Number:32). In response to Israel’s fear and refusal to enter the Land, God said, “Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, sworn twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham” (Numbers 32:11). As punishment, “He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. (Verse 13) I believe we should also look in Psalm 90 which is the only Psalm written by Moses and it’s also the oldest psalm in the Bible. According to this passage Moses says a generation is from birth to death and is 70-80 years.  Today we see in some cases where people are living up to 100 years, so the length of a generation is somewhere between 70 -100 years.

Psalm 90:9-10

⁹ For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
¹⁰ The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

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The Three Plants of Israel

Now that we’ve determined the length of a generation, we need to identify who this generation is that Jesus speaks of.  Some suggest He was talking about the people who were alive during the time He spoke the parable. Some say the generation refers to the people of Israel in their entirety.  Neither of these options are correct. The reason they don’t is because of the identity of the fig tree.  The fig tree that Jesus speaks of is Israel itself.  Based on the fact, Jesus’ generation could hardly say that the Israel of the first century was tender and putting forth leaves.  They were under oppressive Roman rule.  Even four decades after Jesus told this parable, The Romans destroyed the temple.  The Jewish people are also disqualified from being the generation.  They are the fig tree so you can’t watch for the sign and be the sign. 

Where does Jesus say that Israel is the fig tree?  He doesn’t, but the prophets do.  In the Bible, the nation of Israel is likened to three different plants – the vine, the olive tree, and the fig tree. The vine is the symbol of Israel’s spiritual privileges. “You have brought a vine out of Egypt; you have cast out the nations and planted it” (Psalm 80:8) Jesus as a Jew, is not only part of the vine, but is Himself the true Vine.  He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit’ for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) Jesus is the vine, and we who are in the church are the branches, which bear spiritual fruit.  So, Israel and the church have their identity closely connected to the vine. 

The same is true with the olive tree: “I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily and lengthen his roots like Lebanon.  His branches shall spread; his beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon”. (Hosea 14:5-6) So the Olive tree is the symbol of Israel’s religious privileges.  As the church, we should rejoice because we have been grafted into the tree and share the privileges given to Israel. “And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches.  But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you” (Romans 11:17-18) Praise the Lord!

So, we as the church can be part of the olive tree and the vine because they have to do with spiritual and religious privileges.  The fig tree is all about national privileges, and those privileges belong to the people of the Jewish nation. The church can not be the fig tree; it can only see the fig tree.

THE BRANCH PUTS FORTH LEAVES

So, let’s get back to the fig tree – since this is a parable, we understand that Jesus is referring to the nation represented by the fig tree, He says, “Sure, they will be scattered and near death. They will be hated and surrounded by their enemies.  The land itself will become desolate and barren. But there will come a generation that will see the resurrection of this nation represented by the fig tree”.

Historically, this is exactly what happened to Israel. The desolation began in AD 70 with the Roman empire and it remained that way until the time when God spoke, and the dead land came alive.

Ezekiel 36:8-12

⁸ 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. ⁹ For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. ¹⁰ I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. ¹¹ I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and ^[a]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. ¹² 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.”

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The barren wasteland now exports fruits and vegetables to the whole world.  This is evidence of the amazing power of God’s Word.  There is more to the budding of the fig tree.  Not only did God revitalize the land, but the nation was reborn.  In Ezekiel 37, we read about this and it’s referring to the Holocaust.

Ezekiel 37:12-14

¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. ¹⁴ I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”

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Again, God spoke, and this time the people came alive.  God said, “Not only will I give you life, but I will give you life on your own soil.”  There is not a person on earth who has a rational explanation for how the Jews found their way back to their land, and in 70 short years, turned it into a powerhouse.  In May of 2018, Israel celebrated 70 years of nationhood.  How long is a generation? Seventy to 100 years.

I hope you caught that. This means that you are part of the generation that sees Israel back in the land. You are alive to see the nation flourish.  You have seen this miraculous work of God.  Israel’s rebirth is a reality in our generation.  Now for the first time ever, we have the church and Israel thriving at the same time.  When the church was born in the first century, both Israel and the church were struggling.  Then for many years, the church was strong, but Israel was scattered.  Folks, we are the generation that has seen this sign.

Hebrews 1:1-2

God’s Supreme Revelation

1 God, who ^[a]at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the ^[b]worlds;

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Jesus came, and the last days began.  The church has been waiting in expectancy since then.  Paul was convinced that Jesus could come and take him at any moment.  When he was with the Thessalonians, he told them. “Good news everyone – you’re not going to die.”  Then he left, and some of them died.  Paul wrote them saying”.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The Comfort of Christ’s Coming

¹³ But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen ^[a]asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who ^[b]sleep in Jesus.

¹⁵ For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are ^[c]asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words.

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Paul didn’t see the budding fig tree, yet he was still expectant, how much more anticipation should we feel as part of the generation that has seen the tender branches and the sprouting leaves? As we watch and wait, we must be about our Father’s business.  When times get difficult, remember that Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 to comfort each other with his words.

I hope this message will bless you, I certainly found comfort in it.  I lost an amazing sister in Christ, Cousin, and best friend this week, Rose Marie Baucom Phifer.  She was an amazing ambassador for Christ.  I want to dedicate this to her.  I know in my heart; Jesus was speaking to me through this message. It won’t be long until we are united.  If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your person Savior, please don’t put it off.  He wants everyone to be saved and time is drawing near.

Love you all,

Jan