The Fig Tree
By Gerry Watts
Then he told this
parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look
for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of
the vineyard, ‘For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on
this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the
soil?’ “ ‘Sir,’ (Lord) the man replied, ‘leave it alone for
one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next
year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”
(Luke 13:6-9 NIV)
Jesus
told this parable towards the end of His three and a half year ministry, just
before He began making His final journey to Jerusalem to present Himself to
the people there on the 10th Nisan 33 AD, when He rode into the
city on a donkey and it’s colt. This parable of the Fig Tree is the first of
3 significant lessons relating to the fig tree, and it lays the foundation for
what follows a few days later while Jesus was teaching in Jerusalem.
Throughout
the Hebrew Scriptures, the nation of Israel is often represented as a Fig
Tree, an Olive Tree or a Vine. (The vineyard itself also represents the land
of Israel, particularly Jerusalem. We shall be considering the vineyard in
more detail in the next parable, The Vineyard Farmers, but in the meantime we
shall be focusing on the Fig Tree. We have considered the Olive Tree in other
articles on the website.
These
three fruit trees represent Israel’s original intended role of being
God’s anointed Prophet (Fig Tree), speaking out God’s words to the world
and bearing good fruit; His Kingdom (Vineyard) in which the judgments of God
would be manifested to the world; and His Priest (Olive Tree), mediating
between God and mankind, and bringing spiritual illumination. The ultimate
fulfilment of these fruit trees is in Jesus Himself, Who, as the Messiah, the
Anointed One, is the perfect Prophet, Chief Priest and King.
The
Fig Tree
In
the above parable, the owner of the vineyard is God the Father, and the
vineyardist or gardener is Jesus, the Son.
Through Christ, God had been visiting His vineyard, Jerusalem, for 3
years to look for fruit on His fig tree, Israel – but He did not find any.
This had particular relevance to the religious leaders of the Jews who
represented the people before God. Due to its lack of fruit over a three-year
period, judgment is pronounced upon the nation to cut it down.
Yet the
gardener, Christ, intercedes for the nation to allow them one more year to
bear fruit. During that time, He will dig the soil and put manure on it, that
is, seek to bring the nation to repentance in order for them to bring forth
good fruit. But if they still do not bear good fruit after that time, then the
tree is to be cut down. This 'extra year' was an example of God's mercy and
grace as manifested in, and through, Christ.
Sadly,
as we know from Scripture, during that fourth year the Jews crucified their
Messiah, and shortly after they rejected His servants as well, eventually putting Stephen to death. So
judgment came upon the Jews and Jerusalem, cutting down the fruitless fig
tree, although it didn’t actually occur until almost 40 years later in 70-73
AD due to an era of grace. Nevertheless, the fig tree was cursed - the
judgment was pronounced - and it
withered away.
A
New Fruit Tree
There
is also an allusion here to the Law of Planting New Fruit Trees in Leviticus
19:23-25.
“‘When
you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as
forbidden (Heb. Uncircumcised). For three years you are to consider
it forbidden (Heb. Uncircumcised); it must not be eaten. In the
fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.
But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest
will be increased. I am the LORD your God.” (NIV)
When
planting a new fruit tree, the Israelites were not allowed to eat the fruit of
it for three years. It was to be treated as though it was uncircumcised and
unclean, and therefore, they were forbidden to eat it. In the fourth year,
they were still not allowed to eat it, but the whole crop of that year had to
be offered as firstfruits to Yahweh via the priests at the Tabernacle or
Temple. Only the priests could partake of this firstfruit praise offering.
Then in the fifth year, the Israelites could enjoy the fruit. If they obeyed
this law then they would be blessed with an ever-increasing harvest of fruit.
When
Jesus came to minister to the lost sheep of the house of Israel in the land,
He was planting a new fruit tree – the Tree of Life, the New Covenant. The
people could not fully enter into this covenant and eat its fruit for three
years while they remained uncircumcised in their hearts. Yet this tree was
gradually bearing fruit in a little flock, the Ecclesia of God. But it
wasn’t until the fourth year that the firstfruits were offered to God at the
coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost while the small group of believers were
in the temple courts.
The Body/Bride of Christ, the true Church of God, the
Royal Priesthood, are the firstfruits being offered as a praise offering.
Since that time, in the great Fifth Year, the era of Grace, the fruit of the
New Covenant Tree of Life has been blessing Jews and Gentiles alike, and this
shall continue until the time of the Great Harvest.
Good
and Bad Figs
Over
500 years earlier, the prophet Jeremiah had warned the people of Judah and
Jerusalem that God would judge their wickedness and fruitlessness.
“I
will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on
the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them will be taken from them.”
(Jeremiah 8:13 NIV)
During
the time of the Babylonian Exile, when the judgments had already begun,
Jeremiah was given a vision of two baskets of figs being offered to God in
front of the temple in Jerusalem. One basket had very good figs, the kind that
ripen early, while the other was full of bad figs that couldn’t be eaten. He
was told that the good figs represented the people who had obeyed God in
submitting to the yoke of Babylon, knowing that this was God’s chastening
upon the people; while the bad figs represented those who were in rebellion
against God, seeking to fight their divine chastening every way they could.
God told Jeremiah that the good figs would be accepted, while the bad figs
would be destroyed (Jeremiah 24).
Jesus’
words echoed the words of Jeremiah concerning the good figs and the bad figs.
The good figs represented those Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, while
the bad figs represented the rest of the nation who rejected Him and His
prophetic words. The latter would remain under a curse, while the former would
be blessed as God’s true people.
The
Cursed Fig Tree
During
the final couple of days of Jesus’ ministry, just before His death at
Passover in the spring of 33 AD, a very significant event occurred, which was
also a continuation of the parable of the Fig Tree.
“Early
in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing
a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves.
Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the
tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did
the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.”
(Matthew 21:18-20 NIV)
“The
next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the
distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit.
When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the
season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit
from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it… In the morning, as
they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter
remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has
withered!”
(Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 NIV)
This
special fig tree was situated somewhere on the Mount of Olives near Bethany,
outside Jerusalem. This whole episode was a parable in action. Jesus came to
look for fruit on this fig tree because He was hungry. The purpose of the tree
was to produce fruit to eat, and the Creator of all needed some breakfast from
it – yet He found nothing. If this had been a good fruit-bearing fig tree,
then there would’ve been some early ripe figs or at the least, some late
figs left over from the previous year for Jesus to eat, even though it was not
the general season for harvesting figs.
Nevertheless, there should also have
been plenty of green unripe figs, as these bud before the leaves come out in
early spring, and this tree had leaves. So this tree had the appearance of
being alive and fruitful, yet it had no fruit at all, but only leaves.
So it was cursed, and its leaves withered immediately. The spirit of life
within it was cut off due to the power of Christ’s words. The following day,
Peter drew attention to it again, seeing that the whole tree had now withered
from the roots.
Now
contrary to how it may appear, Jesus did not curse the fig tree because He was
annoyed that He couldn’t have some breakfast! There was a very good reason
as to why the Father told Him to do this – the fig tree is Israel. On the
outside, the nation looked alive, serving God at the temple with religious
fervour – yet spiritually, they were fruitless. They relied on their own
ability and man-made traditions, covering their nakedness with the fig leaves
of fleshly works, recalling the desperate act of the first human pair to cover
the shame of their transgression (Genesis 3:7).
At
best, the religious leaders were a basket of bad figs. In view of the events
that were about to transpire at Passover 33 AD, and throughout the following
year, Jesus prophetically pronounced the curse upon Jerusalem and the people
of Israel. As a result of this, the fig tree withered and died. This is the
inevitable final end of all flesh and its works – withered, dead fig leaves!
The meaning of this parable can also be applied to Christendom, as the Church
is now God’s fig tree, but she has become Secret Babylon, and is therefore
also cursed.
Jesus
went on to use this miraculous sign as a means of teaching the disciples about
faith and God’s power, but the meaning of this sign is found in the parable
of the Fig Tree. It was during these few days that Jesus also taught the
parable of the Vineyard Farmers, which we shall consider later, and He also
completed the third instalment of the parable of the fig tree.
It
needs to be emphasised here that Jesus did not say, as some
translations have it, that the fig tree was never ever to bear fruit again
forever. What He actually said, as recorded in the original Greek, was
“May you no longer bear fruit (or may no one eat fruit from you again) for
the age.” He was referring to this present age of indefinite duration,
during which time the nation of Israel will not bear spiritual fruit fit to
eat.
The
Fig Tree Will Live Again
Now
let us consider the final installment of the parable of the fig tree.
“Now learn this lesson (or parable) from the fig
tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know
that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know
that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will
certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”
(Matthew
24:32-34 NIV)
Jesus went on to tell His disciples that the
parable of the fig tree doesn’t end with the curse – the Fig Tree, the
nation of Israel, will burst into life again towards the end of the age, not
only physically, but spiritually as well. (Luke
21:29 adds “… the fig tree and all the trees” indicating that all
nations will be showing signs of life). In the same way as a fig tree begins
to bloom and sprout early fruit and leaves in the spring, heralding the
approaching of summer, when the figs will be ripe for harvesting, so the
nation of Israel will burst into life again on the world stage as all the
things that are prophesied will come to pass, particularly with the focus on
Jerusalem. This is the sign that the kingdom of God is near, right at the
door, because summer is coming and the fig tree will be restored and will bear
fruit! Praise God!
But what did Jesus mean when He said, “I tell you the
truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things
have happened?”
There are a number of various interpretations of what
Jesus was saying here, but I believe that there are two ways we can interpret
this - and both are correct. Many times throughout His ministry to Israel, Jesus spoke about “this wicked and adulteress generation,” which generally referred
to those who were alive at that time. A generation was
usually understood to be 40 years, due to the 40 years of wandering in the
wilderness for ancient Israel, until that 'Exodus' generation had died.
A good portion of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24
(also Mark 13 and Luke 21) is describing the then future events of the first
century concerning the judgment of Jerusalem and the temple, and the 'days of vengeance'
upon the Jewish people. Jesus said all of this to answer the disciples'
question about the temple's destruction, which included the signs that would
occur, which would indicate that it was about to happen. But they had also
assumed that this would coincide with Christ's return at the end of the age,
so they'd also asked Jesus about his Coming or Presence (which only Matthew
recorded). So Jesus proceeds to answer all their questions by prophesying
these events.
The first interpretation of 'this generation' would be
that this refers to the generation of Jews living at that time in the first
century, from 30-70 AD, who would experience all these things coming upon Judah
and Jerusalem via the Jewish/ Roman war of that period. These things are
covered in more detail in the section The
Great Prophetic Plan Revealed.
But in some passages, the context
clearly demands that “this
generation” is referring to the
whole wicked generation of unbelieving Israel, beginning many centuries before
Christ and continuing right through to the end of the age (Matthew
12:39-45). Here is one such example, which is appropriate to the cursing of
the fig tree.
“…so that on
you should be coming all the just blood shed on the earth, from the
blood of just Abel until the blood of Zechariah, son of Bereciah, whom
you murder between the temple and the altar. Verily, I am saying to you: All
these things will be arriving on this generation… Jerusalem!…
Lo! your house is left to you desolate.
For I am saying to you: You may by no means be perceiving Me henceforth, till
you should be saying, ‘Blessed is He Who is coming in the name of the
Lord!’”
(Matthew 23:35-39 CV)
In the above passage quoted from Matthew, Jesus
prophesies that the judgment would come ‘on
you,’ that is, on those who
would be alive during the period from 33-70 AD, the time when the judgments
actually took place. And He also said that they had murdered the priest
and prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah - even though he had lived and died
many centuries before them! These people were not hundreds of years old,
yet they were connected to ‘this generation’ or race of Israel that
Jesus was speaking about!
So the phrase
‘this generation’ can,
and does, have a wider application, depending on the context. This is
often overlooked by many Bible teachers who then limit this phrase to either
the past or the future, but the truth is, it can apply to the past, present and
future.
Jeremiah had prophesied that the descendents of Israel
would continue as a nation until the end of this age, until the physical laws
of this old creation would pass away.
This is what the LORD says,
he who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name:
"Only if these decrees vanish from my
sight,"
declares the LORD,
"will the descendants of Israel
ever cease
to be a nation before me."
(Jeremiah 31:35-36 NIV; see also Jeremiah
33:19-26)
And God also made it clear that their would always be
a spiritual remnant of Israel, for He would not completely reject all of the
descendents of Israel because of their sins.
This is what the LORD says:
"Only if the heavens above can be
measured
and the foundations of the earth below be
searched out
will I reject all the descendants of
Israel
because of all they have done,"
declares the LORD.
(Jeremiah 31:37 NIV)
So
whichever way one looks at these prophecies, they are definitely declaring
that a spiritual Israel will continue until Christ's return and the
establishing of the New Creation. But for this to occur, there also needs to
be a physical nation of Israel after the flesh, out of which comes the
spiritual remnant. And that's exactly how it is to this day.
Therefore, in the context of Matthew 24:34 quoted earlier, ‘this
generation’ can also be referring to the final
generation of unbelieving Israel who will see all
these things unfold (that is, the various signs and events of Christ's
Return), and they will
not completely pass by until all these
things have occurred - which includes the visible return of Christ Himself!
Only then will the wicked generation ‘pass by’ and be no more, having no
place in the New Jerusalem. The bad figs will be (temporarily) destroyed.
Jesus is also confirming that no matter what the Jewish
people have to endure throughout this present age due to the curse, even being
crushed in the winepress of His wrath, a remnant will ultimately be restored as a
fruitful Fig Tree and a fruitful Vine, grafted back into their own Olive Tree,
brought back from the dead, to serve their God in righteousness and holiness,
welcoming their true Messiah in the Name of the Lord. Then the Tree of Life
(Christ and His Body) will be planted on this earth, bearing its 12 crops of
fruit each month for the people of the earth to feed on, and the leaves of the
Tree will be for the healing of the nations, including Israel according to the
flesh (Revelation 2:7;
22:2; Ezekiel 47:12). This is ultimate Restoration and Reconciliation.
[As a note of interest, it is my belief that
the original Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the centre of the
Garden of Eden was a fig tree. This is clearly
implied in Genesis 3:7 where we are told that Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves
together to make coverings for themselves immediately after they had both eaten
from this tree. A thoughtful study of figs and fig trees throughout Scripture
will show this to be so.
It is also my belief that
the original Tree of Life was an almond tree, or at least, it is represented in
Scripture by an almond tree. The key examples are: the budding of Aaron's staff
overnight, which became an almond branch producing almonds (Numbers 17); and the
exterior appearance of the seven-branched golden candlestick (Menorah) resembled
an almond tree (Exodus 25:31-40; 37:17-22). Both of these are types and symbols
of the Messiah Himself.
Be that as it may, in the vision of Revelation, the Tree
of Life is described as being on both sides of the river and bearing twelve
crops of fruit, one for each month (Revelation 22:2). Whether this is indicating that the crops
are the same 'fruit-kind' or different 'fruit-kinds' is unclear, nevertheless,
the tree is literally called the 'wood' or 'log of life' implying that this
'tree' was once dead, but now it is living! This, of course, symbolises Christ
Jesus Himself. And to eat from this Tree is to have age-abiding Life in the
Kingdom of God].
Copyright
© Gerry Watts 2005; revised 2007