Day Seven:  The Prophecy of the Fig Tree

Jesus told his disciples that the regathering of Israel would be an important sign about the imminence of his return. In Matthew 24:32–34 he said,

Now learn this lesson 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. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

The fig tree is an important symbol of Israel throughout the Bible. For example, in Hosea 9:10 God says of Israel, “When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.” Likewise, in Jeremiah 24:2–10 the prophet was given a vision of two baskets of figs symbolizing two groups in Judah, one of which he would “bring . . . back to this land” and the other that he would destroy by “sword, famine and plague.”

Jesus also used the fig as a symbol for God’s people in one of the parables recorded in Luke 13. And later, at the very end of his ministry, Jesus cursed a fig tree that he found fruitless—likely symbolizing that he had lost hope that the fig tree of Judah would bear fruit.

So when Jesus says, in Matthew 24:32, “learn this lesson from the fig tree,” he’s speaking metaphorically of Israel. And what does he say? “As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.” The image of a dormant tree coming back to life for the summer is a vivid symbol of the restoration and regathering of the nation. He’s saying that when you see Israel, the fig tree, beginning to green up, you’ll “know that it”--his return and the end of the age”—is near, right at the door.” In other words, when Israel begins to regather, we can know that Jesus’ return is near.

Then he adds this: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (v. 34). In other words, Jesus promised that the generation that witnessed the restoration of Israel would not pass away before he returned.   We can’t be sure what exactly Jesus meant by a generation, or whether the clock begins with the declaration of Israel’s independence in 1948 or some other later date, but he has given us enough information to know that his return is very near. The fact that Israel is being regathered, in keeping with God’s many promises to do so, has started the clock, and while we can’t know for certain when the alarm will ring, we can know that it is going to be very soon. 

For more on the promise of Matthew 24:33 and other biblical clues that we're living in the season of Jesus' return, check out the book And Then The End Will Come by Douglas Cobb.