The Fig Tree Prophesy

The Fig Tree Prophesy
The Fig Tree Prophesy
BY AMIR TSARFATI/HARBINGER'S DAILY DECEMBER 20, 2023

The Fig Tree Is Alive: Are We Among The Generation That 'Shall Not Pass Away'?
Hebrews 1 says, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 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 worlds..." So, here we are seeing that Jesus never contradicted a single verse from the prophets. In fact, He continued in the same mantle.

Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus was on the Mount of Olives surrounded by His disciples. None of His disciples were "Christian" at that point. They were Jewish.

So, Jesus taught his Jewish disciples while He was in Jerusalem. And to make it very clear, in the history of planet Earth, Jerusalem was never the capital of any other nation but Israel. So, here you have the Jewish Messiah speaking to His Jewish disciples in the Jewish capital of the Jewish people.

We have to understand that the questions He was asked by his disciples--to which He gave a great, lengthy, and detailed answer--were authentic Jewish issues related to the Jewish Temple, the Messiah, and the last days.

No Gentile at the time was thinking about the last days, the Messiah, or the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus was talking to Jews about Jewish matters that only interested the Jews. He spoke on the Mount of Olives. That is why Matthew 24 is called the Olivet Discourse.

By the way, He was not angry with their questions. He understood exactly where they were coming from and took His time to give them a detailed answer. First, in verses 4 to 31, He spoke to His Jewish disciples about the future of the Jews. But then, starting in verse 32, He also gave them a different perspective of things to come. And He was talking about something else, someone else, another group of people which, by the way, they are also part of.

Learn from the Fig Tree

In Matthew 24:32-35, Jesus said, "Now learn the parable from the fig tree..." In the middle of His teaching on Israel and all the things Israel will go through, He stops to tell His disciples: "Now listen, I want you to learn a parable from the fig tree." In other words, He makes it clear that what He says about the fig tree is not literally about a fig tree; it's a parable of the fig tree--a symbol of something different. He is basically saying: Look, "when its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know..." It's not "you think" and it's not "you guess." It's "you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see..."

Again, it's not when you talk about it, it's not when you hope for it, and it's not when you dream of it. It's "When you see" (with your very eyes) "all these things, know that it is near." Not 200 yards away, not 200 miles away. Where? "Right at the door." Right there!

So, Jesus reminds the disciples, "Look, the fig tree, remember the fig tree (of Matthew 21:18-20)? That fig tree that died, it's going to come back to life." Then He said, "the generation that will see the 'rebirth' of that tree, that generation shall not pass away till all these things take place" (Matthew 24:32-35). What things? His coming back.

God's Word Stands Forever

Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus' words will not pass away. Just like God said through Isaiah: "The flower fades, the grass withers, but the Word of God stands forever" (40:8). Wow!

So, Jesus stopped His entire description of the end times of Israel to tell His disciples, "Now listen. I want to talk to you now, not as Israel, but as My followers. If you follow Me, you can escape destruction. And, if you're following Me and alive to see the fig tree blooming... that's it! That's the last generation." Wow!

Before we talk about the fig tree, let's talk about the word "generation." Scholars, theologians, teachers, and pastors have pondered and debated about the timeframe of a generation. Some say it's 20 years, some 30 years, some 40 years, others say longer.

But none of those answers are correct. We need to understand that biblically, a generation has always referred to the longevity of mankind. That means the time between conception and natural death. So, the average lifespan of a group of people living at about the same time constitutes the length of a generation. Before the Flood, the Bible tells us the average lifespan of a man was over 900 years. Today, if a man makes it to 100, he's a celebrity.

So, which generation was Jesus talking about when he said, "this generation shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:34)? He was speaking of the generation that will see the fig tree come back to life. Wow!

I believe He is referring to believers who witness the most significant end-time prophecy: the "rebirth" of the fig tree--the rebirth of Israel.