Who would have predicted that the Jewish people would be uprooted in the first century, scattered to the four corners of the Earth and, at a point in the future, get replanted back in their ancient land? This scenario, which played out on the world’s stage over the last two thousand years, was already “played out” by way of prophecies spoken in the Old and New Testaments.
The prophets stated that once replanted in the Holy Land, the Jewish people would never again be uprooted and Jerusalem would again be in the hands of the Jewish people. Most importantly, this replanting would mark time: “This generation [that began with the rebirth of the Jewish nation] shall not pass away, till all [end-time prophecies] be fulfilled.” Therein, Christ is speaking to those who would be alive in the days when Israel again became a nation: the fulfillment of all that has been foretold about the end-times shall come to pass during the life span of that specific generation. This is the central theme of this opening “stage.”
To move forward with this presentation, the following fundamental picture is first provided: the prophecy of the fig tree cited previously is in parable form. Parables contain symbolism, and in the case of this prophecy, the “trees” are symbolic. When biblical language is scrutinized, it is evident that “trees” are representative of nations, and that the fig tree is the symbol of the Jewish nation. This fig tree symbolism is evident throughout the Old Testament.
When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. (Hosea 9:10)
Then the word of the LORD came to me: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land.’” (Jer. 24:4-6)
God likened the Israelites to figs: fruit growing from the Israelite fig tree. The Talmud (Jewish commentaries on Scripture) speaks of the symbolic nature of the fig tree and its relevance to the Jewish nation. Surviving into modern times, this fig tree symbolism is commonly found on government buildings in Israel today.
In the prophecy of the “good figs,” God states that he “will bring them back to this land.” He would draw together his “good figs” back in the Holy Land from the land of the Babylonians where he sent them. This gathering was the first of the Jewish nation (2500 years ago).1 Just as this first replanting of Israel represented the fulfillment of prophecy, so did the second replanting (in 1948).
Now, moving in time to the first century, the focus is on the prophecies spoken by the “prophet” who had a profound effect on the course of human history: Jesus Christ. During his life, he spoke frequently of what should become of the Jewish people.
Why did the Jewish nation get uprooted in the first century and scattered throughout the world? How did Christ apply the fig tree analogy in his prophecies to paint the picture of what would become of the Jewish people?
In order to fully describe the state and fate of the Jewish nation, Christ spoke forth three distinct scenarios regarding the fig tree: barren, cursed, and replanted. These three prophecies communicate the following: the barren state of Israel in the first century, the cursing and uprooting of Israel, and the eventual replanting of Israel.
Christ’s parable of the barren fig tree identifies the state of affairs in the Jewish nation at the time of the first century.
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,’ 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)
The symbolism is as follows: the vineyard is Palestine (the location of Israel), God is the owner of the vineyard and its fig tree, and Christ is the one declaring the lack of fruit. Because the tree of the Jewish nation bore no fruit, Christ declared it should be cut down. To demonstrate this judgment upon Israel, Christ literally cursed a fig tree.
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. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Mark 11:12-17)
Christ was hungry for fruit—a spiritual harvest—in Israel, but as made clear by his actions in the temple and by his condemnation of the religious “robbers” that plundered it, no fruit would be forthcoming from the “fig tree” of the Jewish nation. The nation professed a religious creed by their “show” (leaves) but bore no spiritual fruit. Hence, Jesus cursed the nation for its hypocrisy. The cursing of the fig tree symbolized the spiritual death that permeated the temple and the nation, and it foreshadowed the physical withering of Israel itself—which came to pass in A.D. 70, when the Romans overthrew the Jewish nation in the Holy Land.
This spiritual death that filled the nation flowed down from the religious hierarchy. Christ made clear the reason for the withering; he pronounced judgment by way of the following parable:
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone [Christ] the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” (Matt. 21:33-43)
By speaking in a parable, Christ placed the religious authorities in a story—a story whereby those same authorities wound up predicting their own demise. In another encounter with the religious hierarchy, Christ spoke without the use of a parable:
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation. (Matt. 23:33-36)
Christ said judgment would fall upon “this generation.” Of course, he was referring to his contemporaries.
Exactly what is the time of a generation? Applying historical evidence from the first century yields the following answer: A generation is approximately 70 years in length. (Christ’s birth is marked at approximately “0” and the destruction of the temple is marked at A.D. 70.2) Supporting this position (on the length of a generation) is the statement made in the Psalms: The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength (Ps. 90:10).
The prophecy spoken by the Son of God was that justice would fall upon the generation of people who lived at that time: “They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations” (Luke 21:24). Looking back twenty centuries, history now records what Christ had foretold. As the fig tree would yield no fruit, Heaven’s justice would require it to be uprooted.
This picture given by Christ is supported by, and is parallel to, Old Testament prophecy. As spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
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. (Jer. 8:13)
“This section [of Jeremiah] is read aloud in synagogues every year on the ninth [day] of Ab . . ., the day the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. and by the Romans in A.D. 70.”3
Despite the scattering of the figs, divine prophecy declared that the Israelites would be gathered again—replanted—back in the Holy Land. In the second replanting, the Jewish people would never again be uprooted. As written by Amos:
“I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:14, 15)
In addition to being replanted in the Holy Land, the Jewish nation would regain complete control of their capital city. Christ prophesied that Jerusalem would be “trampled on” by outside forces, but that the foreign occupation would come to an end: “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).
Although Jerusalem was trampled on by foreign powers for nearly 1900 years, the balance of power swung back in favor of the Jewish people, when, in June 1967, Israeli forces won complete control of the city—gaining authority over Old Jerusalem during the Six-Day War.
This control over Jerusalem, and the rebirth of the Jewish nation in Palestine, represented the fulfillment of prophecy. If two major elements of Christ’s prophecy have been fulfilled, then, logically speaking, all prophecies associated with the replanting will come to pass with the same degree of certainty.
The prophecy of the replanted fig tree speaks to our generation; it behooves us to understand what Christ is saying regarding the prophecies associated with it. To expound upon this thought, the final prophecy that pertains to the fig tree—the replanting—is now revisited.
And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. (Luke 21:29-32 KJV)
In this prophecy, Christ states that the generation that began with the rebirth of Israel will live to see the end-time events. Herein, light is shed upon our understanding of biblical prophecy by way of the following fundamental thought: The establishment of the Jewish state in 1948 is the key piece of the prophetic puzzle that first had to be in place before the rest of the puzzle could be assembled. This is what Christ said in his prophecy: When the fig tree (Israel) is replanted and shooting forth among the other new, independent nations (that are also shooting forth), then the stage is set for the fulfillment of all that has been foretold about the end-times. These end-time events are made clear by Christ because he spoke of them in the context of the parable (which includes Luke 21, Matthew 24, and Mark 13).4 Herein, the significant prophecies that shall come to pass are as follows: the return of Christ to gather his kingdom, the rise of the Antichrist, the Apocalypse and Armageddon, and, finally, the commencement of the 1000-year kingdom of God on Earth.
When will all this be fulfilled? By applying the logic of the Psalms, and historical evidence from the first century, a time frame of approximately 70 years (beginning in 1948) would mark time in the vicinity of 2020. This time frame corresponds to the generation in Christ’s prophecy; it “shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” In essence, when the planet reaches the latter days of that time, the end-time events will have unfolded, and the generation that began with the replanting of the fig tree will know their true Messiah: Christ. (Note: According to the time line in the Psalms, the unmistakable drama that signals the beginning of the end commences before this decade is out. The Prophecy addresses this subject.)
The symmetry of history also speaks to our generation: Whereas the first replanting of the Jewish people set the stage for the first coming of Christ, the second replanting of the Jewish people has set the stage for the second coming of Christ.
Consider this: When in the history of the world have we witnessed a people uprooted from their homeland, driven to countries throughout the globe, scorned and persecuted, then—centuries later—regain their original “birth” place?
We are to know the times we are in. There should be no doubt. Look at what Christ said in his day:
He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It's going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It's going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” (Luke 12:54-56)
Christ himself established the authority to discern the signs of the times. He admonished his contemporaries to give heed to what the Old Testament prophets spoke regarding the coming Messiah. Hence, likewise, it makes spiritual sense to give heed to the prophecies that apply to the second coming—and the signs of the times that correspond to it.
1. The marking of the gatherings excludes the exodus from Egypt but is instead linked to the arrivals of the Messiah.
2. Historical and astronomical evidence mark Christ’s birth prior to the turn of the millennium. Significant in time are the planetary alignments of 3 B.C. and 2 B.C. See “The Star of Bethlehem: An Astronomical and Historical Perspective,” and “Star of Bethlehem: Going Back in Time to Examine Its Origins.”
3. New International Study Version Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 1130.
4. Revelation 6-20 expounds upon the subject.
All Scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
