Does the fig tree represent Israel in Scripture?
I will attempt to prove, using Scripture, that the fig tree indeed represents the nation of Israel, as does the olive tree, in both the thinking of Biblical writers, in our Creator's symbolism, in Prophesy, and in Hebrew thinking. My focus is upon the fig tree, because there are some that argue that the fig tree does not represent Israel, but may be allegorically applied to the church.
Jeremiah 24: 3-7 (NIV) [I do not recommend the NIV, but in this case the translation is clear.]
Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the poor ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.” 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. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.”
Some may say, this is speaking of figs, and not the fig tree. However, notice what Elohim says, “I will plant them and not uproot them.” He is speaking of the figs (people) being planted in their land (Israel) which is represented by the fig tree. The Almighty goes on in verses 8-10, to describe the bad figs, whom he curses, and they will be destroyed from the land he gave to them, and to their fathers. It is clear from this passage that figs represent the people of Israel.
From Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary under the word, "Fig Tree":
Note: A “fig tree” with leaves must have young fruits already, or it will be barren for the season. The first figs ripen in late May or early June. The tree in Mark 11:13 should have had fruit, unripe indeed, but existing. In some lands “fig trees” bear the early fruit under the leaves and the later fruit above the leaves. In that case the leaves were the sign that there should have been fruit, unseen from a distance, underneath the leaves. The condemnation of this fig tree lay in the absence of any sign of fruit.
When Yeshua cursed the fig tree, It was a prophesy, of what was going to happen to Jerusalem, and to the nation of Israel, in the not too distant future. The fig tree had beautiful leaves which represented righteousness, (just as the coverings of fig leaves represented the man made righteousness of Adam and Eve, when they made aprons of fig leaves, to hide their nakedness). Israel had a form of godliness, but denied it’s power. Many rejected their Messiah, because they wanted to hold on to their man made righteousness which came through the traditions of men. In doing so, they brought the curses, and wrath of Elohim upon themselves. In 70 AD, Israel withered and died for the lack of bearing fruit, exactly, as did the fig tree that Yeshua cursed. Israel has always had a remnant that did accept Yeshua as their Messiah though, and Romans, Chapter Eleven, makes this clear. Also, we read in Isaiah 45:17;
“But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting.”
Fig trees bear fruit twice in the year. There is the early fruit after the former rains which appear around May, or June. Then there is the latter fruit which appear around the latter rains of August, and may remain until April.
In Genesis 12: 2 & 3, God says to Abram: (NIV)
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
In Proverbs 27:18 , the writer makes a curious statement concerning the fig tree: (CJB)
“Whoever tends the fig tree will eat it’s fruit, and he who is attentive to his master will be honored.”
I believe our heavenly Father is telling us in these passages, to tend to Israel. We are to be attentive to our Master Yeshua, and what He is saying in these end times, that we may be blessed. In Matthew, Chapters 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21, Yeshua is telling us what to watch for, concerning the destruction of the temple and the city Jerusalem. However, He is also telling us what to watch for at the end of the age, and the signs of His return. He is the one who is giving us the time frame, in which to understand what is happening. He has given us the clues, as to what to watch for, that we may know the times and the seasons.
The fig tree, and the vine are used by Messiah in ways which are foreign to modern day western understanding, but were common knowledge to the Messianic believers, during, and immediately following the days Yeshua walked upon this earth. When He said, “I am the true vine,” they wanted to kill Him. Why? Because, He was telling them, that He was the true Israel, and they believed they were the true sons of Abraham. By the same token, when Yeshua is saying in Luke 21: 29ff -32; (KJV)
“Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of yourselves 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.”
Understand this about the fig tree. It bears fruit twice. There is the early fruit and the late fruit. There is a time span between the summer fruit and the later fruit. I believe the early fruit was the time period following Messiah’s walking upon this earth, and the fruit that was produced from His disciples going forth to all the known nations of the world, preaching the Gospel to every nation, kindred and tongue. It was the Jewish people who were called first to spread the Good News, to the Jew first and to the Goyim (Gentiles). It was the believing Jews, who recognized Yeshua as their Messiah that carried the early fruit from the fig tree (Israel).
I also believe that we are living in the latter times, when the Jewish people are receiving and carrying the Good News to other Jews, and also to the Goyim (Gentiles). It is in this generation that the Jews are returning to their Messiah in great numbers. It is in this generation, more than any other generation since the passing of the original Apostles, that the Jews are once again in their homeland. The city of Jerusalem, is once again in the possession of the Jewish people, and where Hebrew is once again spoken as prophesied in Zephaniah 3:9. It is in this generation that the desert is once again blossoming as a rose, and rejoicing over the return of it’s people, after being desolate for two thousand years as prophesied in Isaiah 35:1.
That is why Yeshua says “This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” Then Yeshua gives a warning in verse 34. “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come upon you unawares.” We are to be diligent in paying attention to the signs of the times.
All generations were to be diligent in watching for Messiah’s return, but if there was not a specific time for us to be watching and praying, why was Yeshua so careful to tell us to be watching, when these signs are evident. If there has ever been a time in the history of mankind to be watching and praying, I believe, that time is the present. I believe there has never been a time in the history of the world, that these signs were as evident as they are today. My mother was alive, and above the age of accountability to see Israel become a nation again, after two thousand years of being scattered among the nations. It’s language is restored. The desert is blossoming like a rose exactly as Scripture says it will. Our heavenly Father has preserved Israel from many attacks since becoming a nation. The Fig Tree has produced it’s first figs, and through the thousands of Messianic Jews living in Israel today, I believe the second fruit is about ready for picking. Yeshua is about to return. My mother is gone now, but there are still many from her generation alive today. That generation has not yet passed. However, they are getting quite up in years.
Yeshua said in Luke 21:35 & 36; (KJV)
“For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
I don’t know about you, but I do not plan on being among all them, who are dwelling upon the face of the whole earth, once Yeshua comes for His bride. I plan on being among the crowd which no man could number standing before the throne of the Almighty, and before the Lamb, as spoken of in Revelation 7: 9 - 17.
Note in Luke 21: 36, It does not say, to pray that you would be worthy to escape, (because, none of us are worthy) but rather, it says, pray that you would be accounted worthy. We are only accounted worthy by accepting the sacrificial death, burial and resurrection of our Messiah Yeshua. So many consider themselves to be dead in Messiah, but so few understand that they are also resurrected in Messiah.
All of scripture must be interpreted from a Hebraic understanding. There are often scriptures that do not translate directly into Western understanding, because of cultural differences. It is then, that an understanding the Hebrew culture makes all the difference, between understanding, and not understanding. The Scriptures were written by Hebrew men, for Hebraic understanding, not the Hellenistic, Greek/ Roman/ Modern Western understanding. Without an understanding of the Hebrew mind, understanding of passages of scripture are difficult at best. The Hebrew culture and the Hellenistic cultures are form opposite ends of the spectrum of understanding.
Unfortunately, most of the scriptural interpretation today comes from the Hellenistic perspective. Yeshua said in John 14:15-18 that He was returning to the Father and He would send another Comforter. The Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), and He would lead us into all truth. We are not to follow after the doctrines and traditions of men. We are to ask the Ruach HaKodesh to be our teacher. Only when we surrender our minds, and lives to the Ruach HaKodesh, will we know the hidden mysteries of our heavenly Father. That does not mean that we cannot listen to men. It means that we are to weigh what is said against what Scripture is saying to our spirits. Does it agree with the whole of scripture? We are to test everything.
Shalom Ahlaychem,
Barry W. Gaugler
