The Fig Tree Has Budded

We observe that Israel was a dried tree for about 1900 years and then miraculously the branch put forth leaves in one day on May 14, 1948.

Note: Rabbi Menachem Kohen of Brooklyn discovered that the land of Israel “suffered an unprecedented, severe and inexplicable (by anything other than supernatural explanations) drought that lasted from the first century until the 20th; a period of 1,800 years coinciding with the forced dispersion of the Jews.”

Journalist Joseph Farah, prompted by the research of Rabbi Kohen, later discovered that only after the Jews returned did the rain begin to come.

When one examines the rainfall data for 150 years in Israel beginning in the early 1800s and leading up to the 1960s. What one finds is astonishing; increasing rainfall almost every single year; with the heaviest rainfall coming in and around 1948, when Israel became a nation and 1967, the year when the Israeli forces captured Jerusalem.

For 1,800 years, it hardly ever rained in Israel. It was the barren land as Mark Twain discovered . So-called “Palestine” was a wasteland; nobody lived there. There was no indigenous Arab population to speak of. They came after the Jews came back. Beginning in A.D. 70 and lasting until the early 1900s;  about 660,000 days; almost no rain.

Jesus told us that when this happens his return is at the doors. He said that the generation that saw this would by no means pass away. A generation is the lifetime of a person and that is on average between seventy or eighty years. Thus, according to the above considerations we could write out our equation in the following manner:

1948 + 70 ≈ 2018
OR if by reason of strength
1948 + 80 ≈ 2028

The parable of the fig tree was the answer to the disciples’ original question at the beginning of the chapter:

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” (Matthew 24: 3).

The observant student of scripture has noted that this reference to when the end of the age will be is in seeming contradiction to Jesus’ own words in Acts 1:6-8.

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And he said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth,’ (Acts 1:6-8).

This apparent contradiction is resolved however, when we consider just who Jesus was talking to; the disciples that he was speaking to in Acts were the same men who; only some forty days earlier, he had told what to look for at the end of the age. And the sign that he told them would definitively mark the beginning of the generation that would see the end was nothing less than the fig tree putting forth its branch and becoming tender.

Thus, the solution is the fig tree. They asked a question which he had already answered for them; look for the revival of the fig tree (which Jesus had pronounced cursed).

In other words, there was no point in looking for the end of the age so long as Israel was a dried tree! There was no point in looking for the second coming so long as the fig tree remained cursed (that is: not a nation). Only when it would become tender could the restoration of the kingdom occur.

That is why Jesus told the disciples of what they would receive in the meantime (“but you shall receive power”) and what their task was to be (“and you shall be witnesses to me”) until the revival of the fig tree and ultimately his coming.

Therefore, until the fig tree (Israel) was revived, there would be no restoration of the kingdom to Israel; which is of course only logical: Israel cannot have the kingdom if they do not exist as a national entity (a dried tree). But within a generation (lifetime of a person) of the revival of the fig tree (Israel) the kingdom will be restored in the millennial/messianic era.

Occupy Until He Comes

We have seen that the biblical interpretation of the fig tree is clearly Israel. We have also seen that a generation is the lifetime of a person which according to Psalm 90:10 is generally 70 or 80 years. Whether or not the Lord is required to return within 80 years exactly we obviously cannot be dogmatic. Nevertheless, in light of the incredible accuracy of His first coming, we ought to be persuaded that the above dates are both reasonable and likely.

The Lord’s second coming, therefore, appears to be between 2018 – 2028.

The beginning of the Great Tribulation (subtract seven years) then would most likely commence between 2011 – 2021.

Remember we are to know the times and the seasons, yet Jesus said very literally that the day and the hour no one can know.

The Lord’s second coming between 2018 and 2028 is seemingly the time and the season, but is not predictive of the day or the hour.

In light of the events that are happening in numerous categories (economics, natural disasters, etc.) on a global scale, the Lord’s return within the 80 years from the reestablishment of Israel in 1948 appears almost certain.

Nevertheless, no matter when the Lord returns, occupy until He does and tell others the good news of the gospel. Heed Jesus’ warning:

“Constantly be on your guard so that your hearts may not be loaded down with self-indulgence, drunkenness, and the worries of this life, or that day will take you by surprise like a trap. For it will come on all who live on the face of the earth. So be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to take your stand in the presence of the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36 ISV).