September 25, 2010

CONSIDER THE FIG TREE

What about that tree putting forth leaves...is that the modern nation of Israel becoming a Nation?

Look at the passages that seem to indicate this.

"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves,... ye know that summer is nigh:" Matthew 24:32

Here we see that Jesus is declaring a sign of a tree indicating by its leaves being put forth that summer is near. I do not see anything about a nation. Is he not just saying that sometimes there are undeniable and irrefutable signs of a coming event...(Any coming event...even summer).

We should probably let all the words of Jesus come to bear on this topic before we make conclusions...so...

The parallel passage for the Matthew one is Luke 21. Here

"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." Luke 21:29-30

If the tree in Matthew 24 is representative of the Nation of Israel then in the parallel passage that is speaking of exactly the same event in both the Matthew and Luke passage, then we should carry that figurative representation over into the Luke passage...RIGHT?

Here we are told to consider the fig tree, (ostensibly representing Israel), But then he includes "ALL THE TREES" If the Fig tree in this story is representing the nation of Israel, then ALL THE TREES must be representing all the rest of the nations of the world. Note what it says about ALL THE TREES. "When THEY SHOOT FORTH".

SO if the fig tree bearing leaves is Israel in the future becoming a nation...then ALL THE TREES--SHOOTING FORTH, would have to be all the rest of the nations of the world becoming a nation.

What other nations have become nations in conjunction with Israel becoming a nation in 1948? The Chinese became communist about that time...but that is only one nation. Did the United States, Britain, Mexico, Canada, Germany...did any of them BECOME nations in 1948?

The whole thing breaks down. The fig leaves blooming can in NO WAY be representative of Israel becoming a nation in anyway.

Is there another explanation?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For thought. Genesis 3:7 fig leaf as man's covering to hide his sin and a hiding from God. Take a concordance and follow fig as a study. The fig is a supplier of food for his people and a shade tree under which to rest, but human kind has made it a place of leisure and how we in generations from when Jesus spoke become less and less relational to Jesus our God and creator, rejecting his ways and even promoting Atheism. This is a more apt train of thought than is usually preached.