The Lesson From The Fig Tree

In your study: “The Terminal Generation” you mentioned: “In any countdown to the 2nd coming the year 1948 is viewed as the obvious starting point, but in Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy the countdown to the 1st coming began with the rebuilding of Jerusalem, not the re-gathering of the nation.”

Q. In your study: “The Terminal Generation” you mentioned: “In any countdown to the 2nd coming the year 1948 is viewed as the obvious starting point, but in Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy the countdown to the 1st coming began with the rebuilding of Jerusalem, not the re-gathering of the nation (Daniel 9:24-27). If history repeats itself we should probably consider using 1967, the year Jerusalem became a Jewish city again instead of 1948, the year the nation was reborn.” This is based on the fig tree as Israel in Matt 24:32. I came across the following on another site: “The starting point for “this generation” is a key part of the enigma. The presumption that the idiom of the “fig tree” uniquely refers to either Israel or Jerusalem seems specious. The parallel account in Luke includes, “…and all the trees,” which would seem to dismiss any specific metaphorical significance to the fig tree itself.”

What is your opinion about it?

A. In the article you referenced, I didn’t base my opinion on the symbolism of the fig tree, but on the precedent established by comparing the 1st coming and Daniel 9:24-27.

Jesus used the reference to a fig tree in Matt. 24:32 to appeal to their knowledge of the seasons. Just as they knew that when the fig tree blossomed, summer was near, so they should know that once the signs began appearing, the end of the Age was near. The fig tree was not meant to represent Israel there, but the signs of the times, of which the regathering of the Nation and the reunification of Jerusalem are two very important ones.