The Olivet Discourse … Luke’s Version. Follow Up

Q. You stated “As in Matthew’s account, the fig tree parable is not meant to signify Israel, but the speed with which these events would unfold once they began.” Everyone I have read says the fig tree there does represent Israel and that is why they look at the restoration of Israel in 1948 as defining the generation being talked about. In the readings on your site I have not seen anything to refute this except this one time. Please clarify.

A. The clearest readings of Matt. 24:32-33 and Luke 21:29-31 show that in the fig tree parable the Lord is equating two issues of time, not prophesying the re-birth of Israel. He was comparing the sprouting of fig leaves that indicate the nearness of summer, with the appearance of End Times signs that indicate the nearness of His return.

To further emphasize the short span of time involved, in Matt 24:34 and Luke 21:32 Jesus said that the generation alive when the first signs emerged would still be alive at the 2nd coming. The earliest specific end times sign that Jesus mentioned in the Olivet Discourse was not the re-birth of Israel but the appearance of the abomination of desolation. We know from Daniel 9:27, which Jesus referenced, that it will occur in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, only 3 1/2 years before the 2nd Coming.

If He was only thinking of that event, the generation reference wouldn’t have made sense. But He also spoke of other things that we now know couldn’t happen prior to Israel’s re-birth. These things include the resurfacing of anti-Semitism as a national policy, the existence of a temple in Israel, and the people there living in an old covenant relationship with God.

The re-birth of Israel is the first of the major End Times signs, but you can’t deduce that from the Olivet Discourse. That understanding comes from prophecies in Isaiah, Ezekiel and other places. The fact that Israel is often symbolized by the fig tree leads some to see the comparison here, but it’s only because we already know that Israel’s rebirth is an end times sign. Besides, it doesn’t make sense that He would give other clear and specific signs, and then hide the most important one in a parable.