The Fig Tree Puts Forth Leaves...
Above is a photo of a potted fig tree I have mentioned before on this blog. It has now come close to dying several times, but was saved each time by repotting it with new soil, in a similar way to the parable Jesus told in Luke 13:
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Now, I'm not particularly looking for fruit from this tree (although it would be nice), but God certainly is looking for fruit in the way of repentance (change of thinking) from His people, which is the point of the parable, told in response to some events that happened in Israel at that time:
13 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
This leads me to the prophetic significance of the fig tree as it represents the modern nation of Israel, which turns 73 in just 75 days from today. Below is a link to a previous post I wrote on this topic.
https://steemit.com/prophecy/@auskiwi/the-fig-tree-prophecy-israel-and-the-rapture
The way I see it, the modern nation of Israel, prophetically speaking, has reached a make-or-break point in its history.
They are now divided politically between the religious right and the secular left, and prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is struggling to maintain his razor-thin political advantage, which was recently called into question by his coalition partner Benny Gantz, who has now forced him into yet another, 4th election on March 23, which is likely to take several months to result in a new government, if that even happens. So yet again, Netanyahu is fighting for his political life. I go into depth about that scenario, and a related prophecy, the 70 Shepherds Prophecy found in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, in my previous post:
While you can see that my fig tree pictured above is certainly putting on a spectacular spurt of growth at the moment, following its transfer to a bigger pot with lots of new soil and liquid worm compost being poured on it regularly from our worm farm, it certainly isn't fruiting just yet.
In a similar way, Israel has certainly flourished as a nation over the last 73 years, as the skills and wealth of a hard working, industrious and skilled people have been invested in regenerating a barren, desolate land they inherited after an absence of just under 1900 years, but in spite of the prosperity, as a people, they have remained divided, double-minded in a sense about their religious identity as a people of God, a people of promise who have a prophetic destiny.
They have recently discovered oil on their territory, which is a great asset to the nation, but they have not yet discovered their Messiah, in spite of the fact that there are a few Messianic believers in their midst who are doing their best to share the Gospel of the man who last walked their land just under 2000 years ago, before being executed by the Romans, raised from the dead, and then ascending to Heaven, with a promise given that He would return in like manner:
Acts 1: 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Whether that return refers to the rapture or the second coming, we are certainly coming close, in my opinion, to the time when this return could happen, as the fig tree generation enters the last 7 years of its 8th decade since being founded on May 14, 1948. Will that last 7 years be the 7 year tribulation? Is this what it will take for the nation of Israel to find their Messiah? I certainly hope and pray that they will, as I can't wait to see their prophetic destiny unfold, whatever it takes, because ultimately Jesus Christ, or Yeshua Hamashiach, as they will know Him, is destined to be the king of Israel, and of the whole world for 1000 years when that happens, as detailed in Revelation 20:
The Thousand Years
20 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Time will tell, whether the fig tree prophecy comes to pass as some are predicting over the next 75 days, but I for one will be watching my own fig tree, and the fig tree nation of Israel over this period, to see what happens. Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus...