The "Fig Tree" Generation

[marks]

Sometimes a Fig Tree is Just a Fig Tree.

Matthew 24:32-34 KJV
32) Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33) So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Luke 21:29-32 KJV
29) And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30) When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31) So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

Learn the parable of the fig tree, and all the trees . . .

Many suppose that Israel becoming a nation is the when the fig tree puts forth leaves, and that this starts a clock ticking.

One generation til Jesus comes!


The Bible does not say this. The parable of the fig tree, or as in Luke, of the fig tree, and all the trees, they are exactly that, parables. Just like when you look at a tree, and you see it's green leaves, you know summer is on the horizon, in that same way, when you look at everything going on, and you see these things happening, you know Jesus' coming is soon.

Remember the parable of the unjust judge. Those who would try to make every detail of a parable to be defining doctrine are stuck with making God out to be unjust. It doesn't work that way. Parables teach a certain truth through a familiar story, or some well known thing.

"This generation shall not pass away". Is this God's invitation to us to start counting years from 1948? If so, how many? 20? This is identified as a generation. But the same for 40 years, that's also called a generation. And 70. And 100. And 120.

Arguments are presented for each of these. But was that really what Jesus was saying?

Generation as used in the Bible can refer to,

1. All those born at a certain time, ie, GenX.
2. All those alive in a certain time, this generation.
3. All those alive from a common source, a nation.

The word at it's heart means to become, be generated.

Matthew 24:21-22 KJV
21) For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22) And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Here, Jesus promises that He will cut short the killing so that His elect - chosen - will not all be killed.

Matthew 24:34 KJV
34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Here, Jesus affirms His promise to preserve His Chosen nation.

This will be the most dangerous time in history, and when you see things things, you can know His coming is near. He's returning to rescue His people, and He will NOT let them all just be destroyed!

This is Jesus' prophecy. It is not a formula for a dubious timeline of unknown variables.

Much love!

 

[Jay Ross]

Hi Marks,

You are right in that many are confused about the meaning of "this generation," as to its meaning. For me the meaning is an "age," i.e. a period of time that is around 1,000 plus years long.

In Daniel 7:11-12 we are told this: -

Daniel 7:11-12: - 11 "I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.​

NKJV​

Also in Revelation 20:1-3 we are told that Satan and the four beasts are imprisoned in the Bottomless pit for a period of 1,000 years before it is unlocked and they are released for a short period of time before they are punished by being thrown into the lake of fire just at the very end of the Millennium Age. This suggests that the "season" of time mentioned in Daniel 7:12 is around 1,000 years long and that the period of time that follows this is much shorter in comparison.

In Isaiah 24:21-22, we are told that the rebelling heavenly hosts are judged in heaven and at the same time the kings of the earth are judged on the earth and together they are imprisoned for many days awaiting the time of their punishment.

If we consider Matt. 24:32, its timespan, we are told is the length of the spring season, and if there is an early spring, then the time span between when the fig tree buds, i.e. Genesis 15:16a where God told Abraham that some of his descendants will return to the land where he was around 4,000 years from the time when Isaac was born in the year 4052 BC, by my calculations, to their occupation of the Land of Canaan, in the year 1948 AD. The second part of Genesis 15:16b confirms that this is so because the iniquities of the Amorite people who were living in and around the Land of Canaan in 1948, was not yet completed. There iniquities against God will be judged, at the place called Armageddon, in our near future, around 20-25 years from now, when God will judge the all of the Kings of the earth at the same time that He judges the rebelling heavenly hosts in heaven. (Isaiah 24:21-22)

We know that the gentile kings of the earth are judged at this time because they will have for 2,300 years consistently trampled God's sanctuary and His earthly hosts up and until the 2,300 year prophecy is completed. Paul, in Romans 11:25-26, when correctly translated, points to the Daniel 8:14 time period of 2,300 years, after which the sanctuary will be cleansed, and all of Israel will be saved.

It is at this time during the time of these kings being judged, that God will cause a rock, untouched by human hands or tools, to come down to the earth to become the largest mountain, i.e. religion, in all of the world, when He, God, establishes His Everlasting Kingdom on the earth.

Jesus correctly tells us in 24:34 that all that He has told us, including what is recorded in the Book of Revelations, will take place during the last age of the world, before it is renewed as our inheritance after the time of Christs return to the earth with all of the Heavenly Hosts, to judge the peoples of the earth, some to everlasting righteousness, and the others to the lake of fire, which is the second death.

Now we can read the Bible as a linear revelation of God's word, but unless we skip back and forth in time as we read God's prophetic prophecies, they will not make any sense to us as the timeline that we generate when we red His prophecies linearly, will not even resemble his prophetic word.

When Jesus said, "This generation/age will not pass away" until all that He has told us comes to pass, during the time of the last/Millennium Age tells us that His return is not until the very end of the last/Millennium Age.

We are not told linearly what is to happen and we must piece the End Time Prophecies together using all of the scriptures, both the Old and the New Testaments to gain the insight that many people crave for.

Shalom

 

[DPMartin]

Sometimes a Fig Tree is Just a Fig Tree.

Matthew 24:32-34 KJV
32) Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33) So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Luke 21:29-32 KJV
29) And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30) When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31) So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

Learn the parable of the fig tree, and all the trees . . .

Many suppose that Israel becoming a nation is the when the fig tree puts forth leaves, and that this starts a clock ticking.

One generation til Jesus comes!


The Bible does not say this. The parable of the fig tree, or as in Luke, of the fig tree, and all the trees, they are exactly that, parables. Just like when you look at a tree, and you see it's green leaves, you know summer is on the horizon, in that same way, when you look at everything going on, and you see these things happening, you know Jesus' coming is soon.

Remember the parable of the unjust judge. Those who would try to make every detail of a parable to be defining doctrine are stuck with making God out to be unjust. It doesn't work that way. Parables teach a certain truth through a familiar story, or some well known thing.

"This generation shall not pass away". Is this God's invitation to us to start counting years from 1948? If so, how many? 20? This is identified as a generation. But the same for 40 years, that's also called a generation. And 70. And 100. And 120.

Arguments are presented for each of these. But was that really what Jesus was saying?

Generation as used in the Bible can refer to,

1. All those born at a certain time, ie, GenX.
2. All those alive in a certain time, this generation.
3. All those alive from a common source, a nation.

The word at it's heart means to become, be generated.

Matthew 24:21-22 KJV
21) For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22) And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Here, Jesus promises that He will cut short the killing so that His elect - chosen - will not all be killed.

Matthew 24:34 KJV
34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Here, Jesus affirms His promise to preserve His Chosen nation.

This will be the most dangerous time in history, and when you see things things, you can know His coming is near. He's returning to rescue His people, and He will NOT let them all just be destroyed!

This is Jesus' prophecy. It is not a formula for a dubious timeline of unknown variables.

Much love!

one thing you might not be aware of is, the nation of Israel is called by the UN the Figtree nation when it was reestablished by the UN.

the 40 year thing, yea that's a typical error by mainly Americans because they think everything is in accordance to them and their views and understanding. granted it can be misconstrued because of the 40 years in the desert with Moses but there's no "generation" definitive in that.

when Jesus speaks of generations or even this generation its simply the process of generating of the same, as in the born again are a generation of, or the generating of the sons of God, which is a generation separate from Adam or Noah generation of souls.

 

[Helen]

Good one!