Rev. 6:13 compares the stars of heaven to figs being cast to the ground before they are ripe. The comparison is very appropriate. In the Bible, the fig tree is the national symbol of Judah . Jeremiah 24 divides Judah into two groups of people: a basket of good figs and a basket of bad figs. The good figs are those who submit to God, even when God pronounces judgment upon the nation. The bad figs refuse to submit, thinking God wants them to fight God's “enemies” in order to retain their freedom. In Jeremiah's day God classed the majority of the people as bad figs, for they fought Babylon , instead of recognizing king Nebuchadnezzar as God's servant (Jer. 27:6) and instrument of divine judgment for sin. In Jesus' day God's servant was the Roman Empire . The majority of the Judean people again held the same view as their forefathers in Jeremiah's day. They chafed under Roman authority, believing that it was God's will that they be free. They wanted their freedom in order to be able to continue their empty and hypocritical worship in the temple, believing their own traditions and setting aside the divine law (Matt. 15:1-9). The point is this: there were two fig trees portrayed as Judah . One produced fruit so rotten that it could not be eaten. The other produced fruit that was very good. John the Baptist came, prophesying that the axe was laid to the root of the tree (Matt. 3:10 ), because any tree that does not bring forth good fruit was to be cut down and burned. The good figs, on the other hand, were represented by Jesus Christ and His followers. Those of this fig tree became the inheritors of the promises to Judah . Even as the evil fig tree was cut down, the good fig tree carried on the banner of Judah and became the legitimate tree of the tribe of Judah . For this reason Paul says in Rom. 2:28 and 29 that those who possess only the physical circumcision—Jews who had rejected Jesus Christ and remained part of the evil fig tree—were NOT Jews (Judahites) at all. Do we believe Paul? Likewise, those who had circumcised in their hearts ARE JEWS. (that is, Judahites, of the tribe of Judah ). The early Church began as the legitimate tribe of Judah , for they were loyal followers of the King of Judah, Jesus Christ, the legal heir of King David's throne. When the Church was scattered by persecution into other lands, many other people of different “trees” were converted to Christ. These “branches” of other trees were cut off from their former trees and grafted into this Judah fig tree. Soon the number of foreign converts exceeded that of the genealogical Judahites, so that this fig tree began to look like a “gentile church,” bearing peaches, pears, apples, and plums, with only a few branches bearing figs. Hence, men began to think of this tree as something other than Judah . But they were mistaken. What men call the “Church” is, in reality, the original fig tree of Judah with many other branches grafted into it. The Church, then, carries the banner of Judah . Those who remain unattached to Jesus Christ, the Root of this tree, are not true Judahites, regardless of their genealogy. And so, when Rev. 6:13 compares the stars of heaven (the overcomers) with the figs, it is no idle comparison. The overcomers are indeed the true Jews (Judahites). They may not all be descended genealogically from the tribe of Judah , but they all derive their sustenance from Jesus Christ, the King of Judah. They are the good figs of Judah . These are the ones cast down at an early age as unripe figs. These are the ones persecuted and worn down by the little horn of Dan. 7:21-25. Please read Isa. 34:4-5. We know Esau in the Old Testament butdo we know who he is today. Stay tuned and we will go on thatjourney tomorrow.Logabe