The fig tree is often used in the Old Testament of Israel with the people in peace and prosperity in their land and nation of Israel as "every man under his own vine and under his own fig tree". Two main instances of the fig tree as a sign of Israel in a national sense were both used by the Lord Jesus the Messiah (Christ) near the end of his public ministry in his first coming on earth. These references were in the first Jewish month Nisan which includes the Passover and occurs in late March or early April in the western calendar. The first use is as Jesus cursing Israel for the fig tree not bringing forth fruit. This was in response to especially the religious and legal establishment of Israel not recognizing Jesus as their Messiah and King after he offered himself as such. This offer of Jesus as Messiah was when he came on the donkey with the shouts of Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD by the general population. This phase of Israel as a nation was destined to end when Israel rejected her Messiah and King in Jesus and was fulfilled in the year 70 AD when the Romans under general Titus came and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple there and took away Israel's limited national independence. However Israel won't be destined to be cursed or cast off forever as a nation of God. Jesus also used the fig tree as a sign of Israel as God's chosen nation to be restored in the last days before Jesus' second coming to set up God's 1000 year Messianic Kingdom. This started in earnest when Israel was formally reestablished as a nation on May 14, 1948 and further established when Israel secured some authority over the Old City of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount on May 19, 1967. The generation that saw or even participated in Israel's War of Independence and its establishment of Israel as an established nation will not all die off before the establishment of the Kingdom of God or the Messianic Kingdom on Earth.
When Jesus came from Bethany and Bethphage on the east side of the Mount of Olives Jesus told his disciples to ask at a certain place for an ass or donkey and a colt the foal or son of an ass or donkey at a certain place for him to sit upon as he travelled to Jerusalem and the owner provided this as Jesus predicted. This was also prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 as the means by which the Messiah would present himself and offer himself to the nation of Israel as their Messiah and King. The people of Israel and especially their legal and religious establishment would be very much aware of this prophecy. The day on which Jesus offered himself as Messiah and King of Israel was also very significant as it was exactly at the end of the first 69 weeks or 483 of Daniel's prophecy. The beginning of this prophecy was the time of the decree in the month Nisan in 454 BC by Cyrus in the time of the Persian king Artaxerxes. This decree was to give authorization for the people of Israel or the Jewish people to rebuild the city of Jerusalem that was then still in ruins from the time it was destroyed by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar that ended the period of the kingdom of Israel in about 587 or 586 BC. The people and nation of Israel and especially their national authorities such as the chief priests and the high priest making up the Sanhedrin or Council would also be very aware of the time of fulfillment of this prophecy since they also already had this prophecy in Daniel 9. They probably could have calculated the time of the fulfillment of this prophecy is 14 Nisan 30 AD in the Jewish day on the western calendar. Dr. Floyd Jones The Chronology of the Old Testament page 220-238. The people putting their garments before Jesus' path would be a sign of humility and their putting tree branches that was especially palm branches was a symbol of victory or triumph and rejoicing. The people of Israel would think this was appropriate in receiving Jesus as their Messiah and the nation of Israel's King. The people also said Hosanna to the son of David meaning Save us son of David or the king that is David's descendent that would be the Messiah and one to restore and complete King David's dynasty and the promises of an everlasting dynasty God promised him in 2 Samuel 7. The people who would come in the name of the Lord means he would come in the place and authority of the Lord. All the people of the city at this time were moved or we would say that there was a lot of hype or sensation at Jesus' perceived then offering himself as the nation of Israel's Messiah and King. Everybody was asking who Jesus was and most were saying that Jesus was a great prophet of Nazareth of Galilee probably at least referring to Jesus as the prophet like and of the brethren of Moses as in Deuteronomy 18 but not many people apparently recognized or claimed Jesus was the Son of God or God come in the form of a man. The scripture reference in the Gospel of Matthew 21 of the Lord Jesus the Messiah (Christ) offering himself as the Messiah and King for the people and nation of Israel in fulfillment of the manner and time for the Messiah is as follows:
And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway (immediately) ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed (spread) them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. Gospel of Matthew 21:1-11
One of the last acts of Jesus before he went to the cross was to cleanse the temple of all the commercialism or covetousness which was inconsistant with God's will for the temple since it was to be the most holy or spiritual or heavenly place for God's people Israel not a place for earthly or fleshly pursuits. Jesus also indentifies with God the Father as God in calling the Temple My house. Their was also quite a dramatic or sensational response to Jesus in the Temple from the blind and lame and probably other afflicted people he healed there then and from the children shouting concerning Jesus: " Hosanna to the son of David". All these things were consistant with Jesus offering himself or preparing for himself to be installed as Israel's Messiah and King but unfortunately a main negative factor in his not carrying through with offering the Kingdom of God to Israel then was the negative and jealous response of the Jewish religious and national leaders the chief priest and scribes. The scripture in Matthew 21 here says they were sore or very displeased but the parallel reference in Luke 19:47 and 48 goes much further saying they sought how they might destroy (or kill) him and that the chief of the people (the rich and influential) were joining in this plot not to recognize or accept Jesus as the Messiah and King of Israel. Jesus then rebukes the Jewish religious and national leaders saying that God had perfected or elevated praise through the infants praising him. He implied the Jewish religious and national leaders were deficient in not similiary praising him. This would no doubt further infuriate these Jewish national and religious leaders and be a further sign that there then wasn't fruit on the fig tree of Israel. In other words there wasn't a full readiness also by the leaders of Israel to receive and establish Jesus as their Messiah and King and establish the Kingdom of God in Israel at that time. The immediate prospects for Israel receiving the Kingdom of God at that time was fully removed when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed and many people or Israel dispersed to the nations by the Romans under the general Titus in 70 AD with the siege of Jerusalem also starting on 14 Nisan in 70 AD. The scripture reference in Matthew 21 of Jesus cleansing for the second time the Temple in what could have been the preparation for the Kingdom of God and Himself as Israel's King and Messiah at that time is as follows. Also following is Jesus' sign of what turned out instead to be a sign that Israel was then unfruitful and that at least at that time the Kingdom of God and their King and Messiah in glory would be denied them.
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all of them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there. Gospel of Matthew 21:12-17
In verse 18 the scripture said that Jesus hungered. Although this probably meant mainly that Jesus then had physical hunger it probably also means he then had spiritual hunger that the Jewish people especially their national and religious leaders such as the chief priests and chief of the people and the scribes would receive him as their Messiah and King gladly. They then would be worthy to have God through Jesus then grant them the Kingdom of God but this was unfortunately and to Jesus' and God's grief far from the case. Jesus then came to a fig tree on his way from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem that had only leaves and that he found no fruit when he looked for that. Jesus then cursed the fig tree condemning it not to have fruit on it any more and it withered away. Although some people even some Christians might use this passage and others like it to propose that God has permanently cast off Israel as his chosen earthly people the existence of the many covenants with Israel and God most of which are unconditional in the Old Testament argue otherwise. The partial fulfillment of some of these covenants in our day or generations with the reestablishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 and the existence of other scriptures in the New Testament such as the other main use of the symbol of the fig tree from Israel and its reestablishment as a nation in the last days in Matthew 24 shows quite clearly that the cursing of Israel was just a temporary measure. However there has been quite a long time setting them aside as an existing nation for God on earth. They were still God's chosen earthly people all through the last 2000 years but their having their own land and national or collective government and institutions was probably temporarily denied for their rejecting Jesus as their Messiah (Christ) and King. In the last 2000 years or so God has been developing and working his purposes also through his heavenly called out people the Church that is composed of Jews and Gentiles or non-Jews who are one people of fellow believers in Jesus as the Messiah (Christ) and Saviour of the world. Jesus' act of cursing the fig tree as well as his on the previous day offering himself as Israel's King and Messiah were on the first week of April 32AD. This is the first week of the Jewish first month of Nisan. This is also before even the first ripe figs and certainly before the summer figs and the harvest festivals that happen in the fourth, sixth and seventh months of the Jewish religious calendar. The final event that indicated God temporarily took away Israel's existence as a distinct nation was when the Romans led by their general and following emperor Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD and the Jewish Temple or House of the LORD that year. This was on the 9th of Av which is in the fifth month of the Jewish religoius calendar. This could also be an indication that the Jewish people at that time had no nation to harvest due to their or their leaders' negative response to Jesus their true Messiah and King who offered them their full nation and Kingdom of God. Although Israel especially their leaders didn't then receive Jesus as their Messiah (Christ) and King and God's Kingdom for their nation this will not be lost forever to them but has only be delayed until they receive Jesus as their Messiah in the last days. This is soon near the end of the tribulation or 70th week of Daniel that will start right after the imminent rapture of the church and establishment of a covenant of the Antichrist with Israel to rebuild their Temple and resume their Temple worship on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The establishment of Israel as a nation again in 1948 and reestablishment of substantial Jewish authority over the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount means the further return of the people of Israel to their Messiah Jesus and to get the Kingdom of God established in Israel is very soon in the lifetime of the generation that witnessed the establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948. The scripture reference in Matthew 21 of Jesus for God temporarily casting off Israel as a nation and delaying God's granting the Messianic Kingdom of God to the Jewish people because of Israel especially her national and religous leaders not receiving and establishing Jesus as their King and Messiah indicated by Jesus cursing the fig tree with no fruit is as follows:
Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Gospel of Matthew 21:18-20
In Jesus' challenging his disciples and later believers to act by faith he is mentioning a very particular mountain, this mountain, that they could remove into the sea not just as we sometimes here as Christians think to have faith to move mountains but this mountain is singular and very specific. What mountain could this be? Since Jesus was relating it to his cursing the fig tree and discontinuing temporarily Israel as an earthly nation and delaying their receiving the Kingdom of God and Jesus as their Messiah and King, this mountain probably has something to do with the restoration of Israel as a nation. This mountain would probably be associated with God granting the Kingdom of God to the Jewish people and their receiving Jesus as their Messiah and King in the future. Quite often when we look carefully at the context of scriptural references we can get clues to references that at first seem obscure or mysterious. In this case when Jesus was discussing the fig tree and this mountain with his disciples he was coming down from the Mount of Olives into the Kidron Valley towards Jerusalem that is itself on mountains including the Jewish Temple that is on the Temple Mount that is what remains of Mount Moriah. However as far as I could see the Mount of Olives in verse 1 of this chapter, Matthew 21, is the only mountain mentioned in this chapter and probably the mountain referred to as this mountain. Also Jesus says of this mountain that they could say be thou removed and be cast into the sea it shall be done so whatever this mountain is somewhere in scripture there is probably a mountain in context with the Kingdom of God being granted to Israel that will be removed and that is mentioned in association with a sea. Actually there is a mountain that perfectly fits this description and it is again the Mount of Olives and is mentioned in Zechariah 14 in the Old Testament. Among other things in Zechariah 14 it is mentioned that in the earthquake caused by Israel's Messiah and King (Jesus) coming from heaven and landing on earth on the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives then removes part to the north and part to the south with the same word remove used in Zechariah 14 as in Matthew 21. When Jesus was mentioning the disciples could move this mountain, the Mount of Olives into the sea like he cursed the fig tree I think he was saying they could bring the Kingdom of God to Israel even in their lifetime. This would be if they could persuade their fellow Jews to receive Jesus as their Messiah and King and overcome the cursed fig tree or jeopardy of Israel about to lose their nation and have their Kingdom delayed. The Mount of Olives being removed to go into the sea would accomplish the same main thing as it being split in two half towards the north and half towards the south as both actions would allow the river of pure water that would refresh the land to proceed from the Messianic Age Temple to the hinder or east sea which is the Dead Sea. This river is mentioned in Zechariah 14:8 and at more length in Ezekiel chapter 47 and also in Joel 3:18. It is probably one of these seas of Zechariah 14 the former sea of the Mediterranean or the hinder sea of the Dead Sea that Jesus was referring to in Matthew 21 when he challenged the disciples that if they had enough faith they could remove this mountain, the Mount of Olives and cast it into the sea. Then Jesus uses these examples as a general challenge to have faith in what we are praying to God for if we expect an answer to our prayers from him. The scripture reference from Matthew 21 of Jesus using the example or removing this mountain, probably the Mount of Olives, into the sea in association with his cursing the fig tree as an example to pray or act by faith in God is as follows:
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If you have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Gospel of Matthew 21:21-22
According to the Penguin Atlas of World History and the book A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Mark Tessler the revolt of the Jews to Roman rule lasted from 66 to 70 AD after the Romans demanded allegiance to the cult of the emperor (Caesar) and erected an imperial shrine in Jerualem. This led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Jewish Temple (Herod's Temple) in 70 AD. This was followed by a period of relative quiet. This was followed in 132 to 135 AD with the revolt against Rome by the Jewish zealot Simon Bar Kochba who the Jews then and some still do now regard as a messianic figure. This led to the defeat of the Jews in Jerusalem by the Roman emperor Hadrian in 135 AD that this time showed no mercy. This was shown by the more complete destruction of the Jewish Temple and the Romans installing an image of the Roman god Jupiter in what was left of the Jewish Temple and the Romans scattering the Jews throughout the Roman empire and leaving the HOly Land or land of Israel relatively empty of Jews. The Romans at this time also introduced the name Palestine for the holy land to dry to dismiss the Jewish character of the land of Israel or the Holy Land. This name of course has stuck in popular consciousness especially with the Muslims and liberal Christians and is often used to support Arab or Muslim claims to the Holy Land over those of the Jews. The Romans at this time also renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina. In 330 AD Byzantium was renamed Constantinople and became the second capital of the Roman Empire and a more specifically Christian one as well as capital or the Eastern Roman empire especially after the defeat of the western part of the Roman empire in 476 AD. This led to the at least nominal Christian influence over the holy land and Jerusalem. Unfortunately this Christianity was mostly a form of replacement theology in which the Church was viewed as having permanently replaced the Jews as God's chosen people and that God had replaced the law of Moses and the temple with the gospel and the New Testament. Among other things this led the professing Christians who ruled Jerusalem under the Byzantium rulers to treat the temple mount as a garbage dump. In 638 AD 6 years after the death of the Muslim founder Mohammed in 632 AD in Median in what is now Saudi Arabia the Muslims under Mohammed's successor Omar defeated the Byzantinians in Jerusalem and claimed it as a Muslim city. The present Al Aqsa mosque and Dome on the rock or mosque of Omar were built around 700 to 715 AD initially as a temporary measure to replace the nominal Christian's use of the Temple Mount as a garbage dump until the Jews could build their third temple on the Temple Mount. This led to the Arabs having control over Jerusalem and the Land of Israel which continued until they were challenged by the nominal Christian crusaders. In 1099 after 5 weeks of siege Jerusalem was attacked by the crusaders who successfully took control of it and established feudal states in Jerusalem and the land of Israel. The kingdom of Jerusalem was then established by the professing Christian Godfrey of Bouillon who was called the Protector of the Holy Sepulchre. Because of divisions amongst the Christians the Muslim sultan saladin was able to take Jerusalem from the Christians in 1187. In 1228 in the 5th crusade Emperor Frederick II was able to obtain Jerusalem and other places in the Holy Land from sultan Elkamil of Egypt by treaty. In 1244 the Christians suffered their final loss of Jerusalem to the Muslims. This Muslim state founded by Saladin was called the Ayyubi state and lasted until the middle of the 13th century when the Mamluks who were mostly Turkish and Mongol slaves established a mostly Muslim state. This continued until 1517 when the Turks under the Ottoman empire took over Jerusalem and about the same time the rest of the Holy Land. Shortly after the Ottoman Turks got control over Jerusalem and the holy land they built the current walls around the Old City of Jerusalem including the east wall of the Temple Mount. This continued until 1917 when the west under the British took over the Land of Israel from the Ottoman Turks as part of their victory spoils in winning World War 1 over the Ottoman empire. The British held the Holy Land under a Leage of Nations mandate until an agreement was reached about partition of the holy land between Arabs(Palestinians) and Jews with the Jews calling their portion the Land of Israel. This happened in 1947 with Israel declaring their reestablished state in May 1948. This is now about 60 years ago and the beginning of the reestablishment of the fig tree mentioned in Matthew 24. As part of the United Nations partition plan Jerusalem was to be an international city but actually it became divided between the Jewish state of Israel that held western Jerusalem and the Muslims under the nation of Jordan that held East Jerusalem including the Temple Mount. This continued until 1967 when Israel had credible information that she was about to be attacked on all fronts by the Arabs. Israel then went on the offensive in June 1967 and by God's grace gave a stunning defeat to the Arabs including taking East Jerusalem, the West BAnk (Judaea and Samaria), the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights with Israel still holding onto East Jerusalem, most of the West Bank and the Golan Heights. According to God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all this land belongs to the Jews although according to God's covenant with Moses this land only fully belongs to the Jews in practice when they are obedient to Him and His law or word which is not the case for many Jews today. However the Muslim world and much of the international community do not recognize Israel's authority over East Jerusalem including the Temple Mount, the Golan Heights or most of the West Bank and want to give this land to the Palestinian Arabs for their state of Palestine although before 1967 their was no state of Palestine but these areas were contolled by neighbouring Arab countries such as Syria, Eygpt and Jordan. This brings us up to the current situation which will probably only be solved at least on a temporary basis by the false peace of the Antichrist that will begin the 70th week of Daniel and 7 year tribulation as mentioned in Daniel 9:27 and Isaiah 28 and from which all true Christians of this present church age will be spared via the preceding rapture of the church. The Jewish people will be tried and refined through their suffering in the tribulation and a signifant portion will come back to the LORD and His Word - the Holy Bible and trust in the Messiah of the LORD Jesus of Nazareth and be rewarded to populate and reign with Jesus the Messiah and the LORD God in the Messianic Kingdom when God through Messiah Jesus will rule the world through the Jews and JErusalem and the nation of Israel and to some extent also through the Church of born again Christians and God will also allow Jewish people who trust in Him and Jesus in the tribulation and the Messianic Kingdom to reign with Him and the Church for eternity.
Although some people, not least Christians who hold to a form of Covenant Theology called Replacement Theology that believes God has permanently forsaken the Jewish people or the nation of Israel for not receiving in general their Messiah in Jesus at his first coming, might say differently God still definitely has a future for the Jewish people and nation of Israel. This means the cursed fig tree representing Israel being cut off as a nation especially in the events of 70 AD when the city of Jerusalem and the Second Jewish Temple there were destroyed as well as all the geneaological records of the Jews there and the people of Israel were scattered among the nations were just temporary measures of God. Although these conditions were in place for a long time, almost 1900 years and covering the great bulk of the Church Age or Christian era they are not permanent conditions and God is now again moving among the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. This is especially evident by the restoration of the nation of Israel as a nation among the nations of the world although one dedicated to the God of Bible and Law of Moses on May 14, 1948 which I think was that year on the 5th day of the second month of the Jewish religious calendar Iyar.
In the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24 this would correspond to the planting of the fig tree representing the (re-)establishment of the nation of Israel. The context of this event is definitely in the last days before Messiah Jesus' return to Earth. Next the portion in Matthew 24 says while the branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh (near). This means that when the fig tree the nation of Israel was still young it would mature and develop and grow. This happened when Israel regained control of the Old City of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount where the previous Jewish temples were located. This is where especially Orthodox Jews and other Jews or Christians who take the scriptures literally believe another Third Temple will be build in the last days in which we are now on the verge of. This happened on June 7, 1967 when the Israeli armed forces took the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the Six Day War. Unfortunately for Israeli domestic and international political reasons Israel temporarily gave up much of the authority over the Temple Mount to the Moslems in the form of the Waqf Muslim Temple Mount authority which still has major control over the Temple Mount over 39 years later. This Muslim Waqf Temple Mount authority and has no intention of giving it back to the Jews. The Muslims especially don't want to give up any authority over the Temple Mount to the Jewish people to let them build their 3rd Temple there on the site of the Muslim Dome of the Rock of elsewhere on the Temple Mount. However the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple is clearly promised in several places in the Bible including in Jesus' words elsewhere in Matthew 24 in the tribulation or 70th week of Daniel this will take place and likely very soon. This date of the recapture of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount by Israel on June 7, 1967 was probably on the 28th day of the second Jewish month Iyar. The summer then could be viewed as very nigh or near. The summer would represent the tribulation or 70th week of Daniel when many people especially Jewish people will become ripe and will start to be reaped by God as people restored to Him and His Word the Holy Bible and also to faith in God's Messiah Jesus. There will also be many Gentile or people of the nations who will be saved in the tribulation. However other Jews and Gentiles will ripen and be reaped as ripened in full grown or heart set sin, self centredness and, rebellion against God and Jesus His Messiah or Christ and God's Word the Holy Bible.
Then this passage says this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled. The main meaning of this statement I think is that at least some of the generation that witnessed or even participated in the establishment of the fig tree in the establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948 will still be alive when at the end of the tribulation with Jesus the Messiah comes to set up God's Kingdom on Earth centred on Jerusalem and Israel. It is worth noting that the recent leader of Israel Ariel Sharon and his main partner in government, the former leader of the Labour Party, Shimon Peres were both fighters for Israel in its War of Independence in 1947 and 1948. Of course they are still alive and up to recently were quite active in Israel but are also getting quite old. The other meaning of the generation not passing away until all has been fulfilled and that is consistent with the first meaning is that the time from the brances or leaves of the fig tree until the beginning of the summer will be a generation. Although there is some controversy what length of time is meant here for a generation and it isn't certain what time period is meant it is good to keep in mind that two main periods in scripture called a generation are 38 and 40 years although a different probably longer period could be meant. The end of this generation, however long it would be, would be marked by the beginning of the tribulatoin or 70th week of Daniel initiated by the peace pact with Israel by the Antichrist or Beast out of the Sea in Daniel 9. This peace pact will allow Israel to rebuild their temple on the Temple Mount and resume their animal sacrifices and temple worship as in the Old Testament times. This will be immediately preceded by the rapture and removal of the true Church of all true or born again or born of and indwelt by the Holy Spirit Christians. These are Christians who have personally trusted in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour that he died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us new and eternal spiritual life. The beginning of this generation would be June 7, 1967 when Israel retook the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. There were attempts to build the Third Jewish Temple in 1967 but unfortunately they weren't realized because of political concerns especially with regard to the Arabs and Muslims and Israel quickly giving over much of the authority over the Temple Mount to the Islamic Waqf religious body that still has most of that authority. The fig tree of Israel will fully bestow its fruit by the end of the tribulation or 70th week of Daniel when Israel is fully reestablished as a nation in Israel's long promised time of national glory in the Messianic Age or Millennial Kingdom. This Messianic Kingdom is when God the Father in His Shekinah glory, His Son and Messiah Jesus and the Prince King David Ezekiel 37:25 will rule Israel and all the nations of the world from the 4th or rebuilt 3rd Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The scripture reference in Matthew 24 for the reestablishment of Israel as a nation represented by the budding of the fig tree is as follows:
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Matthew 24:32-34
Although I still think that the version in Luke 21 still covers the same period as Matthew 24 and is still talking about the generation of people that were alive in 1948 when Israel became a nation will not all die off until all things (the tribulation and preceding rapture of the Church and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ) be fulfilled, this also refers to other nations. In particular I believe this version of the fig tree prophecy also refers to all the nations of Asia, Africa or other parts of the world that obtained their independence from about 1948 until the 1960s with probably the biggest example being at the beginning of this period with the independence of India in 1947 or 48 that soon broke into India and Pakistan. Also in 1948 the United Nations started their meetings which is certainly another important example of the greater power and voice of many nations. The scripture in Luke 21 of other nations shooting forth and gaining in power and voice in about the same period that Israel became a nation again and that this is marks the generation that will not all pass away until the remaining time of the tribulation and preceding rapture of the church and second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ all before God reigns through the Lord Jesus Christ and restored Israel and the true Church is as follows:
And he (Jesus) spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Gospel of Luke 21:29-33
One thing God just brought to my attention partly through an advertisement on the Jerusalem Post web site that showed a map of the Holy land including the country of Jordan or what used to be called transjordan and the flags of Jordan, Israel and the Arabs in the holy land that call themselves Palestinians is that the flags of Jordan and the Palestinians are almost identical. The only difference which is not even apparent all the times is that sometimes the flag of Jordan has a white star in the red triangle area of the flag in the left centre part of the flag. Otherwise the Jordanian and Palestinian flags both feature three horizontal bars of black on the top followed by white and then green at the bottom. I talked with one of my Christian friends today in January 2009 who said he was interested in flags when he was younger and had noticed that a long time ago but neither he or anyone else pointed this out to me until I saw this advertisement in the Jerusalem Post in this month January 2009. However the possible implications of this are all my own idea although it could have been implied by the map of the holy land with these flags on the Jerusalem Post but not clearly stated. Anyway what I think is implied by these flags especially on the part of some of the more militant Palestinian Arabs that they mean their flag and its similiarity to the Jordanian flag to be that they want to and feel they have the authority to not only establish a Palestinian Arab state in all the lands assignied to them by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem but also in the land designated even by the United Nations for the Jewish state of Israel. They could also have in mind once they do that if they do that which they not really believing the Bible but the Koran think will happen would then be followed by uniting a Palestinian Arab Holy land with an Arab Jordan as one Arab nation under the Jordanian/Palestinian arab flag. This Palestinian Arab flag could have also been designed to be similiar to the Jordanian flag because the WEst Bank and East Jerusalem were under Jordanian rule and the Jordanian flag from the end of the British mandate in 1947 or 1948 to 1967 when Israel took these lands from Jordan in the Six Day War. These lands of the West Bank (Judaea and Samaria to the Jews) and East Jerusalem which includes the Temple Mount and Old City are also the principle parts of the territory assigned to and sought by the Palestinian Arabs for a Palestinian Arab homeland although the myth they have taught especially since 1965 that there is a long history of a Palestinian state in the holy land with its capital in Jerusalem is not true as it was only under Arab control for a fraction of the last 2000 years and even then Israel and Jerusalem were just a secondary part of a wider Arab state. The term Palestinian came from the Romans in the second century AD to take attention from the Jewish character of the holy land but came after that to be used in almost all languages other than Hebrew of the Jewish land of Israel and not a homeland of Arabs that dwell in the holy land as the current so-called Palestinians and their western or Muslim or other friends would have us believe. I think the danger of the similiarity of the Palestinian and Jordanian flags is to give a subtle or even subconscious message and conditioning of Arab control over the whole former British mandate but at least over the former Jordanian areas of East Jerusalem including the Old City and Temple Mount and the WEst Bank and to discredit the Jewish claim to those territories and that Christians and Jews that support based on the Bible and realistic history the Jewish claim to the holy land should be aware of this possible implicit message and able and willing to guard and speak out against it.
For more information, comments, questions or advice contact Doug at dougforheavens@gmail.com Spirit and Truth Ministries
Israel Under the Law (of Moses) Part 1