[Music] one of the most enduring prophetic perspectives is popularly called the fig tree prophecy which some christians believe the lord revealed as an end times parable in a nutshell many prophetic students of the bible who seek to understand the mystery of this parable revealed by jesus at the end of his ministry conclude that if the fig tree represents israel then the parable is meant to notify us that the generation that witnesses the rebirth of israel will not pass away until the time when christ comes again to set up his literal 1000 year kingdom here on the earth the key to understanding this parable is to first understand that in a parable one thing stands for another thing in this parable it is believed that a tree isn't really a tree but rather a tree stands for a nation the solution to the parable is not based on trying to figure out the length of a generation but by understanding that those the generation that was born coincidental to the miracle birth of israel on may 14 1948 will not pass away until jesus returns after the seven year great tribulation upon his coming he will destroy the enemies of israel administer the sheep and goat judgment and establish his 1000 year kingdom here on the earth we read in the psalms that a man is given a lifespan of 70 years and by reason of strength 80 years this is the general time period of man's longevity and it is true to this day if you add 80 years to 1948 the year israel became a nation you may end up with the expectation that jesus will return in 2028 while the birth of israel is a date fixed is it possible that jesus might return in 2030 will there still be a remaining part of the generation that witnessed a rebirth of israel alive at the age of 82. what about 2033 will there be a remnant of the generation that witnessed israel become a nation who have reached the age of 85. it is not impossible to imagine although i believe it is both unlikely and not the correct understanding of the parable so while these dates are all possible the one that matches the biblical revelation seems to be the 80 years beginning in 1948 and ending in 2028 in other words the generation that was born the same day israel was born they will reach the age of 80 in 2028 what i have just described is the most common end times prophetic understanding of the parable of the fig tree my own personal interpretation of this prophecy is a little different and not widely held by others so please consider the following explanation of the parable based on my understanding about what it means and then make up your own mind based on what the scripture teaches i believe that the generation jesus was talking to and about was the unbelieving generation of jews you might think of them as the same unbelieving generation that spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness the same generation that rejected the messiah because of their unbelief in essence jesus might have been saying that the generation of unbelieving jews would not pass away until all was fulfilled so while i believe this refers to all the generations of jews since the cross that have rejected the son of god it also refers to the final unbelieving generation that will pass away either in the tribulation or they do not enter the millennial kingdom as a result of their unbelief sadly they are cast into hell thus satisfying the prophecy as they have passed away consider the fact that only believing jews those that have repented and acknowledged the lord jesus as their messiah and savior will enter into the millennial kingdom and at that point the unbelief of the jews will have both generationally and permanently passed away the fact that this fits into an 80-year timeline based on the birth of israel makes it even more of a compelling prophecy either way we find fulfillment based on the time span between the birth of israel and the longevity of man at the end of the tribulation remember in psalms 90 10 it says the days of our years are three score years and ten and if by reason of strength they be four score years yet is their strength labor and sorrow and it is soon cut off and we fly away there are bible teachers who dismiss this perspective based on the revelation of this end times parable as disclosed in luke 21 where we read and then shall they see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory and when these things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh and he 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 you 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 the verse the skeptics of the prophetic perspective i am proclaiming site luke 21 verse 29 where it says behold the fig tree and all the trees those who believe this parable is not about israel and not meant to be a prophetic expectation based on the rebirth of israel attempt to make the point that jesus was teaching a parable that without going into the details was not about a particular tree that may or may not represent israel but is rather focused on the general idea that just as a tree forecast summer so we should be generally aware of the season of time we are living in or the season on the near horizon they teach that this is a general parable about watchfulness and has nothing to do with israel and should not be used as an end times sign and as such they consider it foolish to try and shoehorn this general prophecy about watchfulness into a prophetic timeline based on the rebirth of the nation of israel they believe the lord's comments regarding all the trees should end all the over exuberant prophetic expectation does the addition of all the trees turn the long-held belief that this is a mystery end times parable on its head the answer is no the simple fact of the matter is that instead of disqualifying the fig tree parable as a prophecy linked to israel and the end times the addition of jesus statement regarding all the trees makes the prophetic parable even clearer and more compelling a book could be written and perhaps it has about what happened at the end of world war one when the ottoman empire that had ruled the entire middle east with an iron hand for over 400 years came to an end in the first part of the 20th century the ottoman empire supported germany in the first world war and when germany lost the war the ottoman empire was dismantled and reassembled by the french and the english in such a way that they hoped the empire would never rise again let me paint these events with a broad brush in order that you might appreciate that the parable of jesus was actually a forecast of one of the most earth-shaking events in all human history the end of the ottoman empire and the re-establishment of a dozen new nation-states with new borders drawn by the english and the french to keep this simple let's look at the nation-states that were re-established that bordered ancient israel the date palm tree began to blossom as the modern kingdom of saudi arabia was founded in 1932 the cedar tree began to blossom as the french protectorate lebanon became a sovereign nation in 1943 the palm tree began to blossom as jordan became a sovereign kingdom in 1946 and the olive tree began to blossom as syria became a sovereign kingdom in 1943 the fig tree began to blossom on may 14 1948 and if there is any question about the fig tree being a picture of israel one only need read the gospel narrative the cursing of the fig tree is not to be confused with the fig tree prophecy they are two separate events what links them together is the simple fact that jesus picked the fig tree as a picture of israel the cursed fig tree was a picture of israel that was fruitless and therefore useless it was cursed the parable of the fig tree on the other hand is a picture of the fig tree coming back to life in other words israel is reborn and will produce fruit and be a light to the nation just as prophesied when does this happen the answer is immediately after the time of jacob's trouble when christ sets up his kingdom in jerusalem and israel is no longer the tale but the head of all the nations of the world jesus clearly was identifying israel as the fig tree and so the cursed fig tree is one book end and the fruitful fig tree is the other bookend with everything in between following into the category of the faithless unbelieving generation the generational malady that is about to come to an end just as jesus prophesied it would this i believe is the key to understanding the fig tree parable and there is no doubt in my mind that we are on the cusp of seeing it fulfilled so the real question is are you ready [Music] you along with every other person has an afterlife ahead of them and there is only one way for you to prepare for that afterlife that you will eventually experience brokenness is everywhere and when we as joy starved people experience the emptiness of our brokenness we always seek to find our own solutions to that emptiness we try and find our own means for getting away from the brokenness of our life it might be the root relationship or social status or money or success it might be alcohol or drugs or even one of the many forms of what the bible calls false religion and yet all of those attempts to escape that we devise as our own solutions to our brokenness never ever work instead they always eventually end up casting us right back into ever deepening experiences of imprisonment within our brokenness but this was never the way god intended for our lives to be lived it was not his plan for our life to be one that is filled with brokenness emptiness and pain god's plan has always been the perfect design for our lives it is the one that meets every need that we have he is our holy creator and he created us in his image to enjoy his love in a dependent fulfilling joyful and unbroken relationship with him the insanity of humanity is that every one of us has run away from god's perfect plan the bible's word for this is sin our original parents adam and eve rebelled against god and brought sin into the world and as descendants of adam and eve we have all participated in this sin as a result god can now rightfully judge us by bringing his holy wrath against us against us as sinners and condemn us to separation from him forever the bible gives a name to this radical and eternal separation from god it is the word hell the bible says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god it also says that the wages of sin is death but god didn't leave us to try and resolve this tragedy through our own efforts knowing that in our weakness we could never do so instead he provided us with a door out of our sinful trap he sent his very own son the son of god to enter into the world supernaturally as a baby born to a young virgin named mary two thousand years ago his name was jesus and he was god and man together jesus lived the perfect life that we could not live for over 30 years here on earth this was the only way to deal with the overwhelming problem of the brokenness of humanity jesus said truly truly i say unto you i am the door i am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me but jesus did not come to this earth only to live he also came to die he died the death that we as broken sinners deserve to die he lay dead in that tomb for three days and then he was resurrected by the power of the spirit of god proving that his sacrifice had been acceptable to god the father this is incredible it is life transforming but it demands a response from us our response to this good news must now be that of repentance and faith repentance is turning from our sin all those ways of rebelliously turning away from a loving dependence upon our god we must turn from all of that and then turn to trust trust in all that jesus did on behalf of sinful and broken people the result of doing so is restoration to a new life with full forgiveness restored to grow this is now the time to respond this is the good news this is the gospel repent and believe looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith there is no work you can do to earn god's favor or forgiveness jesus when asked about that said that there was one work that man could do that was really not a work at all what work did jesus say would change your destiny from an eternal hell to an everlasting heaven listen to what jesus said as recorded by john the fisherman and disciple of jesus and then simply do the one work jesus commanded you to do listen then they asked jesus what shall we do that we might work the works of god jesus answered them this is the work of god that you believe in him whom he has sent this is something you can do right now the one work that is really no work at all you can change your eternal destination from eternal hell to everlasting heaven it can happen in a single moment by simply putting your faith and trust in the crucified and risen lord jesus who came to earth as a man to die for sinners so that you might join him in heaven forever what you have now come to understand about this most important journey of your life must not be delayed the time is now jesus has already done everything necessary to save you from your sin and brokenness but now you must respond with your own turning and trusting your own repentance and faith if you have any questions about the gospel of jesus or on what is involved in making this faith-filled response for becoming a christian or if you have now placed your faith in christ we invite you to please reach out to us we'd love to connect with you and send you some resources that will help you on your journey thank you and may god richly bless you on your journey