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"True Israel and the Fig Tree" 05-03-14
1.
Mat 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When
his branch is yet tender, and putteth
forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye
shall see all these things,
know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto
you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
2.
Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and
all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot
forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass,
know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
·
Contextually the context is not
about this specific fig tree, because in the gospel of Luke it mentions all the
trees, (plural) so it was contextually referring to the seeing, or witnessing
of a collection of events. (Signs of the sun, moon, stars etc…).
3. Hos 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the
wilderness; I saw your fathers as the
firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their
abominations were according as they loved.
4. 1Ki 4:25 And Judah
and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to
Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
·
Israel can also be symbolized as a
vineyard.
5.
Isa 5:1 Now will
I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
Isa 5:2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and
planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and
also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes,
and it brought forth wild grapes.
·
“The Fig Tree
Explained”
http://www.remnantofgod.org/rapt2.htm#fig
·
Now let’s take at some statements of John the Baptist.
6.
Mat 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the
prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
7.
Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the
wrath to come?
Mat 3:8
Bring forth therefore fruits
meet for repentance:
Mat
3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have
Abraham to our father: for I say
unto you, that God is able of these stones
to raise up children unto Abraham.
Mat 3:10 And
now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every
tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
·
Firstly John mentions they need to bring forth fruits
that is worthy of repentance.
8.
Gal 5:22 But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law.
·
Secondly they
were not to count on their lineage of them being progenitors/ancestors
of Abraham.
9.
“Luk 16:24
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have
mercy on me,”
10.
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are
Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh
8:38 I
speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen
with your father.
Joh
8:39 They answered and said unto
him, Abraham is our father.
Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
·
They were proud in proclaiming Abraham was their father.
·
Lastly we see John prophesied “that God is able of these stones” to raise up children unto
Abraham.
·
Stones = Gentiles
11.
Mat 21:17 And he left them, and went out of the city
into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Mat
21:18 Now in the morning as he
returned into the city, he hungered.
Mat 21:19 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 henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
The fig
tree represents the Jewish Nation, and when Jesus saw the fig tree had produced
no fruit, it was said that it would produce no fruit “Forever”. That includes today, and the year 1948 as
well.
12.
Mar 11:19 And when even was come, he went out of the
city.
Mar
11:20 And in the morning, as they
passed by, they saw the fig tree
dried up from the roots.
Mar 11:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto
him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
·
Can
a dead tree be replanted? Can that tree
be put back in Israel in 1948 though it is dead? IT IS DRIED UP FROM THE ROOTS! It’s dead!
Summer came upon it (probation), and henceforth it’s a fruitless tree
forever.
·
Who is the root of such lives that bears no fruit?
13.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
·
The
city of Jerusalem burned down in 70 AD. This is just what John the Baptist said
would happen in Matthew 3:10. “therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is
hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
14.
Mat 21:33 Hear another parable:
There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round
about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to
husbandmen, and went into a far country:
Mat
21:34 And
when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen,
that they might receive the fruits of it.
Mat
21:35 And
the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned
another.
Mat
21:36 Again,
he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
Mat
21:37 But
last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Mat
21:38 But
when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir;
come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mat
21:39 And
they caught him, and cast him
out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Mat
21:40 When
the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those
husbandmen?
Mat
21:41 They say unto him, He will
miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the
fruits in their seasons.
Mat
21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the
builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mat
21:43 Therefore
say I unto you, The kingdom of God
shall be taken from you, and given
to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Mat
21:44 And whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will grind him to powder.
Mat
21:45 And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
Mat
21:46 But when they sought to lay
hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
·
What will make us a true Israel today?
15.
Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none
effect. For they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel:
Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of
Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom
9:8 That is, They which are the
children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
·
What
begins within a person that makes them a professed Israelite.
16.
Joh 1:43 The day following Jesus would go forth into
Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow
me.
Joh
1:44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter.
Joh
1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and
saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets,
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Joh
1:46 And Nathanael said unto him,
Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and
see.
Joh
1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Joh 1:48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou
me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that
Philip called thee, when thou wast under
the fig tree, I saw thee. Joh 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi,
thou art the Son of God; thou art the
King of Israel.
·
In
verse 49 Nathanael boldly claimed JESUS the Christ, as he said …” thou art the Son of God; thou art
the King of Israel.”
17.
Mat 16:15 He saith unto them, But
whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18.
Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly;
neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is
a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision is that of the heart,
in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
·
There must be a genuine work of the Spirit in transforming
every individual.
19.
Gal 3:26 For
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal
3:27 For as many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal
3:28 There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal
3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then
are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
·
Listen to what the Apostle Paul here declares regarding
upon his past works of the flesh.
20. Php 3:3 For we
are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Php
3:4 Though I might also have
confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he
might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php
3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of
Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php
3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php
3:7 But what things were gain to
me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php
3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but
that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
faith:
21.
Luk 13:6 He spake also this parable; A certain
man had
a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought
fruit thereon, and found none.
Luk
13:7 Then
said he unto the dresser of his
vineyard, Behold, these three
years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it
down; why cumbereth it the ground?
Luk
13:8 And he
answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
Luk 13:9 And if it bear fruit, well:
and if not, then
after that
thou shalt cut it down.
·
A certain man = GOD the Father
·
Fig Tree = Israel as a Nation
·
Vineyard = World
·
Fruit = Fruit of the Spirit
· Dresser of His Vineyard = JESUS