The Fig Tree - Introduction

The Fig Tree Word Study

The symbol of the fig tree is defined quickly with a word study of "fig tree" throughout the Bible. Here are some verses that provide clues to what the fig tree refers to:

• Deuteronomy 8:7-10 — "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of streams of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without shortage, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.""


• Hosea 9:10 — "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season."


• Jeremiah 24 — "After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness. Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad ones, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.” Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not uproot them. I will also give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me wholeheartedly. ‘But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness,’ indeed, this is what the Lord says, ‘so will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who live in the land of Egypt. I will make them an object of terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places where I will scatter them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the plague upon them until they are eliminated from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’”


• Mark 11 — "On the next day, when they had left Bethany, Jesus became hungry. Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple grounds. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they began seeking how to put Him to death; for they were afraid of Him, because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching. And whenever evening came, they would leave the city. As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. And being reminded, Peter *said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree that You cursed has withered.”"


• Isaiah 28:3-4 — "The splendid crown of the habitually drunk of Ephraim is trampled underfoot. And the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is at the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first-ripe fig prior to the summer, which one sees, and as soon as it is in his hand, he swallows it."

Evaluating the verses above, we find that the fig tree symbolizes a portion of Israel, the promised land for the Jewish people. Focusing on Mark 11 specifically, we see that Jesus curses the fig tree outside of Jerusalem and this occurs in the context of Jesus judging the temple area of Jerusalem for the dishonest practices occurring there. This judgement and the curse on the fig tree find their conclusion in the destruction of Israel and Jerusalem in 70 AD.

The Fig Tree's Prophetic Significance

Armed with the knowledge that Israel is the fig tree Jesus was speaking of. We go back to Matthew 24:

So, we find that Jesus is telling us to watch for the development of Israel. The sprouting of the leaves is an indication that the tree is becoming mature — perhaps even to start bearing fruit. This is exactly what we see to be the case of the nation of Israel in our modern day. Since 1948 Israel has been developing as a nation. Because of immigration programs and now a steady birth rate, Israel has become a majority Jewish people group. And, as a result, most recently Israel has shown signs of the changing of religious institution in the country back to Judaism from the Muslim occupation of the land. This is the spiritual nation of Israel putting for its leaves. So, we know that the season of the End Times has come upon us.