I love some good figs. When we moved into our home we gained a fig tree in our front yard. I didn't know much about figs and when it didn't produce when I thought it was supposed to I then started, jokingly, threatening it because I know a Messiah who cursed one. Fortunately, my tree produces figs a little later in my region than they do in other areas.

In Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13, Messiah Y'shua gives a parable of a fig tree. This parable follows a prophecy of the destruction of the temple. (See also Matthew 24).

I was raised on a popular teaching that put this statement of Messiah into the future. The belief was that the generation that saw Israel become a nation would not pass away before He returned in His second coming and then the "seven year tribulation period" would begin. The premise was that the fig tree represented Israel and the bringing forth of leaves was Israel becoming a nation. Israel became a nation in 1948 and the first prediction was claimed the coming of Christ would be 1988 and the end of the tribulation would be 1995. They made this claim stating that a Biblical generation was 49 years. When this didn't happen they changed understanding of a generational length to 70 years and said Christ would return in 2018. Of course, between the two periods were many different predictions of the return of Messiah Y'shua (See also Failed Predictions). Here we are in 2024 (Time of this writing) and none of these predictions have come to pass based on the popular belief of what Messiah Y'shua was talking about. Are we ready to move past this and actually look at Biblical understanding of what He was saying?

Each recording of the parable of the fig tree Messiah Y'shua said, "I tell you the truth: this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." (Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 21:32).

Other than the three verses mentions, the phrase "this generation" is used twelve times time in the gospels and, in every case, the phrase was used exclusively of Messiah Y'shua's generation.

So, we have Messiah Y'shua telling His current generation that "all these things" will happen before their generation is gone. This means that everything He's been talking about to this point is about the destruction of the temple that will happen in the time of the disciples. This happened in A.D. 70, when the Roman armies sacked the city and destroyed the temple. The Roman pagans stomped all over the sacred place. committing the abomination of desolation. Messiah Y'shua's prediction came true.

The parable of the fig tree is Messiah telling His followers that there will be signs of the time of the destruction of the temple just like tender branches and leaves are signs of figs coming on soon. When they see these signs they need to flee to avoid the impending judgment placed upon Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-46).

This is prophecy fulfilled and we don't need to look at this portion any further.

See also Eclipse where the Chiastic Structure of the writing pinpoints the very purpose of Messiah's statement of the fig tree as I show Scriptures meaning of the sun, moon, and stars going dark.