Deuteronomy 30:1-10
1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, 2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. 4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. 6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. 7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
The above passage is referencing the passages of Leviticus chapter 26 and Deuteronomy 28. These passages are both representative to the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience by the nation of Israel. Deuteronomy 30:7 is where we are today and now it's a certain bet some will say or ask how do we know this? We know this based upon the prophetic word. The passages studied in part 2 included Jeremiah 24. We can look at it again if you like .
Jeremiah 24
1 The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. 8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: 9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
Here we have an example of God providing us with clear description of His symbolization of the inhabitants of Judah. We also looked into the passages involving the parable of the fig tree and discovered the placement in the Gospels in the signs of the end of the age. The last segment we connected some of the dots between the 2 testaments involving the symbolism. Now we can begin to dive into the prophetic words that bring us into today's society. When we study the prophets we must realize one thing. The prophets when under the Holy Spirit in other words when God was speaking to them were seeing past, present and future events in unity.
Luke 1:68-74
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
Everything written by the prophets was to prepare the nation of Israel for the generation of Jesus' 1st coming. However it should be noted that this was not where the words of the prophet's ceased as we have explored in some other studies.
Matthew 5:17
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Just as the people of Judah were not willing to hear the words of Jeremiah concerning the first major destruction of Jerusalem and the temple they were not willing to accept Jesus for who He is. In this first destruction God explains His people of Judah are seen as the 2 types of figs. Those who were ready to face the times and those who were not. The ripened and the rotten figs.
Luke 13:6-9
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. 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? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
Interestingly we find Jesus speaking of the fig tree. Please notice we have symbolization in the following facts of this parable which is also a prophecy. Here we have a situation in which we find a fig tree planted in a vineyard. This would signify that the tree was planted in much better soil than an average tree. It also indicates that the tree would have much more attention than others as vineyards are tended to almost constantly. This would be representative to the nation of Israel being placed into the land God Himself chose for Himself. We also see that the nation of Israel was under the care of God Himself. God came looking for good fruit to harvest from His nation and found none this plunged the nation of Israel into Babylonian captivity. Notice Jesus states for 3 years good fruit was sought from the tree. This is the approximate time Jesus ministry was here in His 1st coming. Jesus gets the same results in His quest to harvest the fruits of Israel and usher in the kingdom.
Matthew 21:18-20
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. 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. 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! 21 Jesus answered and said unto them,
Here we have the official announcement of Jesus for the fate of the nation of Israel or the people of Judah. This was fulfilled over the next 40 years or so ultimately concluding with the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple and even burying what was left under salt. Let's consider a couple of things in relation to this. Below is a clip from wikipedia concerning the historical accounts of Jeremiah. This source is being used to prevent any claims of biased opinion concerning the next couple of statements.
Call, Training, and Early Ministry
The LORD called Jeremiah to prophetic ministry in about 626 BC, about one year after Josiah king of Judah had turned the nation toward repentance from the widespread idolatrous practices of his father and grandfather. Ultimately, Josiah’s reforms would not be enough to preserve Judah and Jerusalem from destruction, because the sins of Manasseh, Josiah’s grandfather had gone too far. Such was the lust of the nation for false gods that after Josiah’s death, the nation would quickly return to the gods of the surrounding nations Jeremiah was appointed to reveal the sins of the people and the coming consequences.
Below another wikipedia clip regarding the time frame of Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem
Yet God was faithful to rescue Jeremiah from his enemies. For example, when his prophecies regarding the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem were fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar’s army in 586 BC,Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Jeremiah be freed from prison and treated well.
Notice the time frame from the calling of Jeremiah as prophet until the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians. 626bc for Jeremiah's calling and 586bc for the destruction. This is exactly 40 years. Jesus according to rabbinical tradition would have been 30 years of age. This is astounding when we consider that the Romans destroyed the temple in 70ad. Again we will use wikipedia to confirm this. So we have periods of time associated with announcements and judgments upon the nation of Israel.
The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was a decisive event in the First Jewish-Roman War. It was followed by the fall of Masada in 73 AD. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in 66 AD. The city and its famous Temple were destroyed in 70 AD.
By using secular sources of information for these dates no one can deny the patterns of time involved with the word of God . Psalm 95 describes a period or generation of wickedness as 40 years.
Psalm 95
1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
One more passage of scripture that relates directly to both destructions of the temples and the parable from Luke 13 above. Some who deny would call this a fluke when the truth is right in front of them.
Jeremiah 17:1-8
1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; 2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. 3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. 4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever. 5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
War For Jerusalem
The might of Rome could not be challenged.
In response to the revolt of the Jews, in 67 CE Rome sends out the empire’s most experienced commander, Vespasian, at the head of four legions. This is a massive force. Each legion had 6,000 fighting men plus an equal number of auxiliaries for a total of nearly 50,000 Roman soldiers.
(One of these four legions, the 10th is the most famous. It is commanded by Vespasian’s own son, Titus, and has a boar as its symbol.)
The Roman goal: the annihilation of those Jews who dared to rise against Rome and who have heretofore (unbelievably) succeeded.
Shrewdly, Vespasian begins his campaign in the north. Any city or town that resists his advance is utterly destroyed, its population slaughtered or taken into slavery, the women raped, property pillaged. Then, the surrounding area is denuded of trees and the fields strewn with salt to ensure that nothing would grow there again. While always brutal in warfare, the Romans surpass themselves when it comes to suppressing the revolt in Judea. Their aim is to send a message throughout the Empire: any resistance against Rome will end in total and complete devastation.
Vespasian hopes that by the time he turns to Jerusalem, the Jews will have seen that resistance is futile and have surrendered.
But, even with four legions, Vespasian has a tough fight on his hands
God showed Jeremiah a complete vision of this outcome approximately 600 years before it happened. The nation of Israel was not a self governing nation for almost 600 years before Jesus. Cyrus the Persian with respect for God allowed the temple rebuilding, but at the same time maintaining sovereignty over the Jewish people. During the 600 year period the Persians defeated Babylon, Grecians defeated Persians,Romans defeated Greece. All this while the nation of Israel lost its status with God. Also note the prophecy speaks of a day and time in verse 8 when there would be no cares or worries. The rise and fall of 4 empires take place. These are examples of roles being reversed among the nations. Israel scattered among the nations just as God foretold. However this 600 year period pales in comparison to the 1,948 years after the cursing of the fig tree by Jesus. Jesus also had something to say about this situation in the signs of the end of the age. During this time period Rome scttered the Jewish people all over the extent of their empire which through history led to all ends of the earth just as God foretold.
Luke 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
The spiritual marriage between Israel and God is symbolized in Songs of Solomon 2
Songs of Solomon 2:
1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. 2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. 6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. 7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. 8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. 10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. 14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. 16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. 17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
If we take verses 10-13 into account we see that with the appearance of the green figs and the tender grapes the winter is over. This is a prophecy concerning the spiritual harvests that are to take place and are spoken of by Jesus throughout the Gospels. We made reference in one of the earlier segments about the positioning of both the fig tree and the vineyard or the vine in scriptures pertaining to this study.
Rember the end of the age reference to the fig tree?
Matthew 24:32-35
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: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away
We have studied some of the prophesies concerning the connection of the fig tree to the nation of Israel. Jesus Himself pronounced judgment through the Father upon the nation by cursing the fig tree as He came searching for the spiritual fruit of the nation and finding none. Note in the parable above Jesus proclaims that when we see the nation of Israel back in the promised land in the form of the fig tree bringing forth its branches and leaves we know that the summer is near. That the spiritual harvest of the kingdom and marriage supper of the lamb is near. We don't know the day or the hour as Jesus goes on to remind us but He does leave us with enough light to know we should be watching carefully the times we are living in order that we do not suffer the fate of the unbelieving nation both in Jeremiah's time and the Jesus' 1st coming.
Matthew 24:36
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Matthew 23:43-46
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
John 12:44-50
He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. 46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
1ST Thessalonians 5:1-6
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
The fig tree restored or the rebirth of the nation of Israel took place may 14, 1948. According to Jesus' words we know and understand that a countdown to the harvest of the earth has begun. The role reversals of nations once again has started except in this case Israel has come into the forefront once again with the Lord and the rest of the earth should be prepared for some spiritual spankings many of which have already taken place.
Deuteronomy 30:3-7
3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. 4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. 6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. 7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
Genesis 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 27:29
29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
Proverbs 27:18
18 Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
Just a couple of everlasting promises from God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and a proverb that sums up these promises for he world. We will continue with this series in the context of recent history as we move forward. God Bless and Thanks
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