Blog note. Parable of the Fig Tree …
From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. – (Matthew 24:32-34). End of note.
There is wide agreement among dispensationalist and futurist scholars that the Parable of the Fig Tree that Jesus told His disciples in His Olivet Discourse was a prophecy of the rebirth of Israel because the fig tree represents national Israel in Scripture (e.g. 1 Kings 4:25, Jeremiah 24:5, Hosea 9:10, Matthew 21:18-20, Mark 11:12-14, Luke 3:7-9, 13:6-9, John 1:47-49). The immediate context of the parable was the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, also known as the Tribulation. In other words, the generation that sees Israel reborn and the fig tree “put out its leaves” is the same generation that will see the completion of the Tribulation and the return of Jesus Christ.
Nearing the close of the 18th century, scholars began to recognize the clear distinction between the Church and national Israel. They began to see that the Bible was replete with yet-to-be-fulfilled promises to the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. The timing of this relearned knowledge was impeccable because within a century the ancient prophecies began to be fulfilled.
World Zionist Organization: The Basel Declaration. 1897.
For centuries persecuted Jews around the world had dreamed of their homeland and a renewed covenant with Yahweh, but the spiritual and political obstacles to achieving those dreams seemed to be insurmountable. Yet the dream took seed-form in 1897 when Theodor Herzl gathered a delegation of Jews from around the world to Basel, Switzerland and founded the World Zionist Organization. There at the First Zionist Congress Zionism became a full-fledged political movement and the body adopted the Basel Declaration, which finally put the dream into words. Zionism aims at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine.
Balfour Declaration. 1917.
Zionism continued to grow, spurred on by favorable sentiments among Evangelical leaders in Britain and the United States. British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour announced that the British government, which was soon to take possession of the Holy Land from the Ottomans, now favored the establishment of a Jewish homeland:
His Majesty’s government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. Just 15 days later British troops marched into Jerusalem and by the end of that year had captured the city.
British Mandate: 1923.
On September 29, 1923 the British Mandate for Palestine came into effect, which gave Jews full legal permission to return to Israel and international legal support for a Jewish homeland.
U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181. The establishment of the Jewish Nation. 1947-48.
Jews migrated to the Holy Land en masse, especially after the close of World War II. Jewish settlements budded everywhere. On November 29, 1947 the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 181, which formally established a Jewish nation in the land. War broke out immediately between Jews and Palestinians, which culminated in the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. The buds were now leaves and the terminal generation spoken of in Matthew 24:32-34 began.
Initially, Israeli forces were outnumbered 2-to-1 and both the British Foreign Ministry and the CIA believed that Israel would lose the war. Yet Israel miraculously prevailed and even gained back more of the land that God had allotted to Jacob. The war lasted exactly 9 months, 2 days, and 3 weeks.
Jews regain control of their ancient city, Jerusalem (in the 6 day war). 1967.
Then in 1967 Israel’s Arab neighbors again attempted to destroy the Jewish nation. This time Israeli forces were outnumbered nearly 3-to-1 in deployed troops, aircraft, and tanks, but the nation was miraculously preserved again. Hundreds of Israeli troops were killed, but tens of thousands of Arab soldiers perished in the conflict. The war lasted only six days, from June 5th to June 10th, and on June 7th Israeli forces captured the ancient city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. The Zionists now had military control of Zion.
Israel celebrates its 70th year anniversary, since becoming a nation. 2018.
Friday, May 12th, 2018. The Jews celebrated 70 prophetic years since the rebirth of Israel on May 14th, 1948. In the Bible, prophetic “days” or “times” appear to consist of 360 days each (e.g. Daniel 7:25, 9:24-27, 12:7, Revelation 11:2-3, 12:6, 12:14, 13:5). Psalm 90:10 tells us that a generation is 70 or 80 years long.