Fig Trees and the Kingdom

Sunday, October 2, 2016

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.”

Luke 21:29–31

In the time of Christ, the Mount of Olives, which Jesus often crossed going to and from Jerusalem, had many fig trees. They were a staple of the Jewish economy, providing one of the major cash crops on which the people depended. One of the signs of the coming summer season, which Jesus used to illustrate future events, was when the leaves emerged on the fig trees. These were the last trees to bud in the late spring, so when the leaves appeared it clearly indicated that the change of seasons was at hand.

The plan of God for the future is settled and certain, but He has not chosen to reveal His timing to us. Jesus said, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Many have set specific dates for the Lord’s return in violation of His Word, but they have all been proven wrong. Some of us remember the smash best-selling book from years ago called “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.” Millions of copies were sold, but the follow up called “89 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1989” did not sell nearly as well.

The point of the parable of the fig tree is not to set a date for the Lord’s return, but to remind us that it is both certain, as summer has always followed the leaves, and will not be long delayed. Remember that God’s timing is not ours, and what seems many years to us is but a moment to Him.

Today's Growth Principle
The truth of the Second Coming should affect the way we live every single day.

Old Testament Reading

Isaiah 17-19

CHAPTER 17

¹ The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. ² The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. ³ The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts. ⁴ And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. ⁵ And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.

⁶ Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. ⁷ At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. ⁸ And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

⁹ In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation. ¹⁰ Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: ¹¹ In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

¹² Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! ¹³ The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. ¹⁴ And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

CHAPTER 18

¹ Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: ² That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! ³ All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. ⁴ For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. ⁵ For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. ⁶ They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. ⁷ In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

CHAPTER 19

¹ The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. ² And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. ³ And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. ⁴ And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. ⁵ And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. ⁶ And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. ⁷ The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. ⁸ The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. ⁹ Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. ¹⁰ And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. ¹¹ Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? ¹² Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. ¹³ The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. ¹⁴ The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. ¹⁵ Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. ¹⁶ In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. ¹⁷ And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it.

¹⁸ In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. ¹⁹ In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. ²⁰ And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. ²¹ And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it. ²² And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. ²³ In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. ²⁴ In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: ²⁵ Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

New Testament Reading

Ephesians 5:17-33

¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; ¹⁹ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; ²⁰ Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

²¹ Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. ²² Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. ²⁴ Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ²⁶ That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. ²⁹ For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: ³⁰ For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. ³¹ For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. ³² This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. ³³ Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Proverbs Reading

Proverbs 3

¹ My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: ² For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. ³ Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: ⁴ So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. ⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ⁷ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. ⁸ It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. ⁹ Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: ¹⁰ So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. ¹¹ My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: ¹² For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. ¹³ Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. ¹⁴ For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. ¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. ¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. ¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. ¹⁸ She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. ¹⁹ The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. ²⁰ By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. ²¹ My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: ²² So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. ²³ Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. ²⁴ When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. ²⁵ Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. ²⁶ For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. ²⁷ Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. ²⁸ Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. ²⁹ Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. ³⁰ Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. ³¹ Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. ³² For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous. ³³ The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. ³⁴ Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. ³⁵ The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.