The Significance of the Fig Tree

By William Riley
Olive Tree Ministries
ot.waxahachie@yahoo.com

Q. What is the significance of the fig tree?

A. The fig tree was always used as a picture of Israel, as were many other types of plants (vine) and trees (olive). Jeremiah uses the fig tree as a picture of the people of Israel and the coming exile at the hands of the Babylonians. In Jer. 8.13 he says that the Lord was going to snatch the people away and there will be no grapes on the vine and no figs on the tree. The leaf will wither and what the Lord has given them will pass away. Micah 7.1-2 says that the Lord came looking for grapes and figs and found none, the righteous people have disappeared from the land. So, the fig tree was a picture of Israel and what the Lord was trying to communicate depended on the context. In Jeremiah and Micah it wasn’t a good message. In Hosea 14 the Lord says Israel will blossom and be fruitful once again.

In Mark 11.12-14 Yeshua comes upon a fig tree that had leaves and so figs would be expected, but found none. If you compare the passage from Jeremiah and Micah with this passage the message is clear. The fig tree had an out ward appearance of fruit but a closer inspection revealed none. Levitcus 19.23 says that the in the fourth year of the growth of trees, the fruit are holy to the Lord and belong to Him. It was the fourth year of Yeshua’s ministry and he expected the fruit of Israel to be holy, but found man-made traditions and all sorts of corruption. So he curses the fig tree and says no fruit will be found on that tree again. This means that generation was going into exile and it would not produce anymore. No figs means no people and when the people are not in the land of Israel the land will not produce, as history has recorded over the past 2000 years. It was only when Israel was brought back into the land did it start to produce again.

There are some who say that the people who are back in the land are not Jews, but that land itself testifies against that notion because it is being blessed with vegetation, fruits, gardens and trees. When the Gentile controlled the land did not produce. The people there tried to get something to grow and it didn’t because that land will only prosper while the Jewish people are there. The fig tree is a symbol of peace in the Scriptures. 1 Kings 4.25 and John 1.50 speak about sitting under the fig tree. This means the land is at peace and you have no fear. You aren’t defending yourself but can sit under a fig tree and rest.

So, when Yeshua comes along in the fourth year of his ministry he illustrates a spiritual reality in the physical. He came to find fruits of righteousness and didn’t. So, he says that the people are going into exile and will be out of the land, which will cause the fruits of the land to wither. This became a reality 40 years later and the land was desolate. But the good news is that the people will return to the land and the Lord will reconcile Israel again and set up his kingdom there and rule the nations from Jerusalem. The land will again blossom and produce again, not only physically but spiritually as well.