A few days ago I was emailed with the following from an atheist:
In his precise calculations to the very day of the declaration by Jesus of His
kingship (Triumphal Entry) see: #X23 The Unexpected King, (A Precise Mathematical Prediction)
, how does Chuck Missler account for the fact …is it likely that anyone would expect fig trees to be bearing in the spring? |
Actually this is a very good question.
The day after the triumphal entry, we read in Matthew 21:18-19 the following fig tree account:
Now in the morning, as He returned to the city. He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again," Immediately the fig tree withered away. Matthew 21:18-19
Fig trees only produce fruit from early June to the main crop in August. If the triumphal entry happened during March-April 32 AD then why is there a story about a fig tree in leaf at that time of the year?
The answer can be found in Mark 11:13-14 with the same events explained in a different way.
The day after the triumphal entry:
[Jesus] Seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it. Mark 11:13-14
[the next day]
Now in the morning, as they passed by they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." Mark 11:20-21
So we find that once we look at the second account, the Gospel does explain that this was not the season for figs, but let's look a little deeper into this event. In the verses that follow the verses listed above, Jesus goes on to explain to the disciples how the fig tree withered because he spoke to it and how they could do the same and also much more if they have faith without doubt. My thoughts then turned to the reason why Jesus cursed the fig tree?
What caught Jesus' eye? The leaves on the fig tree would signify figs. Figs often form before the leaves appear. Jesus noticed the leaves and wanted the figs that were associated with it. Jesus did not curse the tree because it had leaves out of season, according to his reactions He intended on eating the figs even though it was out of season. He cursed the fig tree because it was out of season and did not produce any figs. A bad fig tree will produce bad figs:
Jesus on just this topic:
"Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit…"
Going through the Bible and looking for anything on Fig Trees or Figs I found the following account in Jeremiah 24:1-10
The Lord showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakam, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
Then the Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad."
Again the word of the Lord came to me saying,
"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans.
'For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up.
'Then I will give them a 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 to Me with their whole heart.
'And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad' - surely thus says the Lord - 'so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.
'I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.
'And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.'" Jeremiah 24:1-10
In this case the people symbolized as good figs are taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, for what we call with our children today, "a time-out" into Babylon, punished by God but not forgotten nor unprotected, a requirement to allow them to come back to a relationship with God.
The people symbolized as bad figs are cursed, not worthy of Gods protection or attention.
Jesus curses the fig tree, one day later the tree had withered away, is a lesson on faith without doubt. However, this event took place only one day after Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 9:25 to the very day. Then we discover a story in Jeremiah about bad figs which God associated to the events of 606 BC and 587 BC. These three events are intertwined together. The book of Daniel has connected all three events:
The loss and regaining of Israel to the very year. 606 BC - 1948 AD
(932,400 days total)
The loss and regaining of Jerusalem to the very month. August 0587 BC - June 1967 AD
(932,400 days total)
The Messiah's triumphal entry to the very day March 14, 445 BC - April 6, 32 AD
(173,880 days total)
All within Daniel 9:24-25 (For detailed information on these calculations and prophecies, See: #X3. Stephen Hawking's Universe Implodes).
Jesus appears to have confirmed that connection.
How much doubt do you still have with your faith?
© Copyright 1999, Trinity Consulting, All Rights Reserved.
Go back to the Main Page (XWALK.CA)
Presented by Trinity Consulting