Signs of Christ's Presence
Fig Tree

The Fig Tree Represents the Nation of Israel [Jer. 24 and Matt. 21:19, 23:38]

Fig Tree Israel will Come Alive

Matt. 24:32-35 "...the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh...it is near, even at the doors."

Lk. 21:29-31 "...Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see...that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise...when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand."

The fig tree represents the nation of Israel coming back to life in 1948 after 2,000 years of death. Like a harbinger of summer, it precedes the kingdom of blessings. "...and all the trees" indicates many other nations will become independent at the same time.

Population of Jews in Israel 

1880 1914 1922 1931 1939 1948 1950 1958 1962 1991 1995 1997  1998 24,000 90,000 84,000 174,000 450,000 657,000 1,203,000 1,810,000 2,069,000 3,715,000 4,510,000 4,620,000 4,700,000

An amazing increase over 189 times that of 1880!

The 2.7 million people who have immigrated to Israel in its last 50 years is a cause for celebration. The rate of aliyah (immigration) to Israel over the past nine years has averaged approximately 100,000 a year. By the year 2020, the population of Israel is expected to exceed 8,100,000, making Israel by far the most densely populated developed country in the world. Israel will be over 2.5 times more densely populated than Japan and the Netherlands.

In 1990 a total of 185,227 Jews left the Soviet Union for Israel. The first direct flight between the Soviet Union and Israel took place January 1, 1990. In 1991, an additional 147,839 Soviet Jews arrived, making a total in two years of more than 5% of the Israeli population.

The Land                                                   

Not only was the rebirth of the nation of Israel in 1948 after 2,000 years of dispersion a miracle, not only was the regathering of the Jews "from the north [Russia], and from all the lands" [Jer. 16:15] a miracle, but the literal land of Israel began to blossom from a wilderness to a paradise. Long awaited scriptural prophecies began their fulfillment.

Who brought the Jews back to the land of Israel? God, with his whole heart and soul, planted them in the land.

Jer. 32:37, 41 "Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them...I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely...I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul."

How did the Jews get the land? They bought it! At exorbitant prices from absentee Moslem landowners.

Jer. 32:43,44 "And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast...Men shall buy fields for money...for I will cause their captivity to return..."

How did the wilderness become a paradise? The Lord brought rain to a dry and barren desert.

Joel 2:21-24 "Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things...For the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then...and rejoice...for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain...And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil."

Will this land ever be given to another? Never again. Never again.

Amos 9:14,15 "...I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and...plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; and they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God."

Israel’s Jubilee

May 14, 1998 marked Israel’s Jubilee – 50 years of miracles! From birth in 1948 to the present, Israel’s enemies have desired her destruction. Whether outnumbered 100 to 1 in wars with her neighbors, or infiltrated by hostile terrorists within as in the communities of Gaza, Samaria and Judea, the arm of the Lord has been fighting miraculously for Israel as in the days of old.

Isa. 41:12,13 "...they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."

Isa. 52:9,10 "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."