Fig Tree represents Israel

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Adam and Eve tried to fool God with fig leaves

GENESIS 3:6   And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,

she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,

and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Eve was allowed to eat the sweet fruit of the fig. But we humans take for granted what we have and look for something extra. So she ignored the sweet fruit of the fig and preferred the pleasant-looking fruit of knowledge. Fooled by looks and also by pride. She thought she would become wise in her self-centred vanity.

When Eve had the opportunity to sin, she took the fruit of the bad tree that appealed to her senses.

After they sinned, they avoided the sweet fruit of the fig tree and tried to cover up their sin with fig leaves. Unable to produce the sweet fruits of the Spirit, they chose the hypocrisy of a cover-up. A pretense. A false appearance. As if they could hide their sin. Very superficial.

Religion is just a covering to fool people and make them think that they are fine.

They hid behind the fig leaves as if they could save themselves by their man-made works.

Fig leaves in an apron symbolize man-made ideas that do not work. Man-made ideas build up organizations and denominations. These just get further and further from Scripture.

Man trying to find his own way back to God.

Remember the tower of Babel. Those people united under one head, Nimrod, and really thought that they could build a tower that would take them up to Heaven by their own efforts. We think we can impress God with our own unscriptural ideas like Christmas, Good Friday, and Lent, etc.

62-1111    WHY  I'M  AGAINST  ORGANIZED  RELIGION

Now, Adam had a religion, but he certainly made it himself, out of fig leaves, and it didn't work.

He made his own theory and tried to make a way of escape, to find salvation in something he had done himself, and God rejected it,

from Adam to the order of the last organization. Never been, and by God's grace we'll prove it today through the Bible. Religion was a covering.

Adam made himself a covering out of fig leaves, made it, himself, to try to do something himself.

64-0618  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD  UNRECOGNIZED

Well, now, that's what kind of a spiritual condition it is. People are spiritually blind, wretched, miserable, naked before God,

sinners trying to cover themselves behind fig leaves of some denomination, and don't know it.

63-1124   THREE  KINDS  OF  BELIEVERS

Just like Eve was, she was very religious, of course, so, but she did not believe the true Word.

And she had to make herself a religion, so she made some fig leaves, see, but it wouldn't work.

Religion means "a covering."

Fig leaves are a substitute.

God ordained the blood sacrifice of an innocent substitute. A lamb that died in the place of Adam. Adam’s sin crossed  over to the lamb and Adam, feeling very ashamed of himself, took the innocence of the lamb that crossed over to him.

But, before God killed the animal, Adam preferred to make a substitute religion of fig leaves that involved no bloodshed and thus had no innocence as it could not in any way atone for his sin. Adam hid behind his apron of fig leaves that looked impressive but left him a sinner. Only innocent blood can wash away sin.

That is why the Jews used animal blood as no humans were innocent until Jesus was born.

63-0626  WHY?

And God was called to make a decision for the human race, in the garden of Eden, when the first sin was committed. Could He ever be able to redeem His lost child back into fellowship with Him again?

And He fixed one program. It's never changed, by the way of the blood. And follow the Scriptures, it never did alter or change, and it never can, because it's God's decision, by the Blood.

Although, we tried to alter it. We've tried to educate it. We've tried to denominate it. We've tried to do everything there is in man's law, to try to change That, like Adam did by fig leaves and so forth. But it still ever remains,

the Blood is the only place of fellowship.

62-0531  THE  CONFLICT  BETWEEN  GOD  AND  SATAN

Now, the average woman, today, is back in fig leaves, just like Eve was.

And "fig leaf" is actually a man-made system; shorts, smoking, bobbed hair, attractive.

What'd they do it for, to appear to their husband? If they do, then he isn't a son of God; he's a Cainite. And then if he's a son of God, he'll tell you, "Wash your face and put you on some clothes." See? Right.

65-0725   THE  ANOINTED ONES  AT  THE  END  TIME

Now notice the shuck. From the original Grain, Grain that went in the ground, It was not no organization. It was one Grain, in Itself. But when it come up, it was not a Grain; it was an organization, see, leaves, corn.

A seed is planted but the leaves of a religious organization come up first.

The leaves can be sewn together in various ways and thus make up all sorts of different denominations and different ways of religious thinking.

Once their eyes were open to their sin all they could do was make man-made inadequate aprons and pretend that they were not sinners.

Trying to make sin look harmless would be the biggest deception of the religious leaders, both Jew and Gentile,

as they built up their man-made doctrines and traditions.

64-1221  WHY IT HAD TO BE SHEPHERDS

The first Message was ever heard, was given over the top of a dead sheepskin, that God had slew and wrapped Adam and Eve in it.

After they tried to make their own religion of fig leaves, it wouldn't work.

Sheep sacrifice had been instituted for atonement since the very beginning, sheep sacrifice.

… Prophets, I say again, wore sheepskins draped around themselves, 'cause they were testifying by that, that they believed that there was coming a perfect Lamb for that sacrifice. And the Word of the God came to them over the top of sheepskins.

Adam and Eve used a fig tree’s leaves as a veil of deception. Human religious ideas just deceive us.

The fig tree was a symbol of safety and prosperity

God then wanted to use Israel as a fig tree to illustrate that the revelation of the Old Testament truth (the wine from the vine) was actually the key to prosperity, peace, and security (the sweet fruit from the fig tree).

Grapes grow on a vine to produce wine which is the symbol of the stimulation of revelation.

I KINGS 4:25   And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

Solomon was the son of David and all his wives made up his bride. He symbolized Jesus as the Son of David when He rules in the Millennium with His Bride which is the Scriptural church.

Joel looks ahead to when the church ages end and the Gospel carries over to the 144000 Jews in the 3½ years of great Tribulation.

JOEL 2:21   Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.

:22   Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit,

the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.

:23   Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: 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 in the first month.

The “former” rain is the “teaching” rain when brother Branham revealed the Bible mysteries between 1947 and 1965. That is when the Bride began to fight for the right to prove their beliefs from Scripture only.

The year 1947 is when the United Nations allowed Israel the right to fight for a small piece of their Promised Land. This was known as the 1948 War of Independence.

1947 also saw the transistor invented in America. This became the basis of modern electronics and the internet. The internet allows the Gospel to reach to the ends of the earth. That fulfills an end-time prophecy.

MATTHEW 24:14   And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

7 Thunders will unleash intense supernatural power

The teaching rain would continue until the Lord returns as we will always be learning something new from Scripture. The next big event is the resurrection of the dead New Testament saints. That happens when the mighty Angel of Revelation 10 comes down. That mighty Angel is Jesus coming down as the Archangel Michael. By coming as an Angel, Jesus can intervene on earth without it being a Coming of the Lord in His human Body.

64-0119 SHALOM

When that Angel, of Revelation the 10th chapter, puts one foot on land and one on the sea, and a rainbow over His head, He swore, "time shall be no more." When that time comes, you'll rise up from among the dead. While the rest of them lay there, you'll go in.

The resurrection of the New Testament dead starts the harvest or latter rain when the seed is pulled off the dead plant. The dead saints are pulled out of their graves. Then 7 Thunders utter to show the living Bride how to change these bodies in order to be pulled off the earth to meet the Lord in the air. Many refer to this as the Second Coming of the Lord and others call it the Rapture. That completes the latter rain.

62-1230  IS THIS THE SIGN OF THE END SIR

Is that really them Seven Thunders, fixing to utter out something, that the little group that is gathered together will receive a Rapturing Faith, to go in the Rapture when He comes? "For we'll be changed," as quick as those Angels come, "in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye; and shall be caught up together with those that had sleep, to meet the Lord in the air."

We cannot be raptured in these sinful bodies. The seven Thunders will reveal how to get our bodies changed in order to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Changing into an immortal body will be an awesome display of supernatural power.

The changing of the body is our final safety as we are then in sinless bodies and no longer subject to Satan.

At His First Coming there were 40 days between the resurrection of Jesus and His Ascension to Heaven.

Thus, there will probably be about 40 days between the resurrection of the New Testament saints and then their being caught up to meet the Lord in the air

In that interval of 40 days, the month of overlap between the former and latter rains will occur.

The mysteries will be revealed before the seven Thunders utter.

63-0320 THE THIRD SEAL

And then goes on and said, in the day just before these seven thunders,

all the mysteries here are revealed.

Brother Branham never said that the seven Thunders had uttered.

This quote says that the unwritten Thunders are not part of all the written mysteries that he had to reveal.

Brother Branham can only reveal what is written in the Scriptures, the King James Version of the Bible.

62-1230  IS THIS THE SIGN OF THE END SIR

And the Seven Seals that we're trying to speak of, when they come this time, is the seven written Seals.

... "Finishing all the mysteries of God, that are written in the Book."

... The seventh angel gathers them up, and finishes the entire mystery. That's what the Bible said, "Finishes the mystery of the written Book."

The seven Thunders also utter to Moses and Elijah so that the Bible truths revealed by brother Branham can also go across to the 144000 as well as giving those two prophets their awesome supernatural power.

63-0321  THE  FOURTH  SEAL

Wait till them seven thunders utter their voices to that group who really can take the Word of God and hand it there. It'll slice and cut. And they can close the heavens; they can shut this or do that, whatever they want to. Glory.

Elijah (Hebrew) or Elias (Greek) will close the heavens for 3½ years which is 42 months.

JAMES 5:17   Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

REVELATION 11:3   And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

REVELATION 11:6   These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy:

The seven Thunders give the Bride the power to change their bodies and give the two Jewish prophets the power to interfere with Nature.

The two Jewish prophets will be the safety and protection of the 144000 Jews (the revived Jewish fig tree) by using their awesome supernatural power.

There must be no guile under a fig tree

JOHN 1:44   Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

:45   Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

:46   And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

:47   Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

Nathaneal was an Israelite sitting under a fig tree. He was totally honest, humble, and decent. That was the picture of a Jew that God had intended for Jews to be.

A Jew should be a decent man, without Adam’s hypocrisy, sitting under a fig tree.

JOHN 1:48   Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

Jesus had discernment. He could see Nathanael when he was far away and out of sight and yet was able to see what he was doing and also to know all about him as a person.

JOHN 1:49   Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

Nathanael symbolized the good Jews. He readily acknowledged Jesus as Son of God and King of Israel.

JOHN 1:50   Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

JOHN 1:51   And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

The Son of man is Jesus revealed in His Word.

Only the supernatural angels can give us this deeper revelation as they inspire a human messenger (or angel) to turn the church around a different corner in each church age. Satan leads the church into a denominational dead end and God uses a human angel or messenger, such as Martin Luther, to make an effective change in direction.

“Heaven open” means to catch a deeper spiritual revelation of what Jesus is referring to.

The future church is the ladder of ascent to God. Making known the revelation of the Son of man in Scripture as the Word of God is revealed by each messenger to each church age.

REVELATION 3:1   And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars;

The 7 spirits of God are the 7 supernatural angels sent to guide 7 men (called angels or messengers or stars) during the 7 different church ages. We only became aware of this when Paul began his powerful ministry. Then he died and ascended to Heaven.

Then another angel came down to guide Irenaeus until Irenaeus died and ascended to Heaven.

This policy was repeated with the messenger or angel to ech church age.

Eventually, in March 1963, all 7 angels came down on different days to reveal the secrets of the Seven Seals to brother Branham in March 1963. These mysteries enabled him to start understanding the deeper mysteries of Scripture which revealed Jesus as the Son of man walking through the pages of the Bible.

It is essential for the Bride to understand the mysteries of Scripture for themselves as they join the various Bible verses together into a theme that reveals a doctrine.

A cursed fig tree represents the Jews at Calvary

In Matthew, Jesus entered the Temple on Palm Sunday and chased out the religious money-makers.

One of the reasons that the Jews were cursed was due to their religious leaders having an insatiable greed for money.

(Notice the modern-day megachurches and the popular Prosperity Gospel. Times have not changed.)

MATTHEW 21:7  And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

This was for His famous ride on Palm Sunday.

MATTHEW 21:12   And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

Jesus chased out the Temple moneymakers on Palm Sunday.

He did the same thing again on Monday.

MATTHEW 21:18   Now in the morning [Monday morning] as he returned into the city, he hungered.

:19   And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

:20   And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

The cursing of the fig tree is strange. It was the only destructive miracle that Jesus performed.

Remember that “for ever" means to the vanishing point of that time period. It does not mean eternal.

"Eternal" means outside of time. "Forever" means a long time.

"For ever and ever" means adding time onto "forever", so "forever" is not eternal.

"Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever". That means the Jews are cast out of the New Testament and will show no New Testament fruits or fulfillment of Scripture until God casts away the church of foolish virgins. This happens when God catches up the wise virgins to meet Him in the air.

Then God's rejection of the Jews reaches its vanishing point and God returns to the Jews in the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

Mark describes Palm Sunday this way.

MARK 11:7   And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

MARK 11:11   And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

Mark makes no mention of the cleansing of the Temple on Sunday.

MARK 11:12   And on the morrow, [the next day was Monday] when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

:13   And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

:14   And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

Jesus curses the fig tree on Monday which symbolizes the Jewish nation being cursed because they were going to kill Messiah on Thursday.

Jesus then cleanses the Temple from money-makers on Monday as well.

MARK 11:15   And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

:16   And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

No business was to be conducted in the Temple as they could not carry any goods.

But notice the timing. Jesus chased out the money-makers on Sunday. Then He cursed the fig tree on Monday. And then He chased out the money-makers again on Monday. Right between the two incidents when He threw the money changers out of the Temple, was when He cursed the fig tree. Throwing the money-makers out of the Temple was the only time Jesus got angry.

That earned Jesus the death sentence. When He interfered with the income of the religious leaders.

No church leader is supposed to get rich.

That is why no pastor was ever put in charge of a church in the New Testament.

The curse of the third Seal was the demonology of Big Business that would sell the Word of God. The antichrist spirit on the black horse of demonology was selling the wheat and barley of the Bread of Life for a penny. This was a day’s wage in the parable of the 11^th hour workers.

REVELATION 6:5   And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

:6     And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

The Third Seal which describes the fifth church age of Martin Luther and the sixth church age of John Wesley warns against the greedy grasping for wealth in the church. This gave birth to the Prosperity Gospel and the modern megachurches. It would also be the main claim of the seventh church age, “I am rich”.

REVELATION 3:14    And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;

REVELATION 3:17   Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;

The love of money would undermine the last three church ages that are supposed to be restoring the truth. This religious money-making by the church preachers causes the Lord to become extremely angry.

So, when He saw this money-making antichrist spirit in the Temple, He lashed out against it.

Jesus is very against the selling of Bible truth. Making money from religion.

MARK 11:12   And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

Monday morning. Jesus had been acclaimed the previous day, Palm Sunday, as King of the Jews which fulfilled the prophecy. He was hungry for the success of God’s Plan. The Jews has welcomed Him the previous day as King and He had chased the money-makers out of the Temple. If the Jews continued to accept Him then at the end of His 7-year ministry He would be King of the world in the Millennium and the Jews would be the main nation from where He would rule.

But they rejected the call of their day.

Their time will come later in the horror and violence of great Tribulation when Moses and Elijah will need 3½  years to guide them to accept their rejected King.

Big Business is the ruin of the Temple and the church

But this fig tree represented the sad state of the Jewish nation at that time.

MARK 11:13   And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

Jesus had been dealing with the Jews for 3.5 years. He had even told His disciples not to go to the Gentiles and the Samaritans. He had watched this tree for 3.5 years which was long enough for it to start developing fruit. The tree was a symbol of the Jewish nation. Just like Adam, the tree representing the Jews had the leaves of a pretended religion, but it was false appearances.

You can’t eat leaves. Man-made rules and works will not save anyone.

The Jewish crowd that welcomed Him on Sunday would yell for His death on Thursday.

“The time for figs was not yet”.

The Jews could not recognize that it was the time for their Messiah.

Despite calling Him King on Sunday, the Jews were determined to listen to their religious leaders, not to their Messiah.

The gut feeling of the Jews was that Jesus was the Messiah. He was too remarkable a Man to be anything else. But they foolishly bowed to the dictates of their religious leaders who loved the power and money that went with their place.

The Jews had not learned to think for themselves. Thus, they duplicated the lusts of their leaders who could produce no fruits of repentance because of their obsession with Temple money and their envy and hatred of Jesus Who out-performed them. If Jesus was accepted as Messiah then the Temple priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees would lose their place of being in charge (and their income). So, the leaders stirred up the people to reject Messiah.

They got the people to reject Jesus as a Man.

In the same way church leaders stir up the people to reject the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) as the Voice of God. They reject the King James Bible as being infallible.

We do not see Jesus as a Man in our days. We see Him as the Word of God. Whatever you say about the KJV Bible, you are actually speaking about Jesus. Find fault with the Bible and you find fault with Jesus. No wonder Jesus stands outside the churches.

He is a King who wants to be worshiped in Bible Truth

Jesus does not want to be worshiped according to our man-made ideas.

Satan's main objective is to get us to worship God in an unscriptural way. As long as we are different from the Bible in some way, then Satan is happy.

So, Jesus comes back looking for Bible faith.

LUKE 18:8   … Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The only faith that Jesus is looking for is people who are strictly Scriptural in what they believe.

ROMANS 10:17   So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The end-time turbulent and baffling events will distract almost all from the mysterious Bible pattern that emerges in those tumultuous and agitated days. Only the Bride members, who are strictly Scriptural,

will distinguish the true signal or message from the confusing noise of popular opinion.

Individuals soon pick up the fashions and follies that are sanctioned by the church crowd, where people tend to preen themselves before the mirrors of self-admiration. They forget that popularity is just a smokescreen. Smoke and mirrors are the symbols of subtle deception. Truth is blurred in a crowd.

The Greek influence was strongly based on self-glorification and a strong desire to be competitive and better than everyone.

If we allow Him, God can change us as persons so that each one of us can fit into the unique position that He has carved out for us in His spiritual Heavenly Tabernacle.

Since evil is specially characterized by its diffusion, and attains its greatest height when it simulates the appearance of the good,

MARK 11:15   And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

Jesus repeated what He did on Palm Sunday. He whipped out the religious money makers from the Temple. (Ever notice how the pastor has the best house amongst the congregation?)

MARK 11:16   And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

Now Jesus makes stricter rules than He did the previous day on Palm Sunday. Nobody could carry anything through the Temple. That stops all business because you cannot carry any container.

The Temple leaders are watching their profits disappear because they get a percentage of all the business transactions in the Temple. Fear turns to anger. This has to be stopped. That day was Monday and they would kill Him on Thursday.

A warning to all. Interfere with a religious leader’s money-making and you are in serious trouble.

MARK 11:17   And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Instead of cheating people out of their money, start focusing on prayer and serving God instead.

MARK 11:18   And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

The religious leaders could not condone their loss of profit.

The people were highly impressed with Him and regarded Him as a Prophet.

This was Monday and the people who welcomed Him as King on Palm Sunday were still on His side.

The leaders only had Tuesday and Wednesday to change things in order to kill Him on Thursday.

MARK 11:19   And when even was come, he went out of the city.

Tuesday morning and the fig tree was dried up.  This symbolized that spiritually the Jews were dead as a nation. Thirty-eight years later they would be dead and destroyed as a nation when Rome attacked Jerusalem in AD 70.

Why does the Lord Jesus curse the fig tree even when it’s not the season?

The fig tree represents Israel. The Jews had more than 400 years to prepare to meet Messiah, after their last prophet Malachi. But they were hopelessly unready and could not recognize their season. Their political hatred of the Romans was stronger than their love of Messiah. Religiously they had allowed Pharisees and Sadducees, who were never mentioned in the Old Testament, to be their leaders. That is how unscriptural they had got. The Temple had degenerated into a money-making Big Business corruption.

In 400 years they had fallen further away from God than when they started. Thus, when Jesus came they were in their wrong season spiritually. They rejected Him instead of accepting Him. As a result, they were cursed and the Romans began their destruction of the city and the Temple in AD 70.

MARK 11:20   And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

Spiritually the Jews would be dead for almost 1900 years until they regained a small portion of their homeland in 1948.

We've seen that the fig tree represents blessing, well-being, and security. It also symbolizes fruitfulness. Fig trees, like many other fruit trees, are somewhat slow-growing. It takes years for them to develop, produce fruit, and even longer to offer shade.  3 – 5 years

If your fig tree is putting too much of its energy into branch and leaf growth, rather than setting fruit, identify the new growth branches – they'll be more flexible than old growth – and pinch off their tips. This setback will encourage them to set fruit, instead.

The religious leaders in Jesus’ day were not interested in the fruits of the Spirit like love, joy, and peace. They were more interested in growing rich and removing any opposition that could point out their mistakes. So, Jesus, both on Sunday and on the next day which was Monday, pinched off the religious money-makers’ tips (a tip is an extra bit of money) to make them stop chasing profits and rather focus on what the prophets wrote so that they could recognize Messiah. They overcharged the people for their sacrifices and regarded that corrupt extra money as a tip for their services.

Often innocent people die when things go wrong

Now Jesus gives a deep and scary warning.

When things go wrong, often it is ordinary people and not the worst sinners who die.

LUKE 13:1   There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

Pontius Pilate killed Jews indiscriminately when they provoked trouble. The Jews provoked trouble but had no control over the deadly consequences.

LUKE 13:2   And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?

The Jews who were killed were not necessarily the worst Jews, nor the worst trouble-makers. Once the Romans began killing the trouble-makers they were possessed by a murderous spirit that happily killed anyone who was in the vicinity. Such was the hatred of the pagan Romans towards the Jews.

LUKE 13:3   I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

The Jews should learn that when they deal with God their only correct response is to repent. If they provoke trouble in any way, they will perish.

LUKE 13:4   Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

Then there are accidents that were not deliberately caused. A faulty building collapses and destroys anyone who is under it at that time. This represents what we humans call “Bad luck” or “fate”. Something just went wrong for no obvious reason. We have no control over those events but that does not stop them from impacting our lives.

LUKE 13:5   I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

So, Jesus warns that unexpected things will happen because accidents do occur. Thus, we must be zealous to repent because at any time we could be unexpectedly wiped out by events that catch us by surprise. The Titanic ship was supposed to be unsinkable until it hit an unseen iceberg.

Jesus now began to warn them of the deadly and unexpected disaster that would hit the Jews in AD 70 when their hated enemy, the Romans, would destroy the Temple and over 1 million men, women, and children.

Israel was a fruitless fig tree

LUKE 13:6   He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.

Jesus is talking to the Jews. So, the fig tree is a symbol of Israel. The vineyard speaks of wine which is the symbol of the stimulation of revelation. So, God expected Israel to realize that there are deeper spiritual truths attached to His choice of them as His nation.

God opened the Red Sea and cursed Egypt with ten plagues. He fed them with manna from heaven and water out of a Rock in the wilderness. God allowed Cyrus the Persian to send them back from captivity in Babylon. Jewish history was full of supernatural intervention on behalf of the Jews. They were indeed in a vineyard that had deep spiritual implications in the New Testament times.

LUKE 13:7   Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?

Jesus said to the Jewish religious leaders who preached and taught in order to dress the vineyard. Jesus had preached and taught. He healed the sick, drove out demons, and raised the dead. He performed many miracles that were humanly impossible. The Jewish eyes should have been opened. He fulfilled many prophecies that involved Messiah.

Jesus had completed three years of His ministry and was still looking in vain for good fruit from the Jewish nation. His suggestion was to cut the fig tree down. As a nation the Jews had miserably failed.

“Cumbereth” means a hindrance or obstruction that is a burdensome embarrassment that causes disturbance and distress.

This was the opinion of Jesus as far as the Jewish religious leaders and the nation were concerned. What would he say about our current church leaders, Popes, pastors, and churches?

The greedy leaders were simply an obstruction that would stop the politically-obsessed Jews from recognizing and accepting Messiah. As such, the Jews were simply an embarrassment as their political hatred for Rome made them totally unable to recognize their own prophesied Messiah.

LUKE 13:8   And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:

There was a desperate plea for just one more year. A fig tree should have fruit after three years. None was available but hopefully the fourth year would enable fruit to develop. If the Jews did not accept Messiah in this fourth year, then they must be destroyed.

LUKE 13:9   And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

Jesus had a ministry of 3½ years. Thus, the Jews rejected Jesus in His fourth year. The Jews failed their test as a tree. They bore no spiritual fruit by rejecting their Messiah. They were therefore condemned to be cut down by the Romans in AD 70.

The fig tree is Israel returning to Palestine

LUKE 21:29   And he spake to them a parable;

Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

The fig tree representing Israel and all the other trees or nations that sought independence after World War 2 when the states of Europe were bankrupt from war debts and war damage. Thus, they were severely damaged and unable to hold their colonies by force for much longer. By defeating England in Malaya, the Japanese had also proved that European powers could be defeated.

God had blessed the European nations with wealth from the Industrial Revolution. They gained many colonies so that they could spread the Word of God around the world. But the focus soon became looting the colonies to gain wealth for the mother country. Then, driven by the greed to dominate others, the European nations sleepwalked into the First World War where they fought and almost destroyed each other. This war set the scene for the Second World War. These two suicidal disasters simply lost the European countries their colonies as American money set up a global market based on the American dollar.

Two other trees or colonies, India and Pakistan, also got independence in 1947. Then the nations of Africa claimed independence.

The fig tree is Israel looking for its independence as a separate state. That started with a United Nations resolution in 1947 that enabled them to fight for their independence in 1948.  They won a small piece of their Promised Land.

In 1967 they won the Six Day War and received a big portion of the Promised Land but also took the Sinai desert (that God never gave to Abraham) which they gave back to Egypt in 1982. God's people must always live within God's limits.

So, Israel was reasonably back in their Promised Land by 1982.

During that time, we can say that Israel became a nation.

But when does God say that Israel became a nation?  We simply do not know.

During those 35 years (1947 - 1982) almost all of the nations of Africa managed to gain their independence too.

The summer of independent nationhood had arrived.

LUKE 21:30   When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

“They”.  Many nations.

The colonies of European countries were able to gain independence after World War II because the European countries were weakened from war and unable to hold on to territories.

Britain, France, Belgium, and Portugal all lost their colonies in Africa.

Between 1951 (Libya) and 1980 (Zimbabwe) about 54 countries in Africa obtained independence with Ghana becoming independent in 1957.

LUKE 21:31   So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

This dramatic independence movement is a sign of the end times.

LUKE 21:32   Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

A generation is a rather vague term that different people interpret in different ways. Jesus said we would not know when He will return so we should not try to specify a time or a starting point for this prophecy.

If Israel was back inside the limits of their homeland in 1982, then perhaps people who were born in the 1980s will live to see the Lord’s return.

The problem with times is that we know when the Jews declared themselves to be a nation but we do not know when God declared Israel to be a nation.

By the same token Jesus could return very soon, we simply do not know. He could come in any future year. But we have to be ready at all times.

Are you saved? Have you repented and accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour?

But there is a further complication.

63-0623  THE  FLASHING  RED  LIGHT  OF  THE  SIGN  OF  HIS  COMING

"When you see the fig tree, and all the other trees putting forth their buds," Jews returning.

"The fig tree," Jews returning to their nation, their own country.

This is a further complication. God wants the Jews back in Israel but probably only half of them are back there. So that also makes it impossible to guess a time. Does God work on when the Jews are back within their original boundaries?  Or does He measure from when He thinks enough Jews are back in their Promised Land? We have no way of knowing.

But brother Branham’s sixth vision of a woman ruling America is starting to fall into place as Kamala Harris was elected as Vice President in 2020.

That certainly is an end-time sign.

MARK 13:27    And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

These are the Jews in the 3.5 years of great Tribulation. The angels (plural) are the messengers Moses and Elijah that gather the heavenly reborn 144000 Jews from all the four corners of the earth in the future time of great Tribulation.

The mysterious 7 Trumpets of the Book of Revelation blast out during great Tribulation in order to drive the remaining Jews who live outside Israel, back to their Promised Land.

MARK 13:28    Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

The starting point that reveals that the end times of great Tribulation are about to start will be the fig tree of Israel developing back into an independent nation in the Promised Land. A tender branch is a young nation. They only fitted into their Promised Land since 1982 when they got rid of the Sinai desert.

Then President Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2018 has rally put Israel on the map as an independent country. Thus, the Jews are back in their homeland so, at any time now, the Lord can catch up His Bride to Heaven and turn to the Jews in great Tribulation.

MARK 13:29   So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

MARK 13:30   Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

MATTHEW 24:32   Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

MATTHEW 24:33   So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

When President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, that completes Israel as a nation.

It was an intense warning sign that the Coming of the Lord is close.

Time is running out.

Untimely figs cast off the tree in great Tribulation

REVELATION 6:12   And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

The sixth Seal deals with the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

“A great earthquake”. The biggest earthquake that has been predicted will be when Los Angeles falls into the sea. That will certainly send financial shockwaves around the earth.

REVELATION 6:13   And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

The figs are shaken off the fig tree by the mighty wind (symbol of war and strife) of the 3.5 years of great Tribulation. Two thirds of the Jews will be killed in this terrible time.

This will be Israel as the fig tree casting off two-thirds of her figs.

ZECHARIAH 13:8   And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD,

two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

But the surviving third of the Jews will recognize the supernatural power of Jesus.

ZECHARIAH 13:9   And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

The Jews in the Millennium are the final fig tree

Finally, the Jews who survived Armageddon will sit under their fig trees in the Millennium when they are settled in the tribal portions of the Promised Land.

ZECHARIAH 3:10   In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.

Every man is your neighbour. A time of peace and prosperity.

The fig tree makes the Jews the main nation in the Millennium.

The vine produces wine as a symbol of the stimulation of revelation. The Millennium is the spiritual fulfillment of the original seventh day that Adam, the son of God, and his bride messed up.

Each of God's first seven days, after He had created the unierse in Genesis 1:1, were 1000 years long as God made the raw created earth a fit place for man to live on. That took 6000 years.

II PETER 3:8   But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Since sin entered, the Devil has ruled the earth for 6000 years. The comes the battle of Armageddon.

During this last 1000 years, Jesus the Son of God, and His Bride which is the Scriptural church that obeyed the Bible when all the other churches went after human pastors and their opinions, will rule the world.

MICAH 4:2   And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths:

for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

The Jews will rule the world in the 1000 years of Peace.

MIICAH 4:3     And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

The Millennium will be a time of peace, not war.

MICAH 4:4     But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree;

and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

Israel symbolized by the fig and the vine. Israel will be the main nation on earth in the Millennium.

Prosperity and security. There will be no fear of oppression.

Each individual owns their own piece of property. Their own fig tree for food.

The vine produces wine which is the symbol of the stimulation of revelation.

It is not just about material benefits, which will be there in plenty.

It is the revelation that each individual is part of God’s much bigger Plan and thus the Millennium is a time of preparation and training for the future.

The Bride will rule the earth and in the process learn how to judge issues so that they have 1000 years to learn how to judge people, which is what they will have to do on Judgement Day.

I CORINTHIANS 6:2   Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?

Sitting under your fig tree symbolizes the freedom of an individual who is not under bondage to any man-made system.