FIGS AND THE CHURCH
Jeremiah 24:1-10 KJV The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two
baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of
Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and
smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
(2) One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that
are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. (3)
Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the
good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are
so evil. (4) Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
(5) Thus saith the LORD,
the God of Israel; Like these good figs,
so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have
sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. (6)
For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to
this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant
them, and not pluck them up. (7) And I will give them an 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 unto me with their whole heart.
(8) And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are
so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah,
and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and
them that dwell in the land of Egypt: (9) And I will deliver them
to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a
reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall
drive them. (10) And I will send the sword, the famine, and the
pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave
unto them and to their fathers.
Good Figs and
Bad Figs
The above Jeremiah 24 prophecy is about the Jews of
southern Judah consisting of two types of figs.
The good, God fearing figs and the evil, idolatrous figs would both be
taken captive to Babylon and after 70 years some of both groups would be return
back to their home country. All Jews
were allowed to return but many of the evil figs stayed in Babylon due to the
lifestyle, where some wrote and developed the Babylonian Talmud (some think
they created the book of Esther as well).
After returning from Babylon the Jews were still under
the control of the Persians, afterwards the Greeks, and finally under Roman
rule. Between the Greeks and the Romans they had 100 years of relative freedom
before the Romans moved in. This 100 years was the time of the Maccabees where
the Edomites were conquered and became as one with the Jews. The modern nation
of Israel now has to deal with prophetic fulfillment concerning the Jewish bad
figs and the Edomites. [NOTE: Isaac
prophesied to Esau that the promise Jacob stole by trickery would be returned
to him for a time. This occurred when
the land of Palestine was given to the Jews/Edomites/Khazarians by Great
Britain at the end of WWI as requested by the Balfour Declaration.]
During the earth days of Jesus the good figs and the bad
figs were easily discernible. The good
figs followed Jesus and the kingdom of God (some have suggested these early
followers were Benjamites), the bad figs
were all those people opposed to the gospel of Jesus which included the
Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the lawyers.
The trunk of the fig tree was and always will be Jesus Christ. The first
branches of the tree were the good figs. Later, the disciples and other Jewish
believers were scattered throughout the Roman Empire due to the persecution of
the bad figs and many non-Jews were added to the Church.
Other Types of
Fruit
As other ethnic groups were added to the Christian church,
other types of branches were necessarily grafted onto the fig tree. These other
groups or branches could be called apples, pears, peaches, or some other fruit
but they were always grafted onto the Jewish trunk of the fig tree i.e. which
is Jesus and the original group of believers. This concept can be visualized in
Revelation 22:2 where the “Tree of Life” which is Jesus contains twelve various
types of fruit.
Revelation 22:2 KJV In the midst of the street of it, and on
either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for
the healing of the nations.
Replacement
Theology
The classic concept of replacement theology as
traditionally taught in the Roman church is basically wrong. The idea of a
Gentile church replacing Israel is also wrong and not biblically accurate. The
supposed opponents of replacement theology advocate Messianic Judaism, which is
grafting new fruit branches onto a dead, dried up fig tree.
The followers of Jesus were the original fig tree
producing good fruits and following the king of Judah whereby they retained the
privilege to be called by the tribal name of Judah and are therefore true
Jews. No nation is all good or all bad.
In the case of Judah, God intended a divine separation into two distinct fig
trees because God intended to treat them differently. The dominion mandate, awarded to Jesus, was to
go to those who produced good fruit and conversely, those who produced bad
fruit were to be disinherited. Jesus was
born of a genuine Judah mother as can be seen in the genealogies of Matthew 1
and Luke 3. Not only did Jesus produce
good fruit but he was the tree itself. To him were attached various branches
which also produced good fruit.
The above concept can be validated by a parable found
John 15:1-6. The fig tree motif has been replaced by a vine and its branches
but the concept remains the same. As in
the trunk of the fig tree, Jesus compares Himself to a vine with branches that
bear fruit. If the branch does not bear fruit, it is taken away from the vine where
it dries up and then is burned in the fire. It should be noted the fire is the
righteous judgment of God and not an actual hell fire.
John 15:1-6 KJV I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman. (2) Every branch in me that bears not fruit he taketh
away: and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may bring forth
more fruit. (3) Now ye are clean through the word which I have
spoken unto you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye,
except ye abide in me. (5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He
that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without
me ye can do nothing. (6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast
forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the
fire, and they are burned.
Only by being a branch of the vine or the fig tree can one produce the
fruit of the kingdom. Those not producing fruit will be cut off where they will
dry up as did the fig tree cursed by Jesus that became withered and dry as the disciples watched.
Matthew 21:19-20 KJV 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 original Jewish fig tree Church is now the modern day
Church with various branches producing different types of fruit. The Jewish Church
was not completely replaced with a Gentile Church. The bad fig branches were simply
cut off and the good fig branches of Judah carried the banner of the Judah Church
by following Jesus the King of Judah. The promises given to Abraham were never
transferred from one group of people to another. The Abrahamic promises merely
continued through the unbroken line of the good fig tree of Judah.
Matthew 7:17-20 NET In the
same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad
fruit. (18) A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit,
nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. (19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) So then, you will recognize them by their
fruit.
Replacement theology may teach that the fig tree was
rooted out and replaced by some other type of fruit tree but this concept is
completely in error. There were originally two fig trees as prophesied by
Jeremiah, one good and one evil. The evil fig tree was rooted out dried up and
thrown to the fire. The good fig tree continued to carry on the kingdom of God
upon the earth. There was no replacement because the good fig tree was always
present.
Only the Trunk
is Jewish
Some make the claim that the Church is strictly a Jewish
church and that non-Jewish Christian believers are to reunite with Jews who are
still cut off from Christ. The bad fig tree of Jewish nonbelievers and others
is not God’s chosen people or nation.
Again, the Church has a Jewish trunk but many different branches
producing different types of fruit. The gospel of Jesus and the kingdom of God
is available to every person on the face of the earth including Jewish people
who are currently residing on the bad fig tree.
The bad fig tree will never produce good fruit due to the
nature of the curse of Jesus. The only solution for the branches of the bad fig
tree is to be cut off from that tree and be grafted onto the good fig tree
which is the only tree that gives true life.
A Jew who refuses to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah is
not a partaker of the dominion mandate that was given to Judah nor is he a member
of the tribe of Judah in the sight of God. After the ascension of Jesus there
were many Jews considered to be the natural branches of the fig tree. However,
they were cut off from the kingdom of God fig tree whose trunk was Jesus Christ
until they repented and put their trust and faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
The Church with Jesus as the trunk of the tree was and is
the inheritor of the dominion mandate given to Judah and empowered by Jesus of
the tribe of Judah. Rather than becoming a Gentile Church it was a Judah Church
through Jesus as King of Judah and will always be a Judah Church due to its
foundation or trunk. As the new believers
spread throughout the Roman Empire the numerous converts sometimes referred to
as Gentiles were grafted as branches into the Judah fig tree. The fig tree
based church soon had many different types of fruit from many nations and
ethnicities. It soon became noticeable that the various fruits greatly
outnumbered the original figs, however it was still a Judah Church because the
trunk of the tree was and is the King of Judah named Jesus.
God did not plant a new tree and call it by some other name
such as the Gentile Church but took the fig tree of Jesus Christ and grafted
many other branches of various types of fruit. Those who reject Jesus are part
of the corrupt fig tree which lost its legal status as the tribe of Judah when
they rejected the Messiah and usurped His throne. Even Jewish Christians do not
have the authority to rule over others because figs are no better than apples
or other fruit.
Romans 2:28-29 NET For a
person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is
outward in the flesh, (29) but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and
circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit and not by the written code. This
person's praise is not from people but from God.
