Fig Lessons
Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door....But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah....They did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. Matt. 24:32-39, NASB.
In Matthew 24:32-36 Jesus gives us great truths about human knowledge of the Second Advent. The first is the lesson of the fig tree--one of the minority of trees in the first-century Palestine that lost its leaves for winter. Just as the appearance of new leaves on the fig tree indicates that summer is approaching, so sensitive Christians can tell when Christ's appearing is near (verse 33). On the other hand, they can never know its exact time (verse 36).
Jesus goes on to give the illustration of Noah. Just as people "were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark," so it will be with the coming of the Son of man (verse 38, NIV).
Most explanations of that text imply that the sign of Noah will be great wickedness in the world, but that is not the only possible interpretation. The great wickedness understanding harks back to Genesis 6:5, which states that in Noah's time "the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (RSV). Note, however, that Genesis 6:5 is from God's perspective.
Matthew 24:37-39 can also be read from the human point of view. From that vantage, the text simply says that life near the end of time will continue as usual in the eyes of most people. After all, eating and drinking and marrying are normal activities. It is only the excesses of Noah's time and those implied just before the Second Advent that make them irregular. But most people, including many of those in the churches, will undoubtedly focus on the fact that life appears to be going on as usual until "the great surprise." They see nothing out of the ordinary.
That interpretation ties in nicely with those verses that compare the Second Advent to the coming of a thief (e.g., 1 Thess. 5:2). It also harmonizes with Matthew 24:40 and 41, which indicate the suddenness of the separation of the saved and the lost.
Lord, give me eyes to see fig trees and the events of earth from Your perspective.
Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door....But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah....They did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. Matt. 24:32-39, NASB.
In Matthew 24:32-36 Jesus gives us great truths about human knowledge of the Second Advent. The first is the lesson of the fig tree--one of the minority of trees in the first-century Palestine that lost its leaves for winter. Just as the appearance of new leaves on the fig tree indicates that summer is approaching, so sensitive Christians can tell when Christ's appearing is near (verse 33). On the other hand, they can never know its exact time (verse 36).
Jesus goes on to give the illustration of Noah. Just as people "were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark," so it will be with the coming of the Son of man (verse 38, NIV).
Most explanations of that text imply that the sign of Noah will be great wickedness in the world, but that is not the only possible interpretation. The great wickedness understanding harks back to Genesis 6:5, which states that in Noah's time "the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (RSV). Note, however, that Genesis 6:5 is from God's perspective.
Matthew 24:37-39 can also be read from the human point of view. From that vantage, the text simply says that life near the end of time will continue as usual in the eyes of most people. After all, eating and drinking and marrying are normal activities. It is only the excesses of Noah's time and those implied just before the Second Advent that make them irregular. But most people, including many of those in the churches, will undoubtedly focus on the fact that life appears to be going on as usual until "the great surprise." They see nothing out of the ordinary.
That interpretation ties in nicely with those verses that compare the Second Advent to the coming of a thief (e.g., 1 Thess. 5:2). It also harmonizes with Matthew 24:40 and 41, which indicate the suddenness of the separation of the saved and the lost.
Lord, give me eyes to see fig trees and the events of earth from Your perspective.
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