Luke 21:29–33

Sweetness and good fruit are what marked the fig tree in Jotham's parable. God chose Israel as a nation, out of all the nations, to bear fruit for Him. Luke 21:29 shows it: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees." The fig tree is set apart from the rest. We see Israel's failure to answer all God's goodness when our Lord cursed the barren fig tree. This was the only miracle our Lord performed that did not bring blessing. It tells us that while grace and blessing are what God delights in, judgment must still find its place, for God is righteous and must uphold His name.

He gives a parable, but not of the fig tree only: that would not suit the largeness of Luke's scope. "Look at the fig tree and all the trees." Here is the difference between Luke and the others. It is not that his Gospel lacks the Jewish part. It is that he brings in all the Gentiles as well. How perfect it all is! Luke writes for the Gentiles, so he gives not only the fig tree found in Matthew, but the Gentile trees found nowhere else. That one tree clearly applies to the Jews as a nation; the other figure, "all the trees," adds the rest, so as to be universal.

At the same time as Israel reappears in world politics, many of the powers Israel dealt with in the past will appear again... If the fig tree is Israel, "all the trees" stand for the powers that have to do with her. All must take up their positions to play the part assigned to them in the last scenes.

The Jew was God's fig tree, set on earth to bear fruit and to be a witness. He withered because he was barren. One day he will be broken in heart and will turn to the Lord. The branch becomes tender and puts out leaves in the power of a renewed life. Then the summer, the harvest, the end is near — at the doors.

They were scattered, as Luke told us they would be, and now they are gathering in the land again. The fig tree is shooting... The trees do seem to be putting out their leaves. The summer surely is already near; and there is no summer apart from the Kingdom of God.

The mark of the fig tree is that fruit and leaves are there together. As soon as the branch becomes tender, the fruit is found. It is a rapid development. This is the lesson here. Israel's blessing, new life, fruit and glory will quickly be realised in those end days... There is another application: that we now see Israel like a budding fig tree, with signs of new national life. Taken as a sign of the times, this is certainly not wrong. It tells us of the nearness of the end.

He gives a parable, but not of the fig tree only: that would not suit the largeness of Luke's scope. "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees." Here is the difference between Luke and the others. His Gospel does not drop the Jewish portion; in addition, he brings in all the Gentiles. This evangelist for the Gentiles gives not only the fig tree which is in Matthew, but also the Gentile trees, which no other Gospel mentions. That one tree plainly applies to the Jews as a nation; the other figure ("all the trees") adds the rest, so that it becomes universal.

The leaves on the fig tree, the Lord tells us in Matthew 24:32, give notice that summer is near; and so, He says, the things which He had been describing would give notice, when they came to pass, that the kingdom was near.

The fig tree is no longer barren; for the Son of Man received, and the new covenant with Him, will change everything. These are early days; and we hear of no more than the branch becoming tender and putting out leaves. The time of fruit will come; but as yet they only know that summer is near.

The parable of the fig tree applies to the Jewish remnant of returned captives in the land. They were scattered, as Luke told us they would be. Now they are gathering there again; the fig tree is shooting. But Luke adds "and all the trees": in which we are apparently to see, in keeping with Luke's character, the revival of the nations making up Daniel's empires... Certainly the trees seem to be putting out their leaves. The summer surely is already near; and there is no summer apart from the Kingdom of God. Again we see, as in Matthew, how fast it will at last come on. The generation that sees the beginning will see the end. And here the Lord solemnly affirms that His word cannot change: though heaven and earth pass away, this will not.

Even before the Rapture we see the beginning of the signs of the Lord's coming in glory, which will be later than the Rapture. For Israel has once again become a nation possessing her own land. The nations around her were for years almost unheard of and of little account. Now they have become militant and are pressing to the front for recognition. This great resurgence of national ambition tells us that the kingdom of God is near. If the millennial kingdom is near, the coming of the Lord for the Church (the Rapture) is at least seven years nearer.

The first prominent sign is the one given in the "parable of the fig tree." This tree is an emblem of Israel, and the putting out of leaves may well point to a national revival of that people... Before Israel's false king appears, while the branch is still tender, there is a putting out of leaves, and this is a sign to the remnant. The movement called "Zionism," already begun among the Jews, feeble, undefined and tentative as it is, may be the start of what, after the church is gone, will become the putting out of the leaves of the fig tree.

Here is an instance of how exact Scripture is, even in its figures. Who but God could have thought of giving only the fig tree in Matthew, which speaks of Israel? In Luke we get the fig tree and all the trees, for there the Gentiles get mixed up in the troubles of Israel.

So we have every right to expect signs of life in Israel, and in the nations she has special dealings with. These signs come before the Saviour comes to earth to set up the visible kingdom of God. That great event is near, for no one can deny that remarkable movements are going on among these peoples.

Now in what sense could the kingdom of God be near when Jerusalem fell? In its mysterious state, the state it exists in now, the kingdom of God had already come long before Jerusalem was destroyed. In that sense no one could call it near at hand then. But once these signs of Christ's second coming begin, the kingdom in its open display of millennial glory will be near at hand.

Is it not clear, then, that the kingdom of God is coming in a sense different from what people look for and talk about? Its approach is real now to faith, but we do not see it. Then it will be manifest, and it will put down everything that sets itself against God. The yoke of evil will be broken then, which it is not now.

So the Holy Spirit records here an expression which may apply to both: "you know that the kingdom of God is near." I have no doubt this had a certain accomplishment in the complete suppression of the Jewish order, but not its fulfilment. The coming of the Son of Man, after the signs of verses 25 and 26, will establish the kingdom of God.

When they see these things happening, they are to conclude that the kingdom of God is near. He had spoken of the final, worldwide trouble for the whole inhabited earth, not just of what has happened to the Jews. The things seen here were signs, like the budding of the trees. So the kingdom of God plainly comes at the coming of the King, when the Lord God Almighty takes His great power and reigns.

For Israel has once again become a nation possessing her own land. Other nations around her, for years almost unheard of and of little importance, have become militant and are pressing forward for recognition. This great resurgence of national ambition tells us that the kingdom of God is near. If the millennial kingdom is near, the coming of the Lord for the Church is at least seven years nearer.

When does the phrase "this generation" come in? After the Son of Man has already come in power and glory — not when they saw Jerusalem surrounded by armies. That is an important point to help in determining its true meaning. If "this generation" really meant a man's lifetime, such a place in the prophecy would not fit... So "this generation," if taken as a stretch of time, must cover eighteen centuries at the least.

Few have weighed how fully Luke 21:32 settles the real meaning of those much-debated words... As long as people read them only in the light of Matthew 24 and Mark 13, there was room for doubt... So the clause seems to be meant in its full, unlimited strength. Luke has placed it where it makes every other application impossible.

The word "all" must include everything mentioned in the verses before, and the close of the times of the Gentiles is one of these. So He cannot mean by "this generation" the people who were then alive. The times of the Gentiles have not yet run out, so the generation the Lord speaks of has not yet passed. It is the race, the nation, of the Jews that He names. The Greek word here translated "generation" is translated "nation" in other places. In Philippians 2:15 older translations read "a crooked and perverse nation"... Parkhurst notes that "generation" is also used for people of like quality and character, even when they are not of one place or age. We also have "the generation of the upright," "the generation of those that seek Him," "the generation of His wrath."

Its force is moral. It is not exactly the nation of Israel, but that Christ-rejecting race who refused their Messiah then and refuse Him still. This will go on till all these solemn threats of judgment are accomplished... The Lord does not say that this generation will not pass away until the temple falls or the city is taken. He says, until all is fulfilled... He declares that this generation will not pass away till then. Only then will grace form a new generation, the generation to come.

They have come through troubles like no other people, and heavy discipline under the holy hand of God. They have borne the hatred and persecution of the boastful Gentile, east and west. Still they remain. Where is Moab? Where Edom, Assyria, Babylon? People may dig up the ruins of their palaces and fortresses. But as nations they are dead and gone... These words guarantee that Israel stays a distinct people to the end, until the whole prophetic word is fulfilled.

Fulfilment began at the destruction or treading down of Jerusalem — its desolation, vengeance and so on — and it continues still. A far fuller fulfilment comes at the close, before the coming of the Son of Man... Note also that this passage rules out applying "the coming of the Son of Man" to the destruction of Jerusalem. The long treading down has already come before it.

Christ has attached a very solemn warning to this prophecy: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." No doubt this applies to all His words. But He said it about this particular prophecy. So let us come to it with full regard for the warning the Lord has set over this scripture to protect it. The globe we walk on will pass away. The heavens will go like a scroll rolled up. But not one syllable of what the Lord Jesus said here will fail to come true.

Verse 33 goes far beyond the kingdom. It reaches to the passing away of heaven and earth at the time of the Great White Throne, some 1000 years later (Rev. 20:11). The words of the Lord Jesus will never pass away.

"Heaven and earth will pass away" — and the voice is that of the Lord and Maker of heaven and earth — "but my words will not pass away."

We are told that the "words" He spoke, He received from the Father. He was so perfect as Man in His dependence on the Father that He said, "The Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment — what to say and what to speak." Again we read, "For he whom God has sent utters the words of God." So nothing could be more truly from God than the words He spoke. It is no wonder, then, that He should say, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

This is the mystery the Lord has before Him when He says, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." Creation could be removed. Redemption — the work of the Word — cannot be moved, because the living God has joined Himself to it. And so the prophet, speaking to Jesus the Son, says, "Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain." All things that are made may be shaken (Heb. 12:27), for God Himself is not joined to them; He is not their foundation.

Is this not exceedingly sweet for us to think about! The child of God knows he has a foundation for his faith more stable than heaven or earth. The Lord speaks of His own words; the word of the Lord endures forever. However much people may try to detract from the word of God, by His grace may we hold fast all God has given to us. Here it is the Lord's own words, but the whole word of God has a divine character.

You know you have sinned and want your sins forgiven, and you are asking, How am I to know that they are forgiven? On what ground? I do not know any trustworthy ground except God's holy word, and having this, you need not fear all the powers of Satan. There is no power in this world, or under this world, which can destroy the imperishable word of God.