The fig tree pictures Is.rael politically. Like that one which the Lord cursed, the nation in this aspect withered away and has had no political status until recent years. When their right to a home in Palestine was acknowledged, and they became the subject of international diplomacy, it became necessary to recognize them as a nation.

Zion.ism has kindled their national aspirations and was a token that the branches of the fig tree were preparing to bud. The British declaration giving them a home in Palestine, and their efforts to reclaim and repopulate the land of their forefathers, are sure indications that Is.rael's winter is nearly past and her summer is near.

Learn a parable of the fig-tree - That is, These signs which I have given you will be as infallible a proof of the approaching ruin of the Jewish state as the budding of the trees is a proof of the coming summer.

Verse 31
The kingdom of God is nigh at hand - After the destruction of the Jewish state, the doctrine of Christ crucified shall be preached every where, and every where prevail.

The Kingdom of God and the Catholic Church are one and the same.

As I understand the doctrine, the question centers on a statement Jesus made in Matthew 24:32-35, "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." The doctrine says that because Joel 1:7 and Hosea 9:10 both equate the fig tree to Israel, that must therefore imply that Jesus is also referring to Israel in this passage. From there, the doctrine that I saw tries to make several points about Israel's role in the future, specifically as it relates to the end of the world.

There are several problems with this, though. First, Joel 1:7 is only mildly shadowed in metaphors and even the most liberal reading I could give it still only refers to fig trees that are within Israel. That is a very tough way to look at a metaphor. If the fig trees are within Israel, how could they represent the whole of Israel? Second, in Hosea 9:10, Hosea compares the way Israel used to be to a fig tree. It says, "When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved." It is certainly a stronger relationship than what is in Joel, but it is still a long way from saying that the fig tree is Israel. I would say that fig tree in Hosea represented Israel when they were righteous and holy before God. What they had become by the time of the prophesy was something vile that no longer reminded God of the fig tree.

I also always wonder when people try to create a doctrine by substituting one set of analogies with another one. Do they pick and choose their references so that they come out they way they want? To answer this question I decided to look up "fig tree" everywhere it is used in the Bible. Here is a compilation of how it is used in the Old Testament:

Judges 9:10-11. Used metaphorically to represent righteous people.
I Kings 4:25. Used allegorically of a time of peace.
II Kings 18 31. Used allegorically of a time of peace.
Proverbs 27:18 Used allegorically to represent any thing that requires work or service.
Song of Solomon 2:13 Used metaphorically to represented springtime or beauty.
Isaiah 34:4 Used metaphorically to represent decay, death and destruction.
Isaiah 36:16 Used allegorically of a time of peace.
Hosea 9:10 Used metaphorically to represent righteous people or a time when Israel was righteous.
Joel 1:7,12 Used either literally to mean a fig tree or metaphorically to denote ruin, judgment, or destruction.
Joel 2:22 Used either literally to mean a fig tree or metaphorically to denote renewal or rebirth.
Habakkuk 3:17 Used either literally to mean a fig tree or metaphorically to represent famine.
Haggai 2:19 Used allegorically to represent famine.
Zechariah 3:10 Used allegorically of a time of peace.

In general, I would say that the use of the fig tree in poetic works of the Old Testament focus on the fig tree being one of the survival plants of the Israelites. It makes a good analogy tool because its fruit is sweet and highly prized, it produces fruit early in the season (and also late because it produces twice a year). If left unharvested, its fruit rots quickly. I figure that is why it is at the center of both a sign of renewal and springtime because after a long winter, its fruit is highly prized. It is also a figure of death because if left untended, its fruit is rotten and worthless.

In Matthew 24, Jesus is pointing to a "springtime version" of the fig tree. He is saying "read the signs and it will come about as you read them". The only reason to attempt to interject Israel into the discussion (for which there is no support in the passage) would be to try to get the passage to say or reveal something for which there is no mention.

So, to answer the original question: No, the fig tree that Jesus refers to does not refer to Israel.

Darrell Hamilton

That's quite a list of topics on the hasta la vista site..

Took me half an hour to scroll down the page:

http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/articles.htm

Definitely a much much saner theology than dispensationalism, which looks for signs of Jesus' coming in the next newspaper headline.

When one prediction fails they just recycle their stuff for the next headline....

There have always been antichrists (those who don't believe in the divinity of Christ) among us, but THE Antichrist is someone who has not yet come. When he does come, he will persecute the Church in a much worse fashion than ever before.

The Muslim perecution of Christians is horrible, all right, a persecution the media ignores or downplays. In Nigeria and Sudan and some other places in Africa Muslims raid Christian villages, forcing the people into various forms of slavery, including forced prostitution. Islam is barbarism.

But the Antichrist, when he comes, will make all prior persecutions look like child's play. The Antichrist will usher in "the Tribulation", as some denominations call it.

I don't know where you got those quotes from, Isna, but they may be right. Maybe the Antichrist will be some kind of Muslim leader.

There still is a Temple---the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is the New Temple, the New Israel, the New Jerusalem, and the New Synagogue. The Antichrist will come and devastate the Church.

.

The Dispatch: More from CWR
Jesus Christ is the New and Everlasting Temple
On the Readings for Sunday, November 9, 2014, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
November 08, 2014 05:44 EST
Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
• Ps 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
• 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17
• Jn 2:13-22

Some thousand years before the time of Christ the great Temple of Solomon was built. Previously, the tribes of Israel had worshipped God in sanctuaries housing the ark of the covenant. King David had desired to build a permanent house of God for the ark. But that work was accomplished by his son, Solomon, equally famous for his wisdom—and his eventual corruption due to the pursuit of power and wealth.

In the Old Testament the temple is often referred to as “the house of the Lord”. Sometimes it is called “Zion,” as in today’s Psalm (Ps. 46), a term that also referred to the city of Jerusalem, which in turn represented the people of God. The temple was a barometer of sorts for the health of the covenantal relationship between God and the people. Many of the prophets warned that a failure to uphold the Law and live the covenant would result in the destruction of the temple.

The prophet Jeremiah, for example, warned that having the temple couldn’t protect the people from the consequences of their sins: “Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD’.” (Jer. 7).

In 587 B.C., the temple was finally destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, marking the start of The Exile. During that time, in the 25th year of exile, the prophet Ezekiel had a vision of a new temple (Ezek. 40-48). The description of the temple, part of it heard in today’s first reading, hearkened back in various ways to the first chapters of Genesis (cf., Gen. 2:10-14), including references to pure water, creatures in abundance, and unfading trees producing continuous fresh fruit. This heavenly temple, it was commonly believed, would descend from heaven and God would then dwell in the midst of mankind.

Following the exile, the temple was rebuilt, then damaged, and rebuilt again. Finally, not long before the birth of Christ, Herod built an expansive, glorious temple. It was there that Jesus was presented by Mary and Joseph and blessed by Simeon (Lk 2:22-35) and where he, as a youth, spent time talking to the teachers of the Law (Lk 2:43-50). It was also the setting for the scene described in today’s Gospel—the cleansing of the temple and Jesus’ shocking prophecy: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

Was Jesus, in cleansing the temple, attacking the temple itself? No. And did Jesus, in making his remark, say he would destroy the temple? No. But, paradoxically, the love of the Son for his Father and his Father’s house did point toward the demise of the temple. “This is a prophecy of the Cross,” wrote Joseph Ratzinger in The Spirit of the Liturgy, “he shows that the destruction of his earthly body will be at the same time the end of the Temple.”

Why? Because a new and everlasting Temple was established by the death and Resurrection of the Son of God. “With his Resurrection the new Temple will begin: the living body of Jesus Christ, which will now stand in the sight of God and be the place of all worship. Into this body he incorporates men.”

The new Temple of God did, in fact, come down from heaven. It dwelt among man (Jn. 1:14). “It” is a man: “Christ is the true temple of God, ‘the place where his glory dwells’; by the grace of God, Christians also become temples of the Holy Spirit, living stones out of which the Church is built” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1197). Through baptism we become joined to the one Body of Christ, and that Body, the Church, is the “one temple of the Holy Spirit” (CCC, 776).

“Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,” wrote the Psalmist, “the astounding things he has wrought on earth.” Indeed, behold Jesus the Christ, the true and astounding temple of God, and worship him in spirit and in truth."

(This "Opening the World" column originally appeared in the November 9, 2008, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

Jesus is the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is Jesus, Jesus expanded in His members (faitfhful Catholics) through time and geography.