Parable of the Fig Tree

[Peter]

Rather than putting links in for each verse, if you want to read a verse in context, please copy and paste it into the window here: http://www.blueletterbible.org/

http://www.israelinbibleprophecy.com/parable_fig_tree.htm

This is one of a very few areas of scripture where the continuous-historic view generally shares ground with futurism.

Zechariah 12:3  And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

2 Peter 3:3-4  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation.

Matthew 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains
Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days.

Luke 21:24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.  Were the times of the Gentiles fulfilled in 70 AD when a million Jews were killed?  Not likely since less than 70 years later the Romans killed another 750,000 Jews, let alone when Muslims took control.  When didn't Gentiles control Jerusalem prior to 1967?

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:

Hosea 9:10  I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: [but] they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto [that] shame; and [their] abominations were according as they loved.

Some reject this as a fulfillment of prophecy - because of their doctrines - because so many of the Jews restored to their land are secular or atheist.  But does the parable say when we see the fig tree putting forth fruit - or leaves?  The Jews numbered about 550 in Jerusalem in 1827, and nearly 600,000 by 2005, while numbering over 5 million in Israel.

Luke 21:29  And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

Most likely based on context, if the fig tree is Israel, we may conclude that "all the trees" is a reference to the neighboring states which have undergone a population explosion consistent with that of Israel.  Their interest in Israel was primarily the result of the Jews providing employment for the Arabs as they rebuilt Israel.  

Alternatively we could consider "all the trees" as including the fig tree as well  as the "good" olive tree and the "wild" olive tree.  This would be consistent with Romans 11:25, and reaching the conclusion of the Gentile branches being grafted in to the good olive tree - the "fulness", or full number of the Gentiles.

This parable is covered in more detail here.

Some reject the restoration of the Jews as a fulfillment of prophecy because so many are secular or atheist.  But does the parable say when we see the fig tree putting forth fruit - or leaves?  The Jews in Jerusalem numbered about 550 in 1827 and nearly 600,000 by 2005, while numbering over 5 million in Israel.



Luke 21:29  And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

Based on context, if the fig tree is Israel, we may conclude that "all the trees" is a reference to the neighboring states which have undergone a population explosion of their own.  The post desolation Arab interest in Israel was the result of employment provided by the Jews as they restored their land.  

Alternatively we could consider "all the trees" as including the fig tree as well  as the "good" olive tree and the "wild" olive tree.  This would be consistent with Romans 11:25, and a conclusion of the Gentile branches being grafted in to the good olive tree. The final branches signaling the "fulness", or full number of the Gentiles.

This parable is covered in more detail here.


Matthew Henry weighed in thus -

"VI. That this prophecy of those times, though sealed up now, would be of great use to those that should live then, v. 4. Daniel must now shut up the words and seal the book.....  
Then this hidden treasure shall be opened, and many shall search into it, and dig for the knowledge of it, as for silver.....
Those that would have their knowledge increased must take pains, must not sit still in slothfulness and bare wishes but run to and fro, must make use of all the means of knowledge and improve all opportunities of getting their mistakes rectified, their doubts resolved,...
Those things of God which are now dark and obscure will hereafter be made clear, and easy to be understood. Truth is the daughter of time. Scripture prophecies will be expounded by the accomplishment of them; therefore they are given, and for that explication they are reserved.


Genesis 12:2-3   And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 17:7  And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.....

Genesis 17:8  And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.



Luke 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh  

Jerusalem was surrounded by armies on many occasions before 70 AD, and on many occasions after, including 132 (wherein another 750,000 Jews were killed), 639, 1099, 1187, 1948, 1967 and indeed even as I write.  While in 70 AD the city was trashed, and a million Jews were killed, the Romans came back to kill another 750,000 Jews less than 70 years later.  How could we hold that the "times of the Gentiles" were fulfilled by 70 AD?

 In "A History of the Jews" - Paul Johnson writes - page 321:  "Between 1827 and 1839, largely through British efforts, the population of Jerusalem rose from 550 to 5,500 and in all Palestine it topped 10,000 - the real beginning of the Jewish return to the Promised Land."

By 1867, even 40 years after the restoration of the Jews began, Mark Twain described the land thus:  " ...[a] desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds-a silent mournful expanse....A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action....We never saw a human being on the whole route....There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of the worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."


Ezekiel 36:35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden;





and the waste and desolate and ruined cities [are become] fenced,



[and] are inhabited.



The restoration of the Jews to their land in 1948, and to their city in 1967, was prophesied 2500 years in advance, right to the year, by the prophet Daniel !:
http://islamchristianforum.com/index.php?topic=77.0

Zechariah 12:3  And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

In terms of agricultural miracles in addition to reforestation, and being the world leader in innovation in irrigation, the Gush Katif greenhouses alone produced over a hundred million dollars worth of produce each year, until taken over and destroyed by the so-called "Palestinians".  These were located in the Gaza strip.  



International financiers promised the Jewish growers financial compensation for the loss of their greenhouses, that were to be given to, and managed by, the Palestinians, after they took over Gaza.  

However, after the Jews were forced off their land ... "Palestinian militants ransack former Gush Katif greenhouses" stealing computers, and even piping, causing irreparable damage in the process.  The international financiers later defaulted on their promised payments to the Jewish growers.

http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=512301b1b1224413be49

August 22, the aftermath of Gush Katif:  "The sworn enemies of these fine, productive and ethical communities will now receive a one sided gift from Prime Minister Sharon, a major chunk of Holy Land. This land, which these noble and brave settlers over the last 30 years have developed from barren uninhabited desert land to one of the most productive agricultural communities in Israel, is specifically defined in the Bible as part of the Land which has been allocated to Jews by Divine Order.  Over the last year alone, the settlers of Gush Katif have endured some 6000 rocket attacks across the border from the Palestinians in Gaza."  Jews in Gaza driven from their homes thanks to U.S. brokered give-away to the Palestinians.

August 23rd tropical depression #12 was born.  
August 29th we watched those in New Orleans being driven from their homes and land by what became hurricane Katrina.
_____________

Great book on disasters being visited (that was written before the Katrina exploration above) on those that sell-out the Jews is "Eye to Eye" by William Koenig. It logs many instances where the such sell-outs share headlines with disasters. A couple include George Bush's Maine vacation home destruction and catastrophic flooding in Texas with another.

"In Eye to Eye - Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, we document what happens the same day or within 24 hours of Israel being pressured to divide her land. Here are a few examples found in these pages:
During the presidencies of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, 29 record-setting catastrophes and/or major events occurred.

During President George W. Bush's first 40 months in office, 24 record-setting catastrophes and/or major events occurred.

From October 1, 2001, to January 9, 2004, eight periods of distruption occurred in the United Sttes following the 9-11 terror events when the President George W. Bush attempted to divide Israel's land.

Thirty-one major suicide bombings in Israel occurred at the same time President George W. Bush or one of his top-level staff and/or one of Israel's top officials were working with the U.S. on either a cease-fire agreement, a peace deal, publicly stating Israel's approval of a Palestinian state, or Israel was about to evacuate property."
_______________

September 12, 2005 the Palestinians burned synagogues in "celebration" in Gaza.  

Genesis 12:2-3   And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

The Israeli Jews are perhaps the most productive people in the world. In terms of their being a blessing for the whole world consider:

Achievement (from anonymous email source):

"The Global Islamic population is approximately 2,000,000,000 or 33% of
the world's population.  They have received the following Nobel Prizes:

Literature:
1988 - Najib Mahfooz

Peace:
1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat
1994 - Yaser Arafat:
1990 - Elias James Corey - raised Catholic (erroneously listed as a Muslim in this annonymous email)
1999 - Ahmed Zewai

Economics: (zero)

Physics: (zero)

Medicine:
1960 - Peter Brian Medawar
1998 - Ferid Mourad - Episcopalian (erroneously listed as a Muslim in this annonymous email)

(A very kind reader brought to my attention that the author of the email copied here was incorrect regarding two of the persons listed as Muslims. Ferid Mourad and Elias James Corey were not. Thus the tally is even bleaker than it had been!)

TOTAL: SEVEN (FIVE is the actual total barring any future corrections)

The Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000, or about 0.02% of the world's population.

They have received the following Nobel Prizes:

Literature:
1910 - Paul Heyse
1927 - Henri Bergson
1958 - Boris Pa sternak
1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1976 - Saul Bellow
1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer
1981 - Elias Canetti
1987 - Joseph Brodsky
1991 - Nadine Gordimer World

Peace:
1911 - Alfred Fried
1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
1968 - Rene Cassin
1973 - Henry Kissinger
1978 - Menachem Begin
1986 - Elie Wiesel
1994 - Shimon Peres
1994 - Yitzhak Rabin

Physics:
1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
1906 - Henri Moissan
1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
1910 - Otto Wallach
1915 - Richard Willstaetter
1918 - Fritz Haber
1921 - Albert Einstein
1922 - Niels Bohr
1925 - James Franck
1925 - Gustav Hertz
1943 - Gustav Stern
1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
1952 - Felix Bloch
1954 - Max Born
1958 - Igor Tamm
1959 - Emilio Segre
1960 - Donald A. Glaser
1961 - Robert Hofstadter
1961 - Melvin Calvin
1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
1965 - Richard Phil lips Feynman
1965 - Julian Schwinger
1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
1971 - Dennis Gabor
1972 - William Howard Stein
1973 - Brian David Joseph son
1975 - Benjamin Mottleson
1976 - Burton Richter
1977 - Ilya Prigogine
1978 - Arno Allan Penzias
1978 - Peter L Kapitza
1979 - Stephen Weinberg
1979 - Sheldon Glashow
1979 - Herbert Charles Brown
1980 - Paul Berg
1980 - Walter Gilbert
1981 - Roald Hoffmann
1982 - Aaron Klug
1985 - Albert A. Hauptman
1985 - Jerome Karle
1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach
1988 - Robert Huber
1988 - Leon Lederman
1988 - Melvin Schwartz
1988 - Jack Steinberger
1989 - Sidney Altman
1990 - Jerome Friedman
1992 - Rudolph Marcus
1995 - Martin Perl
2000 - Alan J. Heeger

Economics:
1970 - Paul Anthony Samuelson
1971 - Simon Kuznets
1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow
1975 - Leonid Kantorovich
1976 - Mil ton Friedman
1978 - Herb ert A. Simon
1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
1985 - Franco Modigliani
1987 - Robert M. Solow
1990 - Harry Markowitz
1990 - Merton Miller
1992 - Gary Becker
1993 - Robert Fogel

Medicine:
1908 - Elie Metchnikoff
1908 - Paul Erlich
1914 - Robert Barany
1922 - Otto Meyerhof
1930 - Karl Landsteiner
1931 - Otto Warburg
1936 - Otto Loewi
1944 - Joseph Erlanger
1944 - Herb ert Spencer Gasser
1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
1952 - Selman Abra ham Waksman
1953 - Hans Krebs
1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann
1958 - Joshua Lederberg
1959 - Arthur Kornberg
1964 - Konrad Bloch
1965 - Francois Jacob
1965 - Andre Lwoff
1967 - George Wald
1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg
1969 - Salvador Luria
1970 - Julius Axelrod
1970 - Sir Bernard Katz
1972 - Gerald Maurice Ed elman
1975 - Howard Martin Temin
1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg
1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow
1978 - Daniel Nathans
1980 - Baruj Benacerraf
1984 - Cesar Milstein
1985 - Michael Stuart Brown
1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein
1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]
1988 - Gertrude Elion
1989 - Harold Varmus
1991 - Erwin Neher
1991 - Bert Sakmann
1993 - Richard J. Roberts
1993 - Phillip Sharp
1994 - Alfred Gilman
1995 - Ed ward B. Lewis

TOTAL: 129

"Of course this is due to the great Zionist conspiricy, right? Don't make me laugh!

The Jews are NOT promoting brain washing children in military training camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other non Muslims! The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill athletes at the Olympics, or blow themselves up in restaurants. There is NOT one single Jew that has destroyed a church. There is NOT a single Jew that protests by killing people.

The Jews don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to all the Infidels. Perhaps the world's Muslims should consider investing more in standard education and less in blaming the Jews for all their problems.

Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more culpability on Israel 's part, the following two sentences really say it
all:

"If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel" -Benjamin Netanyahu

[Peter]

http://www.beholdthebeast.com/parable_of_the_fig_tree.htm#parable

THE PARABLE

In an adjacent hermeneutic study for the term fig tree, we find the next closest reference, in the same book of Matthew, is:

Matthew 21:18  Now in the 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!

It would seem that this is the actual parable of the fig tree, that we are told to behold, in Matthew 24:32.  As we look at the Jewish witness we see that God has indeed restricted their outreach, or evangelistic "fruiting", to their community.  God did not allow Jews to further evangelize Gentiles into Judaism.  

In my lifetime I know of only two women that "converted" to Judaism, and then only as a secular expediency of marriage.  As one indicated her conversion had nothing to do with the condition of her heart, since they were both non-believers to begin with.  

withered away
New Testament Greek Definition:
3583 xeraino {xay-rah'-ee-no}
from 3584;; v
AV - wither away 6, wither 5, dry up 3, pine away 1, be ripe 1; 16
1) to make dry, dry up, wither
2) to become dry, to be dry, be withered
2a) of plants
2b) of the ripening of crops
2c) of fluids
2d) of the members of the body
3) to waste away, pine away, i.e. a withered hand

Ezekiel 37:11-14  Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.  12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,  14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the LORD.

It would seem that we have a global community of Jews that are largely agnostic, and are hungry and ready to be saved by Yahweh or Yeshuah - the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world.  As I write there is tremendous spiritual revival in Israel.  Perhaps the perfection of prophetic mathematics will help Gentiles, as well as Jews, see that Jesus is the Messiah, if the Lord has lifted the "spirit of slumber" from an individual Jew's eyes and ears.  Scripture indicates that the Jews and Christians will become "one stick" in God's hand and we would seem to be on the threshold of this glorious period.  My former Pastor said that he is jealous of the saved Jews at that church, and at times wishes that he had been raised as one, because their joy and zeal for their walk with their Savior is generally so conspicuously more intense than Gentile rebirth.

Isaiah  11:13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
Ezekiel  37:16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:
Ezekiel  37:19  Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

Even though God did not allow the Jews to bring gentiles into their Church, and Jewish interest would seem to be on the wane, just as is Christianity, God none-the-less preserved them as a group, even through so many centuries of dispersion.  

In today's world it should seem obvious that this Jewish sense of community, even while scattered as tribes around the globe, brought the Jews as a group into this present age, so that they could be restored to our covenant land.  At least this is certainly what we have witnessed.  As a Gentile it seems even more incredible that Jews would regather at this rate, in a country where there is every good chance that one could easily get shot, or blown up by a suicide bomb in a bus, while simply heading out to grocery shop.  

Can we can now begin to understand Matthew 24:32 where we see the fig tree putting forth shoots and branches and even leaves.  Today we can even see the fruit being set.  Interesting that "Jews for Jesus" was formed shortly after the trodding of the Gentiles in the Holy City in 1967 was fulfilled.  
"Actually, "Jews for Jesus" began as a slogan. In the late 1960's a moving of the Holy Spirit brought thousands of cause-oriented young people to faith in Jesus, many of whom were Jewish."

So how long must it be before the return of our blessed Lord and Savior?  Based on verse 24:33 we might have good reason to conclude that He is "at the doors".

 
VERSES REGARDING THE JEWS BEING RESTORED TO THEIR/OUR LAND

Lifted largely from other websites (some futurist), some of it not personally studied:

Leviticus 26:44-45 Here scripture tells us the restoration of Israel is unconditional.
Isaiah 11:11 Here again scripture talks about a second restoration of the Jews. What would be the point of this if they were not part of the elect.
Isaiah 26;20-27:1 Talks of hiding the children of Israel followed by Satan's complete judgment. There again why hide them if not to save the elect.
Isaiah 27:12-13 talks about the final regathering of Israel.
Jeremiah:30:4-8 talks about the time of Jacobs troubles and the future restoration.
Jeremiah 30:18-24 Tell's us that a restoration for the tents of Jacob will take place in the latter days, I don't believe that this is the first restoration of 536 B.C.
Jeremiah 31:35-37 Talks about the permanent nation of Israel.
Jeremiah 33:24-26 Talks about the unconditional covenant with Jacob's descendants.
Ezekiel 16:60-63 Here again it's talking about an unconditional everlasting covenant with the Jews.
Ezekiel 37:1-28 Again it's talking about the unconditional future restoration of Israel followed closely by Armageddon in Ezekiel: 38-38.
Hosea 11:9-10 It talks about the future restoration of Israel from the West.
Joel 3:1-3 Predicts the restoration of Juda followed by Armageddon.
Amos 9:11 -15 Talks about an Israel restored to the land.
Zechariah 8:7-8 Speaks of a post-exilic unconditional restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem and the land.
Zechariah 10 & 12 Here again are more prophecies of the future restoration of the Jews.
Zechariah 14 Talks of Armageddon with the Jews in Jerusalem.

Now let's looks at what the New Testament has to say on this subject.

Luke 21:24 Speaks of a dispersion, the time of the Gentiles, and the restoration that follows.
Romans 11:11 Tells us that the Jews have not fallen.
Romans 11:17 Tells us that only some of the branches were broken off.
Romans 11:17 Tells us that the church (I believe to be the Christians) was grafted in among the Jews(olive tree).
Romans 11:28 Tells us that Gospel age Jews are still elect.
Romans 11:29 Tells us that Gods calling of the Jews is irrevocable (irrevocable means cannot be undone).
Revelation 7:4-9 Speaks of the 12 tribes of Israel in the Christian era.
Revelation 12:1-6 Again it speaks of Israel in the Christian era.
Revelation 15:3 Is a passage primarily about the Christian era, there are two songs, one for the Jews, and one for the Gentile church.

 
ON ISRAEL

Scattered - The Jewish people were warned:  Deuteronomy 28:58-68 - 64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, [even] wood and stone. 65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:"
Continuous persecution of the Jews is what started the Zionist movement of the late 1800's.  Today some anti and non-Zionist positions are taken even by some Orthodox Jews.
Preserved in Dispersion - The Lord promised that Israel would be dispersed but preserved as a nation. Jeremiah 31:35-37, -  36  If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, [then] the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever." So they would remain as a nation even through dispersion as long as there is a sun and a moon.
Regathered in Unbelief -  Many of the prophecies calling for the Jews' regathering to the land of Israel call also for them to be gathered there in unbelief toward their God. Today in Israel the average Jew doesn't believe in Yahweh God. This is explained in the "dry bones" chapter of the Ezekiel 37 particularly in Verses 11 through 14

Ezekiel 37:11-14 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.  12  Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,  14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the LORD.

And the parable of the fig tree talks about leafing, not fruiting.

 "8. So far, they were only cohering in order as unsightly skeletons. The next step, that of covering them successively with sinews, skin, and flesh, gives them beauty; but still "no breath" of life in them. This may imply that Israel hereafter, as at the restoration from Babylon was the case in part, shall return to Judea unconverted at first (Zechariah 13:8, 9). Spiritually: a man may assume all the semblances of spiritual life, yet have none, and so be dead before God." -  Jamieson, Fausett & Brown
This goes for Christians and Jews.

Restoration of the Land - At the turn of this century Israel was largely desert and swamp. Today it is an agricultural wonder of the world.  
Isaiah 27:6  He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.
The Gush Katif greenhouses alone produced up to 70% of Israel's produce.  Over a hundred million dollars in annual revenue.  They were then turned over to the Palestinians in Gaza with U.S. participation in brokering the deal.  Days later New Orleans was under water.  Read "Eye to Eye" to see hundreds of such examples of sell-outs of the Jews sharing headlines with other such natural disasters here at home, including two that attacked the Bush's personally.

Amos 9:14-15  And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.  15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.
Ezekiel 36:35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities [are become] fenced, [and] are inhabited.

[Peter]

From Matthew Henry: "That the church of God in the world shall be a growing body, and come at length to be a great body (v. 6): In times to come (so some read it), in after-times, when these calamities are overpast, or in the days of the gospel, the latter days, he shall cause Jacob to take root, deeper root than ever yet; for the gospel church shall be more firmly fixed than ever the Jewish church was, and shall spread further. Or, He shall cause those of Jacob that come back out of their captivity, or (as we read it) those that come of Jacob, to take root downward, and bear fruit upward, (Isaiah 37:31). They shall be established in a prosperous state, and then they shall blossom and bud, and give hopeful prospects of a great increase; and so it shall prove, for they shall fill the face of the world with fruit. Many shall be brought into the church, proselytes shall be numerous, some out of all the nations about that shall be to the God of Israel for a name and a praise; and the converts shall be fruitful in the fruits of righteousness. The preaching of the gospel brought forth fruit in all the world (Colossians. 1:6), fruit that remains, John. 15:16."  

Amazing how such accurate insight could have been formed through an understanding of scripture.
Israel's Rise in Prominence in World Politics -  Zechariah 12:2-3 predicted that Jerusalem would be politically front and center:

 Zechariah 14:2-4 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3  Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

This from Matthew Henry - "The mountain being divided, one-half towards the north and the other half towards the south, there shall be a very great valley, that is, a broad way of communication opened between Jerusalem and the Gentile world, by which the Gentiles shall have free admission into the gospel-Jerusalem, and the word of the Lord, that goes forth from Jerusalem, shall have a free course into the Gentile world. Thus the way of the Lord is prepared, for every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and plain and pleasant valleys shall come in the room of them, Isaiah. 40:4. [4.] Those of the Jews that believe shall come in, and join themselves to the Gentiles, and incorporate with them in the gospel-church: You shall flee to the valley of the mountains, that valley that is opened between the divided halves of the mount of Olives; they shall hasten into the church with the Gentiles, as formerly the Gentiles with them, ch. 8:23. The valley of the mountains is the gospel-church, to which there were added of the Jews daily such as should be saved, who fled to that valley as to their refuge. This valley of the mountains is said to reach unto Azal, or to the separate place, that is, to all those whom God has set apart for himself.:"

Israel Military Restored -  Zechariah 12:6-8 says that in the days when the armies of the world will come against Israel, that the tribes of Judah would be up to the task.  It should be no surprise that the Israeli military is among the best trained in the world.  They have been victorious in skirmish after skirmish and against what would seem insurmountable odds, in every action since 1948.  Zechariah 12:6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, [even] in Jerusalem.

Reoccupation of Jerusalem - "During the Six Day War in June of 1967, the Jewish commandos advanced up the southern end of the old walled city of Jerusalem. Under heavy fire they broke into the city through the Lion's Gate and returned Jerusalem into Jewish control for the first time in 1897 years.  On the 6th day of June, 1967, at the end of the Six-Day War, General Moshe Dayan and a tough, battle-hardened contingent of Israeli commandos stood before a wall of ancient stones. Their shoulders  were  shaking,  and  tears were  streaming  down  their faces. They were at the Wailing Wall in East Jerusalem, that Holy Place from which they had been exiled so many centuries before. They were crying thanks unto God for restoring their ancient city to them. There they solemnly swore:  "Never again shall we be driven from this place."

For the first time in 2573 years the Jews were  again  in  control  of  their  Holy  City.  Could  that  touching moment be the historic end of, "and they [the Gentiles] will tread under foot the Holy City for 42 months?" 42 months x 30.44 gives us roughly 1278.5 days:
1967 AD - 1278.5 = 688.5 AD ... the Dome of the Rock!
http://www.beholdthebeast.com/mathematical_precision_of_prophecy.htm

Luke 21:24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."

Indeed we find mathematical perfection from the exile of Christians and Jews from the Holy City by Islamization, marked symbolically by the founding of the Dome of the Rock, until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled in 1967.

 
JEWISH POPULATION IN ISRAEL
 Jeremiah 16:15  But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
Jewish population in Jerusalem increased from a few hundred in the early 1800's, to about 28,000 in 1896 to about 100,000 by 1948 when they declared their independence, to over 500,000 in 2000, and today there are close to five million and the number is rapidly growing.  "More than 400 new immigrants will leave North America Tuesday night for Israel on two specially chartered El Al flights. These are the first of eight flights of immigrants due to leave North America before the end of this year. (2005)"

There is no doubt that the Jews would be regathering in Israel whether or not they had received their independence, as the 1800's and the first half of the 20th century would indicate.  Their population grew by 4 times in the first half of the century and by 5 times again in the second half of the 20th century and by 10 times since then.  Even if the fig tree parable is simply about describing a season, doesn't the Jews being in Israel over 2000 years ago, then being dispersed, then regathering again, describe a season?  God promised them this land.

This from Teddy Kollek - "For three thousand years, Jerusalem has been the center of Jewish hope and longing. No other city has played such a dominant role in the history, culture, religion and consciousness of a people as has Jerusalem in the life of Jewry and Judaism. Throughout centuries of exile, Jerusalem remained alive in the hearts of Jews everywhere as the focal point of Jewish history, the symbol of ancient glory, spiritual fulfillment and modern renewal. This heart and soul of the Jewish people engenders the thought that if you want one simple word to symbolize all of Jewish history, that word would be 'Jerusalem.'"  

Joel 3:2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

"According to the Bible, the Land of Israel (Hebrew: Eretz Yisrael) was promised to the descendants of Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by God, making it the Promised land." - From Wikipedia

For anti-Semites and others who do not love the Jewish people, God does not break a covenant.  Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:   2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.  
The land was promised to the Jews.  

Exodus 12:25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.  
Deuteronomy 19:8 And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;
Nehemiah 9:23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess [it].

It would seem the Bible could have hardly been more specific in reference to nuclear weapons to be used in the latter days than to describe them as in Joel 2:30; And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.  

Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

[Peter]

http://www.beholdthebeast.com/parable_of_the_fig_tree.htm#parable

THE PARABLE

In an adjacent hermeneutic study for the term fig tree, we find the next closest reference, in the same book of Matthew, is:

Matthew 21:18  Now in the 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!

It would seem that this is the actual parable of the fig tree, that we are told to behold, in Matthew 24:32.  As we look at the Jewish witness we see that God has indeed restricted their outreach, or evangelistic "fruiting", to their community.  God did not allow Jews to further evangelize Gentiles into Judaism.  

In my lifetime I know of only two women that "converted" to Judaism, and then only as a secular expediency of marriage.  As one indicated her conversion had nothing to do with the condition of her heart, since they were both non-believers to begin with.  

Lately it struck me what an elite group Jews are, at just 2/10 of 1% of the world's population (without considering the possibilities regarding the tribe of Ephraim). This got me to investigating as to whether proselytism was always as absent in Judaism as it is today. I Googled the subject and learned from several sites that Jews actively proselytized up until it was made illegal by Hadrian who was the Roman Emperor from 117 to 138.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proselytism#Judaism
"However, the vast majority of renown historians such as Paul Johnson and Salo Baron all claim that Judaism historically has always actively proselytized from among the nations. However this activity ceased when the Roman Emperor Hadrian outlawed the practice when he noticed that 10% of his empire had converted to Judaism due to Jewish proselytizers."

Isn't that amazing? That made me think of the following parable and how things fit together.

Mat 21:19 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!

 Jews have not proselytized throughout the Christian era, and then the fig tree took on leaf, and then right on Daniel's prophetic timetable and as Luke declared, the "times of the Gentiles in Jerusalem were fulfilled" (in 1967 through the 6 day war). The return of the Jews to Israel, with Israel becoming the geopolitical focus of the whole world, in stunning fulfillment of bible prophecy.
http://www.israelinbibleprophecy.com/

[Peter]

Some Jews, from whom the Lord may not have yet lifted the veil of the spirit of slumber, weighing in on proselytizing:

The More Jews the Better?
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Judaism/2002/07/The-More-Jews-The-Better.aspx