Cursing Of The Fig Tree

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Walter

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Jul 20, 2022
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Washington
firstthings1sttab.tripod.com
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Friday 11-4-22 6th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Cheshvan 8, 5783 44th. Fall Day

The Triumphal Entry

And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.

3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,

7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
The Cleansing Of The Temple

12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,

16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.

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!

21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.


22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Questions Of Jesus Authority

23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?

26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.

27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

Parable Of The Two Sons

28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.

29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.

31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Parable Of The Householder

33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

Love, Walter and Debbie
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
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#2
Cursing Of The Fig Tree

Thank you for all the great verses.
This fig tree account is a lesson for us:

It is important to bear evidence of salvation; fruits of the Spirit, unto good works.


Ephesians 2:10 Context

7That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
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#3
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.
This incident is rather puzzling since the time for ripe figs had not yet arrived. So this may not have been so much about finding fruit out of season as (1) teaching the apostles about what faith can accomplish and (2) reinforcing the parable of the fruitless fig tree which would be cut down because it was cumbering the ground. The Gardener (Christ) requested extra time to fertilize the tree after three years, and was granted that by the Owner (God the Father). But it was to no avail.

That was a reference to unbelieving Israel, which was given 3 1/2 years to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and failed to do so. As a result severe judgment came upon the nation of Israel in 68-70 AD when Judea, Jerusalem, and the temple were all destroyed by the Romans, and the Jews were scattered to the four winds.

Now the time for judgment to come upon the earth is very near. God has given the world over 2,000 years to repent and be converted, but relatively few have believed on Christ. So the focus of Christians worldwide should be the effective propagation of the Gospel by any and all means.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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#4
The fig tree is a symbol/the emblem of the Judean nation, which seemed to be thriving -- with an abundance of leaves -- but spiritually it was producing no fruit. Jesus often rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for this lack of spiritual fruit, and in the same chapter of Matthew He concludes (in the parable of the vineyard) by saying, "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (verse 43). Verse 45 continues, "And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that He spake of them." The cursing of the fig tree represented a curse on the nation of Judea.

In verse 20, when Jesus' disciples saw the fig tree wither away, they "marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!" This was a prophecy of the coming destruction of the Judean nation by the Roman army under Titus in AD 70, only thirty-seven years later (which also brought an end to temple worship).

The destruction was also prophesied in another parable in Luke 13:6-9: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."

The three years of seeking fruit in the parable refer to the three years of Jesus' ministry. For these three years Jesus sought but found no fruit among the Judeans, and so God was minded to cut the tree down. But the dresser of the vineyard said to give it one more year, and he would fertilize it (by the preaching of his disciples) to see if any fruit would be produced. But in the fourth year (Hebrew inclusive counting) it was evident there was still no fruit, since they rejected and crucified Him, and so there was nothing left for the tree but to be cut down.

The fall of the Judean nation was also prophesied earlier by John the Baptist when he said, "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matthew 3:10). source
 
Oct 15, 2022
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21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Has anyone considered that the Fig Tree and the Mountain are the same thing? In other words, Jesus is referring to the Fig Tree as 'this Mountain'.

I see parallels with this verse...

Matthew 17:20 - "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

What is the Mountain?

Matthew 17:18 - "And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour."

Again, I see that the Mountain as not referring to a Mountain of dirt or whatever, but something else. In this case, the Devil.

The reason I am seeing this association is because of what Zerubbabel said...

Zechariah 4:7 - "Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it."

Some Scholars suggest that the Mountain is Satan. I agree. The Mountain is a 'Who' and not a 'What'.
 

studentoftheword

Well-known member
Nov 12, 2021
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#6
Matthew 17:20 - "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

What is the Mountain?
My view
The Mountain here is referring to any obstacle --bump ---small hill ---big hill -- that blocks your way to victory over it -----
the end of your scripture pretty much tells you that ------

this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Faith is a Substance ------God's Faith which comes to us by way of hearing the Word ----and is powerful and effective in accomplishing what it says it will accomplish -----So Faith can move any bad situation ----or obstacle out of the way for the person to have victory over the thing ----

Jesus spoke Faith filled words and killed a thing --a fig tree ---right down to the roots ----so it would grow no more -

God spoke this world into existence by Speaking Faith Filled Words -----Jesus Is the Word ------So God the Father spoke the Faith Word and the Word ----Jesus Created what was spoken -----it is like a boomerang ---you sent it out and it comes back to you created -----Powerful ---

 
Oct 15, 2022
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#7
Thanks for the response @studentoftheword .

What about Zerubbabel's Mountain? Do you agree with some commentators that it symbolized Satan?

Here is a reference...

"The words seem all but to rebuke the great mountain, that is, Satan, who riseth up and leadeth against Christ the power of his own stubbornness, who was figuratively spoken of before Joshua 3:1. "

Zechariah 4:7 Commentaries: What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'" (biblehub.com)
 

studentoftheword

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Nov 12, 2021
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What about Zerubbabel's Mountain? Do you agree with some commentators that it symbolized Satan?
My view on what the whole scripture is about -----

If you read the whole scripture ---I personally don't see it as Satan being the mountain here -----Zerubbabel's job is to rebuild the temple ----and in the vision God is saying that he is not strong enough on His own power to rebuild this temple --to rebuild this temple is like a mountain in front of him and is to great for him to take on by himself and so God is saying that He needs His Spirit to do this job and God would flatten the mountain in from of him so he could build the temple with His Spirit guiding him and giving him the strength and guidance needed to do the job -----

You may see it different ----but I don't see the Mountain as Satan here -----from what the scripture says below --


Zechariah 4

Contemporary English Version

Fifth Vision: A Lampstand and Olive Trees

6 So the angel explained that it was the following message of the Lord to Zerubbabel:[a]

I am the Lord All-Powerful. So don't depend on your own power or strength, but on my Spirit. 7 Zerubbabel, that mountain in front of you will be leveled to the ground. Then you will bring out the temple's most important stone and shout, “God has been very kind.”[b]