The fig tree is famous for its downfall in the New Testament. Jesus came to it hungry, but it had no fruit to give. In disappointment, He cursed it, that no man would eat from it again. While that story has been used to exhibit the strength of speech, and the tongue, behold another mystery:
Jeremiah 8:13 talks of the fig’s being cursed not to bring forth fruit. The curse was alit because of the rejection of God’s word by the false prophets. They dealt falsely speaking well when there was none.
I believe this specific fig tree was obeying the curse of the Lord, and was still subjected.
Joel 1:12 talks of the land’s laying waste: The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree— All the trees of the field are withered; Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.
As the curse perseveres, there’s a ray of hope; Habakkuk 3:17-19 prophesies; Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s [feet,] And He will make me walk on my high hills…
He admits the fig isn’t blossoming, but chooses to rejoice in the Lord. Haggai 2:19 has God entering and inquiring the seed’s remain in the barn. Though it’s in the storage and not in the ground, God says “from this day I’ll bless you…”
As the Old Testament’s stage curtains begin to descend, Zechariah hints on the BRANCH in chapter 3, and, two verses later God says, “In that day, Everyone will invite his neighbor Under his vine and under his fig tree.”
Prior to my conclusions, I noticed that the vine never appeared without the fig coupling with it. Didn’t Jesus say He’s the true vine and His father the vinedresser? So when God says ‘everyman under his vine and his fig tree,’ I believe it’s allegorical of the rest in Jesus’ shadow.
To confirm my theory; let’s recall the fig tree Jesus cursed! It was representing the curse of God on the land (Jer 8:13); the curse as consequence of the sin of Adam. It had no fruit! So Jesus plucks it. His coming means God’s wrath was appeased. By Him our sin forgiven. By Him, obedience to God’s word.
Now Galatians tells us also that cursed is the man that hangs on the tree! Christ became the CURSE for us, so that we’d be pardoned and that He might be the propitiation of our inherited crime.
Jesus is the curse, but He’s standing before a ‘curse.’ He cursed ‘the curse!’ He cursed the tree from the roots. And it’s said that the moment He cursed it, it began rotting, though the stem and branches didn’t show.
He with His authority was announcing the end of the curse (specifically that from Jeremiah 8:13) Its withering away was God the son declaring the end of its era! The roots represent the slaying of the lamb before the foundations of the world (Rev 13:8). It’s an iconography of chronological time. That as the disciples only saw the curse full term then, to God, the curse and its appeasement had already transpired.
In a nutshell; when Jesus encounters the fig tree, He pronounces an end to it. It represented the curse — but Jesus swapped roles, that the fig might become fruitful again and its representation of a curse — obsolete. Jesus then became the curse after the tree resting in peace. He was subtly 1) role exchanging and 2) declaring what would become of the curse: which could result into that rest in Zechariah 3:10. No wonder on Christmas we sing, “Peace on earth…”1 Kings 4:25 says ‘And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.’
Christ is our fig tree! God in the image of His son pronounced judgement to it. And now, there’s no more curse. We returned to the garden. And all our trees — the new fig trees drop fat figs on the ground. The vine drips with new wine! God and sinners reconciled! Sinners not only from Israel, but all the land, all the earth — non Jews as well!It was the fig leaves that Adam and Eve made an apron out of as soon as they had first sinned in Genesis 3:7. They were cursed while wearing them, but, in verse 21, God made coats of skins and clothed them.
He sacrificed an animal to make these; and though the animal isn’t mentioned, this reeks of Jesus — our atonement, and the exchange of the roles I’ve just exegeted.
Bless His name! That Jesus. Bless His name!
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